Video Quality Assessment Sub-field Frame Matching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing video quality assessment methods face challenges in handling sub-field/frame misalignments between reference and test sequences, which can affect the accuracy of quality metrics, especially when misalignments are imperceptible to human viewers but impact automated comparisons.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that match sub-field/frame elements of a test video with corresponding elements from a reference video, allowing for precise alignment down to a sub-field/frame level, using smaller element sizes to track transient misalignments and account for perceptually insignificant artefacts, and calculating video quality values based on matched elements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If automated video comparison techniques are used to assess video quality, then the assessment process becomes faster and more suitable for operational monitoring, but the accuracy of quality metrics is affected by sub-field/frame misalignments between reference and test sequences
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the video field/frame into multiple sub-elements (e.g., blocks of pixels) and performs matching on these segmented units rather than on the entire field/frame. This segmentation allows the system to handle misalignments by matching corresponding sub-elements independently, thereby maintaining measurement precision while enabling automated high-speed assessment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary matching process that operates between the reference and test video sequences. By using sub-elements as intermediaries, the system can bridge the gap caused by misalignments, finding corresponding regions through sub-element matching before performing the final quality assessment, thus preserving accuracy in automated testing.
2Measurement precision
If sub-field/frame level matching is performed to handle misalignments, then the accuracy of video quality assessment improves, but the complexity of the assessment system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing fields/frames into sub-elements, which simplifies the matching process compared to handling entire fields/frames. Each sub-element can be processed independently using standard matching algorithms, reducing the overall computational complexity while improving precision in handling misalignments.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs matching on a partial level (sub-elements) rather than on the complete field/frame, which reduces the complexity of the matching operation. By applying matching to smaller portions, the system achieves sufficient precision without the excessive computational burden of full-field matching.
3Ease of manufacture
If standard field/frame-based matching is used, then the system is simpler to implement, but transient sub-field/frame misalignments and perceptually insignificant artefacts cannot be effectively tracked
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the video field/frame into sub-elements, enabling the system to track transient misalignments and artefacts that would be invisible at the full field/frame level. This segmentation maintains relative implementation simplicity while significantly improving reliability in detecting and handling sub-field/frame level variations.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system for automated video quality assessment which reduces the adverse effects of sub-field/frame misalignments between the reference and test sequences. More particularly, the invention provides for misalignments down to a sub-field/frame level to be handled by individually matching sub-field/frame elements of a test video field/frame with sub-field/frame elements from a reference video field/frame. The use of a matching element size that is significantly smaller than the video field/frame size enables transient sub-field/frame misalignments to be effectively tracked.