SureWest Communications has used the Tektronix PQA500 picture quality analysis tool in the Sacramento, CA, market to evaluate and qualify H.264 video encoders for future deployment of digital television service.
When SureWest decided to expand its channel capacity and video recording capability by upgrading its encoding technology, it wanted to be sure it was using the most appropriate encoders to ensure superior video quality. SureWest used the PQA500 in a real-world encoder challenge.
Perceptual-based objective picture quality measurements on the PQA500 clearly demonstrated the differences in picture quality between each of the H.264 encoders. The PQA500 identified encoder performance issues that the technical team had not detected in its initial evaluation of the products. These picture quality performance differences strongly influenced SureWest’s H.264 encoder selection.
