Reduce costs
Lower bandwidth and storage expenses without compromising quality.
Assign unique watermark ID
Create a watermark payload tied to each user or account.
Forensic Watermarking
Embed invisible forensic watermarks to trace pirated content back to the original account.
Overview
What It Is
Forensic watermarking embeds unique, imperceptible identifiers into every frame of your video, turning each user's copy into a fingerprint. If pirated content appears on torrent sites or unauthorized platforms, studios can extract the watermark to identify exactly which user leaked it. Combined with legal action or account suspension, this makes casual account sharing economically irrational and protects premium content value.
Coming Soon
Process
How It Works
Apply during transcoding
Qencode embeds the watermark invisibly across all video frames during encoding.
Distribute watermarked content
Each user gets their uniquely marked version, invisible to them during playback.
Monitor for piracy
Scan public sources for leaked content or use third-party piracy detection services.
Extract and identify
When pirated content is found, forensic tools extract the watermark to reveal the source account.
Overview
Why Forensic Watermarking
Save time
Automate complex processing that would take hours manually.
Scale effortlessly
Handle thousands of videos with the same API call.
Integrate in minutes
Simple REST API with comprehensive SDKs and documentation.
Use Cases
Who Uses Forensic Watermarking
VOD Platforms
A premium streaming service embeds unique watermarks in each subscriber's copy so pirated 4K releases are traced to specific accounts. Reduce subscriber sharing by 50% through threat of identification and enable legal takedowns targeting specific leakers.
Broadcasters
A pay-per-view sports broadcaster watermarks each PPV buyer's stream so pregame leaks are traced to the original purchaser. Recover $500K+ annually in prevented theft by suspending leaking accounts and pursuing civil remedies.
Enterprise
A media conglomerate watermarks all dailies and preview materials shared with partners so studio leaks are traced to source departments. Protect pre-release content from competitors and identify insider threats before major damage occurs.
Tutorial
How to Use Forensic Watermarking
Watch a quick walkthrough showing how to configure and use Forensic Watermarking through the Qencode dashboard and API.
Tutorial Video Coming Soon
For Developers
Technical Reference
| Output Format | advanced_hls only |
| Key Parameters | forensic_watermark.doverunner_wm_key, forensic_watermark.doverunner_access_key |
| Watermark Provider | DoveRunner forensic watermarking |
| Encoding Behavior | Qencode creates two complete HLS outputs: variant A with wm_symbol: 0 and variant B with wm_symbol: 1 |
| Embedding Flow | Qencode handles preprocessing. CDN/session manager mixes A/B segments at playback time to create the viewer-specific watermark pattern |
| Detection Flow | Leaked content is submitted to DoveRunner detection API to recover the embedded pattern and map it to the viewer session |
| Supported Codec | H.264 / libx264 only |
| Limits & Constraints | Requires encoder_version: 2; v1 returns a validation error. GOP structure is automatically enforced as 2-second closed GOPs with scenecut=0 |
| Cost / Processing Impact | Encoding work is effectively doubled because the source is encoded twice. Billing is based on actual encoding minutes consumed |
Request Example
Qencode job with DoveRunner forensic watermarking:
{
"query": {
"source": "https://example.com/input.mp4",
"encoder_version": 2,
"format": [
{
"output": "advanced_hls",
"forensic_watermark": {
"doverunner_wm_key": "YOUR_DOVERUNNER_WM_KEY",
"doverunner_access_key": "YOUR_DOVERUNNER_ACCESS_KEY"
},
"stream": [
{
"size": "1920x1080",
"bitrate": "5000"
},
{
"size": "1280x720",
"bitrate": "2500"
}
],
"destination": {
"url": "s3://your-bucket/output/path/",
"key": "your-s3-key",
"secret": "your-s3-secret"
}
}
]
}
}Copy this payload and use it with your API key to test Forensic Watermarking on your own videos.
View Forensic Watermarking TutorialWe love creating powerful solutions that are aligned with the needs of your business.
Please send us a message if you have a question or Schedule a call for a demo to discuss your integration.
Let's talk
Contact us with any questions. We'd love to help.
Los Angeles, CA - (HQ)
San Francisco, CA
New York, NY