On the quality perception of multiparty conferencing calls

This paper presents a study on the quality perception of multiparty audio- and audiovisual conferencing calls, with a focus on asymmetric conditions, that is, different connection properties and equipment of individual participants. The results show that some mutual influence of the individual links between participants in terms of their perceived quality exists, and that the overall quality of a conference call is not always a simple average over quality ratings associated with individual links. Further, the paper interprets the results in terms of relevant processes of audiovisual scene perception and quality formation. The results can help operators or manufacturers to optimally balance QoS settings for individual participants, shedding light on how the overall impression of a conference may be formed by users.