US Patent 7586515 Instrument for real-time video quality measurement

A realtime video quality measurement instrument may be configured for both double-ended and single-ended operation. For double-ended operation reference and test video signals are stored in respective buffers and spatial/temporally aligned. Desired quality measurements are performed on the aligned frames of the test and reference video signals according to stored setup instructions. For single-ended operation the reference video signal and a signature for the reference video signal are pre-stored together with the desired quality measurements for the frames of the reference video signal. Then the test video signal is received, signatures determined, and the test and reference video signals aligned using the signatures. The desired quality measurements are then performed on the aligned frames of the test and reference video signals.