Quality Analysis Comparing CineForm's Visually PerfectTM HD Codec versus Native Camera Formats

The following comparative quality analysis uses visual inspection, difference images, and PSNR (peak signal-tonoise ratio) as measures of image quality for comparing CineForm's 10-bit Visually PerfectTM codec to DVCPRO HD. PSNR analysis uses a standard mathematical model to measure an objective difference between two images. It is commonly used in the development and analysis of compression algorithms, and for comparing visual quality between different compression systems. For the results shown shown in the table, PSNR was calculated on the uncompressed luma channel of the YUV signal. For testing the DVCPRO HD codec the data was sent across HD-SDI for compression in the AJ-HD130DCP DVCPRO HD deck. For testing CineForm's 10-bit Visually Perfect codec the uncompressed YUV source was presented to the production version of CineForm's software codec that ships with Prospect HD. No other compression was introduced during testing of either codec. The above image (a) is a reduced version of the original 1920x1080 RGB image used for performing the PSNR analysis and difference tests.