HelpAndManual_unregistered_evaluation_copy VQMA4 Video Analyzer and Video Scope Software Tool Version 4.1.
HelpAndManual_unregistered_evaluation_copy VQMA4 Video Quality Measurement and Analysis Software by VideoQ Inc Software Video Analyzer to measure the quality of captured and streamed video. Ideal tool for development labs, software developers and high volume manufacturing instantly revealing your video camera or other video device performance.
HelpAndManual_unregistered_evaluation_copy VQMA User Manual © 2005-2014 by VideoQ Inc, all rights reserved All rights reserved. No parts of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means - graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems - without the written permission of the publisher. VideoQ and VQMA are registered trademarks of VideoQ, Inc. VQMA test pattern and analysis algorithms are also protected by patents.
VQMA User Manual Table of Contents 1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 2 2 Supported file formats .............................................................................................................. 5 3 VQMA Test Pattern: File and/or Reflectance Chart .............................................................................................................. 6 4 Software Installation and Test Setup .......
VQMA User Manual 1 Introduction 2 Introduction VQMA is a self-contained software solution allowing manual or automated measurement of the performance of video cameras, video processors and/or video capture devices in a PC running WindowsTM OS. Used in cascade with high quality capture device VQMA can measure the quality of the incoming video signal, such as 3G-SDI/HD-SDI, DVI/HDMI/DP/LVDS or analog YPrPb.
3 VQMA User Manual Introduction VQMA analyzes video data stored in this file, and produces detailed test report in printed form and/or short report in machine-readable format. The program also contains special driver acquiring test pattern data (YUV or RGB) directly from Unigraf capture card - via shared memory, without any intermediate file recording. Measured values are automatically checked against target values stored in the .INI file. Editable .
VQMA User Manual Introduction 4 Using VQMA in multi-screen/multi-resolution environment VQMA supports very wide range of frame sizes. Size of BMP images is simply read from BMP header, Size of headerless uncompressed YUV file frame(s) is either entered by user or auto-detected from YUV file size, using built-in table of common (popular) sizes. In any case all test pattern component positions and spatial frequencies are automatically scaled as needed.
5 2 VQMA User Manual Supported file formats Supported file formats VQMA.EXE can open any one file of three types: *.YUV Single frame of raw YUV data, any pre-selected or specified resolution from 192x108 to 4096x3072 pixels, without any header or wrapper, suitable for quick video parameters check, also saving HDD space (frame size auto-detected or set by user) *.YUV Multiple frames of raw YUV data, format - as above, either concatenated in one file or several single frame files *.
VQMA User Manual 3 VQMA Test Pattern: File and/or Reflectance Chart 6 VQMA Test Pattern: File and/or Reflectance Chart There are two forms of VQMA test pattern supplied as standard (other formats on request): a) Set of 4:2:2 UYVY .YUV and/or 4:4:4 RGB .BMP files in different resolutions. These file provide the reference matrix test pattern as video source on the 3G-SDI, HD-SDI, DVI, HDMI, DP and/or YPrPb outputs of a professional or semi-professional video play-out devices, e.g.
7 VQMA User Manual VQMA Test Pattern: File and/or Reflectance Chart VQMA matrix consists of 6 horizontal bands (stripes) dedicated for automatic measurements of particular parameters. For convenience these bands are numbered "Band 0" to "Band 5" in VQMA.EXE menus. VQMA Test Pattern also contains 4 identical Blue-White Circles.
VQMA User Manual VQMA Test Pattern: File and/or Reflectance Chart 8 VQMA Test Pattern exists in many resolutions (frame sizes). Test Chart may occupy full frame area or only central part of the frame. Below are some examples: Anamorphic 720x480 chart Letterbox 16:9 800x450 chart fitting 3:2 720x480 frame within 10:6 800x480 frame 1920x1080 chart within 3840x2160 frame on light gray checkerboard background Such layout allows extension of measured frequency range.
9 4 VQMA User Manual Software Installation and Test Setup Software Installation and Test Setup 1. Install VQMA software as follows: Create a folder on the PC hard drive, for example "c:\VQMA", and copy there the following files: 1. VQMA.EXE Main executable Note that in some versions the executable file name can be shortened to VQM.EXE 2. VQMA.INI Optional customizable configuration file If the .INI file is not found in the program folder, then it will be created automatically by VQMA.
VQMA User Manual 5 Testing Cameras with VQMA Reflectance Chart 10 Testing Cameras with VQMA Reflectance Chart Ideally, camera should look straight to the center of the chart; lens axis position offset in any direction should not exceed 5%. Chart illumination uniformity is one of important parameters. Lux meter reading within the chart surface should not vary more than +/- 20%. Optimal chart-to-camera distance depends on lens specifications; typical range is from 1m to 3m.
11 6 VQMA User Manual Capturing Video Data File and running Test Sessions Capturing Video Data File and running Test Sessions 1. Supply 3G-SDI, HD-SDI, DVI, HDMI, DP or YPrPb signal of the VQMA matrix test pattern via device under test to the appropriate input of capture device or supply compressed stream to the appropriate software/hardware decoder input, e.g. 3G-SDI signal via BNC cable, DVI/HDMI signal via appropriate cable, or just a file in .TS, .YUV or .BMP format. 2.
VQMA User Manual Capturing Video Data File and running Test Sessions 12 In such arrangement these folders should be treated as several completely independent analyzers with different target values and separate log files. In GUI Mode it is possible to launch multiple instances of the same VQMA.EXE, they will share the log file. It is also possible to use single copy of VQMA.EXE for sequential or parallel analysis of multiple YUV/BMP files, applying separate target value sets stored in separate .
13 7 VQMA User Manual Running VQMA in Windows GUI mode Running VQMA in Windows GUI mode Click on the VQMA executable icon, or type VQMA.EXE (without any other parameters) in the command line, to open GUI with standard Windows menus and dialog boxes. Multiple instances of VQMA can be opened simultaneously, thus allowing easy comparison of multiple test conditions or multiple devices under tests. Test Session Results can be saved as Short Report as described in the separate section and/or printed out.
VQMA User Manual Running VQMA in Windows GUI mode 14 7.1 Menu - File This menu should be used first - after launching of VQMA.EXE in GUI Mode: "Open File" invokes standard "File/Open" Windows dialog box. User can browse folders to find and open pre-captured video file. Supported file extensions are .yuv and .bmp. "Reopen Valid File" is useful for recurrent test sessions, allowing manual update as desired.
15 VQMA User Manual Running VQMA in Windows GUI mode In "Print Report Page(s)" sub-menu each of seven on-screen pages of VQMA test results can be printed separately or all pages together. Actual printer name and used page numbers are selected via standard Windows dialog. It is advisable to use a PDF writer, e.g. FinePrint pdfFactory, to create electronic reports of VQMA test results; paper copies can also be printed if necessary. Warning: VQMA.
VQMA User Manual Running VQMA in Windows GUI mode 16 7.2 Menu - YUV Frame Size Menu "YUV Frame Size" allows Auto Size (default) or particular Frame Size in Y pixels and choose either custom size or one of six standard sizes from 720x480 to 4096x2304. Selection of particular size disables Auto Size mode, which can be re-enabled by clicking on the corresponding menu item. Any change in this menu leads to input file reloading and new analysis cycle. This selection does not affect opening of .
17 VQMA User Manual Running VQMA in Windows GUI mode 7.3 Menu - Color Space This menu is divided in 3 sections (sub-menus): · "YUV File Format" allowing user to toggle between two alternative formats of .YUV files to be opened - UYVY and YUV2. It does not affect opening of .BMP files (of RGB format) · "YUV<>RGB Color Matrix" Here user may select "Auto" (recommended default) or one of two standard color matrices, commonly known as Rec709 (HD) and Rec601 (SD).
VQMA User Manual Running VQMA in Windows GUI mode 18 7.4 Menu - View Page # This menu allows selection of Test Summary page or partial test result Pages described in the following sub-sections. Default page selection is "Test Summary". User may browse pages by: · Clicking the corresponding menu item · Pressing the shortcut letter key, e.g. "W" for Waveform Scope Page or "S" for Summary · Quickly go thru all 7 pages by pressing Left Arrow (page number down) or Right Arrow (page number up).
19 VQMA User Manual Running VQMA in Windows GUI mode 7.4.
VQMA User Manual Running VQMA in Windows GUI mode 20 Important Note: If VQMA-C Test Chart is not detected, e.g.
21 VQMA User Manual Running VQMA in Windows GUI mode 7.4.2 Test Summary page The table shows the results of all partial tests, whilst the most important "global" result is displayed in the upper right corner. This is shown as one word, which can be either "Passed" in green or "Failed" in red; it is produced by logical AND function of partial test result flags of the table. Leftmost column contains the partial test name (name of the measured parameter).
VQMA User Manual Running VQMA in Windows GUI mode 22 If the ratio of opened frame size vs. default 1920x1080 does not match exactly 1/4, 1/2, 1, 2, or 4, then the scaled image is displayed as centered insert within checkerboard background picture. If VQMA Test Chart comes in form of central insert, occupying 50% or less of input frame, then this insert is zoomed up and cropped to show the most important part of the frame - VQMA Chart itself.
23 VQMA User Manual Running VQMA in Windows GUI mode 7.4.3 Geometry, Focus, Shading page This page displays measured values of major chart geometry parameters as well as parameters related to camera focus and the uniformity of chart illumination. There are two different templates for this page presentation: · Template for file-originated VQMA Test Pattern · Template for VQMA-C Optical Test Chart These two templates are automatically switched depending on test material type detected.
VQMA User Manual Running VQMA in Windows GUI mode 24 CASE OF OPTICAL TEST CHART At the top of the page are messages displaying average Contrast and Focus values based on analysis of 4 corner Radial Plates. High enough values of these parameters are the critical conditions for accurate measurements of other parameters, such as Frequency Response, KRating, etc. Geometry parameters include H & V Scale (Zoom), Chart Position (H & V Offsets), Tilt and Keystone Distortions.
25 VQMA User Manual Running VQMA in Windows GUI mode If no valid chart is presented, or chart levels and/or geometry parameters are seriously offset, then these square are shown in red and measurement results display is replaced by warning message. Central message "Test Condition Validated" (in green) serves as additional confirmation that chart parameters are good enough for automated analysis. This page also displays Focus (Sharpness) estimates separately for 4 corners.
VQMA User Manual Running VQMA in Windows GUI mode 26 7.4.4 Colors, Levels. Gamma, RGB Balance page This page displays most important parameters, related to YUV and RGB levels and measured using the best available noise-reducing filter. Grayscale parameters are averaged on two Bands (Band 2 and Band 3). Color Bar parameters are measured on Band 1. Black Level and White Level are presented in % of the selected nominal YRGB range and also in D1 8 bit levels.
27 VQMA User Manual Running VQMA in Windows GUI mode Grayscale YRGB Levels Plot displays side-by-side averaged Y, R, G, and B levels of all 11 Grayscale porches expressed in percents of nominal range - from Black on the left to the White on the right. Plotted Y, R, G and B values depend on the selection (manual or automatic) of Nominal YRGB Range. The Grayscale Y Levels Table under the plot shows measured values (in Black), reference values (in Gray) and errors, i.e. differences between them.
VQMA User Manual Running VQMA in Windows GUI mode 28 This is because the references for "Derived Values" are not taken from pristine RGB Bars (16 and 180), but calculated from YUV Reference Values shown in the upper rows; this is a fundamental feature of YUV-to-RGB 8 bit color matrixing process. In this case RGB References correspond to the ideal player, which builds 24 bit RGB pixels from incoming 24 bit YUV pixels.
29 VQMA User Manual Running VQMA in Windows GUI mode 7.4.5 Frequency Response page This page shows the measured averaged peak-to-peak amplitudes of six frequency bursts and displays averaged luminance waveform of multi-burst band of VQMA matrix pattern (Band 4). Type of averaging filter is selected automatically (best available filter). The burst amplitudes are expressed in dB with reference to nominal (undistorted) value.
VQMA User Manual Running VQMA in Windows GUI mode 30 Significant zooming out or scaling down the chart size, e.g. from 100% to 50%, may also produce in Y channel spatial frequencies much higher than original burst frequencies. Positive side of this transformation is that it allows measurement of Frequency Response in much wider range. For example, 4K camera response can be measured up to 3000 tvl. Small number of pixels per texture period may also lead to well-known "aliasing" effect.
31 VQMA User Manual Running VQMA in Windows GUI mode 7.4.6 K-rating, UV vs Y Gain page This page displays the measurements results for two key parameters related to the 5th band of VQMA-C matrix test pattern: 1. K-rating, in %, measured on 2T pulse (white needle pulse) 2. UV vs. Y Gain, in dB, measured on 20T composite pulse (soft green pulse) It also shows the overlay of averaged waveforms of Y , U and V signals in the band #5.
VQMA User Manual Running VQMA in Windows GUI mode 32 7.4.7 Noise Measurement page The most important noise parameter is RMS noise level of Y channel displayed in the upper left corner of the page using three types of units: - % of Nominal White - D1 8 bit levels (in brackets) - Equivalent mV of analog Y signal (also in brackets) Other important noise parameter present on this display are: - Y channel SNR, calculated in three variants: unfiltered, band-limited and weighted.
33 VQMA User Manual Running VQMA in Windows GUI mode "Dark B" SNR value allows differentiate the effects of level dependent noise features. For example, some sophisticated noise reducers target specifically this blue channel noise, but only on dark image areas. The example above illustrates this effect: "Dark B" SNR is about the same as Y SNR, whilst typically (without the special treatment) it should be about 6 dB lower.
VQMA User Manual Running VQMA in Windows GUI mode 34 Picture below shows Noise Page for pristine uncompressed file-originated Test Pattern. Of course, there is no random noise. But analysis of Noise Image (built from inter-frame differences) provides for visual estimation of frame cadence and time-line position .
35 VQMA User Manual Running VQMA in Windows GUI mode 7.4.
VQMA User Manual Running VQMA in Windows GUI mode 36 There is one special YUV/RGB Scope display mode shown below. It is dedicated to UV vectors display on color bars. On the left side UV vectors are displayed with unity gain (0 dB), and on the right side same UV vectors are boosted x2 (+ 6 dB) gain. U and V vector signals are derived from the color bars band of VQMA-C matrix test pattern or any other source of color bars can be used. U (CR) and V (CB) levels on this display are in % of full UV scale.
37 VQMA User Manual 7.4.8.1 Running VQMA in Windows GUI mode Scope View menu "Scope View" menu allows selection of desirable signal component (or combination of components) for waveform display. Default mode is "RGB Line Parade" The Y, R, G and B "Line" modes are quite simple and display only one selected component of the selected TV line.
VQMA User Manual 7.4.8.2 Running VQMA in Windows GUI mode 38 Scope Line menu "Scope Line" menu allows selection of spatial position of selected line within the test pattern frame. Selected Line Number is displayed above the waveform display and selected line is highlighted on the thumbnail image at the bottom. The easiest way to select displayed line is to choose the center of desirable Band by its name or number, for example - Band #1 = Color Bars.
39 VQMA User Manual 7.4.8.3 Running VQMA in Windows GUI mode Scope Averaging Filter menu "Scope Averaging Filter" menu allows selection of spatial/temporal averaging filters used to reduce the harmful effect of noise, which affects the accuracy of measurement and waveform display. This menu is for advanced users.
VQMA User Manual 7.4.8.4 Running VQMA in Windows GUI mode 40 Line Select Control Panel This small separate floating window appears only if the selected page is "Waveform Scope" and can be moved to any convenient place on the screen. The Line Select Control Panel is hidden if any other page is selected, but is visible again at the same position after the selection of Waveform Scope page.
41 VQMA User Manual Running VQMA in Windows GUI mode 7.5 Menu - Help "Help" menu contains three self-explanatory items: "Short Guide" and "About VQMA" are pop-up message boxes. Selection of User Manual (Shortcut F1) menu item opens external PDF file (this Manual) in the default PDF viewer, e.g. Adobe Reader. 7.5.
VQMA User Manual Running VQMA in Windows GUI mode 42 7.5.
43 8 VQMA User Manual Test results presentation in Short Report Test results presentation in Short Report The Short Test Report can be saved from "File" menu or as in Command Line Mode. The results are presented in three sections: 1. VideoQ copyright and VQMA version info (commented out by semicolons), Test Session date and time, full paths to Report File and input Test File 2. Test results in form of comma separated ASCII data 3. Copy of the .
VQMA User Manual Test results presentation in Short Report 44 For all parameters specified in the VQMA.INI file, the corresponding lines of Test Report also show special “Success” or “Failure” codewords. For each such line Success/Failure flag means that the measured value is within/outside of the specified target limits. In other words Success/Failure flag shows the compliance of the system under test with the particular target value(s) set in the .INI file.
45 VQMA User Manual Test results presentation in Short Report CHART_WIDTH, 768 CHART_HEIGHT, 432 YRGB_RANGE_SELECTION, Auto SELECTED_YRGB_RANGE, 16-235 COLOR_MATRIX_DETECTED, Rec709-HD COLOR_BARS_MAX_RGB_ERROR, 1, 8 bit value MAX_RGB_ERROR_COLOR, Yellow ; Y_BLACK, 0.0, %, Success Y_WHITE, 100.0, %, Success SNR, 100.0, dB, Success K_RATING, 2.3, %, Success UV_Y_GAIN, 0.0, dB, Success Y_GAMMA, 2.2, , Success RGB_BALANCE_ERROR, 0.0, %, Success Y_BLACK_RANGE_ERROR, 0.0, %, Success Y_WHITE_RANGE_ERROR, 0.
VQMA User Manual 9 Test results presentation in Short Report 46 Customization and editing of INI Files VQMA.EXE checks the captured (input) video data, read from *.BMP or *.YUV file, against the tolerance values contained within the .INI file. Full path to this file depends on File menu options in GUI mode or -i/-ia flags in Command Line Mode. Default is VQMA.INI file residing in the VQMA.EXE folder. VQMA.INI file name is mandatory only for VQMA.
47 VQMA User Manual Customization and editing of INI Files Only numerical values of MIN and MAX limits can be edited. For example, RGB_BALANCE_ERROR_MAX=10.00 can be changed from 10.00 (default) to 5.00. It is recommended to store customized .INI files under the names which are different from the reserved ones, e.g. MY_1080p30.INI. To use these customized .INI file simply rename a copy of the selected MY_1080p30.INI file to desired file name, overwriting the existing file if necessary.
VQMA User Manual Customization and editing of INI Files Example of complete .INI file (default values): ; VideoQ VQMA v3.1.6.1, file VQMA.INI created Thu Jun 27 21:52:47 2013 [Y_BLACK_LEVEL_] Y_BLACK_LEVEL_UNIT=% Y_BLACK_LEVEL_MIN=-5.00 Y_BLACK_LEVEL_MAX=5.00 [Y_WHITE_LEVEL_] Y_WHITE_LEVEL_UNIT=% Y_WHITE_LEVEL_MIN=95.00 Y_WHITE_LEVEL_MAX=105.00 [Y_SNR_] Y_SNR_UNIT=dB Y_SNR_MIN=40.00 [K_RATING_] K_RATING_UNIT=% K_RATING_MAX=3.00 [UV_Y_GAIN_] UV_Y_GAIN_UNIT=dB UV_Y_GAIN_MIN=-1.00 UV_Y_GAIN_MAX=1.
49 VQMA User Manual Running VQMA in Command Line Mode 10 Running VQMA in Command Line Mode VQMA.EXE can be used in DOS window under Windows in unattended (robotic) mode. For example: vqma -i VQMBconvto2668x1500xnview.yuv -h 2668 -v 1500 or vqma -i "VQMB conv to 2668 x 1500 xnview.yuv" -h 2668 -v 1500 10.1 Command line parameters There are two different ways to launch VQMA - GUI Mode and Command Line Mode: a) To launch VQMA.EXE from Windows DOS box in GUI Mode use the following command line: VQMA.
VQMA User Manual Running VQMA in Command Line Mode 50 But if = MyTests (not full path), then it will be interpreted as a sub-folder name under the source file folder and special unique output file name will be created, adding date and time to the name of input file and changing its extension to the default .TXT extension. In such case new MyTests folder will be created and Short Report will be automatically saved as c:\Test\MyTests\current_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.
51 VQMA User Manual Terms and Abbreviations 11 Terms and Abbreviations Term Explanation 3G-SDI 3 Gbps Serial Digital Interface (short name 3G) CSV Comma Separated Values (File Format) CVBS Color, Video, Blanking and Sync (Composite Video Signal) DVI Digital Visual Interface (Video interface for digital displays) HDMI High-Definition Multimedia Interface (also Video interface for digital displays) NTSC National Television Systems Committee (also a TV Standard name) PAL Phase Alternate Lines
HelpAndManual_unregistered_evaluation_copy VideoQ Inc
