Impact of Video Luminance on Perceptual Quality and Energy Consumption in Video Streaming

Video streaming services have become integral to modern digital experiences, yet they present a challenge in balancing perceptual quality with energy efficiency. This paper presents a study on the impact of luminance changes in video streaming on the perceptual quality experienced by end users and the associated energy consumption. We investigate different luminance change scenarios and evaluate their effects using objective quality metrics and energy consumption measurements. The results demonstrate the trade-off between visual quality and energy efficiency in video luminance reduction. We found that the video luminance can be reduced by 8% with acceptable quality while saving nearly 11% energy consumption. In addition, common quality metrics react differently with the changes in video luminance, which implies a subjective test to find the best performant metric. Insights from this study have implications for video streaming service providers and device manufacturers aiming to optimize user experience and energy efficiency.