Network TEN Selects OmniTek PQA To Test Video Signal Quality

OmniTek has announced that Network TEN has selected the OmniTek PQA to test the quality of different video signals in a range of HD video equipment currently being assessed for use the by the Australian commercial broadcaster.
The sale was made though OmniTek’s Australian distributor, Quinto Communications. The OmniTek PQA is a full-reference picture analyser that can monitor two video streams simultaneously, allowing instant comparisons to be made.
“We use the PQA as a reliable tool to identify and select equipment which introduces the minimum amount of image change / image degradation to video passing through its HD transmission path,” said Glenn Carrick, TEN engineer. “The PQA has already been used by TEN in the evaluation of HD video equipment from different manufacturers including HD MPEG encoders and decoders and HD upconverters and downconverters.
“We selected the PQA as it was the only picture quality analyser solution that allowed us to play both industry standard test sequences and our own captured video test sequences into the equipment under test in either SDI or HDSDI,” Carrick added. “It also allowed us to produce a real time 'difference picture' showing the changes introduced to either an SD or HD video signal by passing it through a particular signal processing path.
“As a result, the PQA’s capability to make real time picture difference and MPEG2 macroblocking artefact measurements and give picture degradation measurement figures has allowed us to rank the products in order of picture quality.”
The OmniTek PQA is a full-reference picture quality analyser which performs detailed analysis of images in all SD and HDTV formats, to establish the exact level of image degradation through a processing path. It has been designed for use in a variety of different engineering environments in addition to production line test.
Research laboratories all over the world are using the PQA for development of new algorithms and techniques for image compression, and broadcasters are using the system to get real-time analysis of the total image degradation through a transmission path, from studio output to consumer set-top box.
“The OmniTek PQA is proving popular with many leading broadcasters because it can provide a definitive answer to measuring picture degradation on the network,” said Roger Fawcett, Business Director at OmniTek. “In this way, it takes the subjectivity out of testing and ensures minimum standards can be met while at the same time maximising data throughput on the network.”
(DS/SP)