Adaptive bitrate streaming using video quality information

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions, which when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to be operable for:

• receiving quality metric values for profile levels in a plurality of profile levels for a segment of content;
• evaluating available bandwidth and associated bitrates of profile levels in the plurality of profile levels to select a first profile level;
• evaluating the quality metric values for profile levels in the plurality of profile levels to select a second profile level;
• and
• selecting a profile level in the plurality of profile levels based on the first profile level and the second profile level, wherein the profile level that is selected is requested for the segment.

A method comprising:

• receiving data for a time from delivery of instances of content;
• determining a period from the data that meets a characteristic;
• calculating a quality metric value for profiles in a plurality of profiles for a segment of an instance of content based on analyzing a characteristic of the segment;
• and
• causing a sending of the period and the quality metric value for profiles in the plurality of profiles for the segment to a client device, wherein the client device uses the period and the quality metric values to select a profile in the plurality of profiles for the segment.