Best in Test Finalists 2010: Audio/video and multimedia

-- Test & Measurement World, 12/22/2009 12:00:00 PM

Return to the entire list of Best in Test finalists for 2010.

--APx BW52 Ultra-High-Bandwidth Option, Audio Precision
--dScope Series IIIA Audio Test System, Prism Media Products
--MMTS Moving Video Test System, VI Technology
--MVP-200 SimulTrackII Video Probe, JDSU
--Netrounds Web-Based Network-Monitoring Tool, Absilion
--Sentry Digital Content Monitor, Mixed Signals

APx BW52 Ultra-High-Bandwidth Option
Audio Precision
www.ap.com

Audio Precision says that the APx BW52 Ultra-High-Bandwidth option for the APx525 audio analyzer offers unprecedented FFT performance: 1million points, DC to 1-MHz bandwidth, and full 24-bit resolution. Class D amplifiers, converters, and switch-mode power supplies produce spurious signals well outside of the 100-kHz bandwidth limit of most audio analyzers, according to the company, and this out-of-band noise can degrade audio quality and even damage components.

Without the BW52 option, engineers may be restricted to using a spectrum analyzer or an oscilloscope to view out-of-band noise, but these instruments can be expensive and can have low impedance, low resolution, and limited input tolerance. With the BW52, audio engineers can use one instrument to measure audio and out-of-band noise at significantly greater resolution. As a result, audio design can improve at a lower cost of development.

Price: $2500.

 

dScope Series IIIA Audio Test System
Prism Media Products
www.prismsound.com

The dScope Series IIIA analog audio test system is a comprehensive audio analysis platform that Prism says provides unrivaled value for money. The company says the system delivers the most cost-effective and most comprehensive solution for audio analysis. A single dScope Series IIIA system can characterize the performance of many of today's diverse range of audio devices, from mp3 players to PC sound cards to audiophile-quality loudspeakers and amplifiers.

The tester enables audio engineers to quickly assess product performance using many excitation signals including sine, chirp, multitone, noise, and even user-defined files. With one measurement, the dScope Series III A smart FFT detectors can display up to 40 FFT-derived parameters at once, including THD+N, THD, noise, mains hum, odd:even harmonic distortion ratio, and any other parameter that can be mathematically calculated from an FFT spectrum.

Base price: $6000.

 

MMTS Moving Video Test System
VI Technology
www.vi-tech.com

For years, video broadcasters have been testing their own networks and systems using high-end perceptual quality analysis tools and techniques. VI Technology's MMTS Moving Video Test System brings broadcast quality analysis to the rest of the video market to help test devices such as set-top boxes, portable media devices, and smart phones.

Instead of capturing a still image frame and manually analyzing one frame at a time for errors (the traditional analog method), the MMTS system captures the video sequence and compares it to a reference golden video stream. The system enables users to edit and create a golden video, using either multiple videos or a series of images.

The MMTS tester supports standard interfaces such as HDMI, DVI, component, composite, SDI, and S-Video. VI Technology says the system is ideal for the automated testing of consumer electronics and advanced military/aerospace applications.

Price: $40,000.

 

MVP-200 SimulTrackII Video Probe
JDSU
www.jdsu.com

The release of MVP-200 SimulTrack II for Ethernet provides the probe with the ability to function as an MPEG digital-video monitoring probe while simultaneously supporting the ability to perform deep packet inspection on a selected MPEG transport stream or single program. Users don't have to choose between purchasing a monitoring probe to perform ongoing real-time monitoring and purchasing an analyzer to provide the detailed level of analysis often needed to identify difficult problems. With the MVP-200, both capabilities are provided in a single distributed package.

The MVP-200 allows an engineer to perform deep packet inspection of table metadata and timing issues while the monitoring continues to run without interruption. There is no need to perform channel scanning on Gigabit Ethernet and no need to halt the monitoring of all programs in order to perform the deep packet inspection functions required for troubleshooting analysis.

Price: The MVP-200 with an Ethernet card and SimulTrack II software costs in the $17,000s.

 

Netrounds Web-Based Network-Monitoring Tool
Absilion
www.absilion.com

Netrounds is a Web application that uses distributed active measurement probes for combined test and monitoring of IP-telephony, IPTV, and access security. It provides network operators and IT departments with an easily deployed and affordable tool for fault localization and continuous control of quality and security in their active networks. The intelligent measurement probes are provided as preinstalled embedded devices or as bootable media.

When a company attaches the measurement probes to its network, the probes automatically connect over the Internet to the hosted test server over an encrypted channel. Thereafter, a Web user interface can be used to control the probes.

Netrounds extends the "software as a service" model to "test system as a service." No installations are required. Absilion handles system and probe upgrades, and all is included in the monthly subscription fee.

Price: The monthly subscription fee depends on the number of measurement probes, subscription period, and which test packages need to be available in the Web application.

 

Sentry Digital Content Monitor
Mixed Signals
www.mixedsignals.com

Sentry is a real-time digital content monitor that identifies network anomalies at the IP and MPEG layers that degrade video and audio quality (such as video freeze, macro-blocking, and loss of audio). This enables service providers to fix errors and deliver programming with optimum picture and audio quality, ensuring subscriber satisfaction and preventing customer churn.

Sentry's Perceptual Audio/Video Scoring System enables providers to precisely determine the severity of video and audio glitches as they occur and determine how much they impact viewers. By distinguishing minor glitches from major issues, service providers can focus on major quality issues first.

Sentry also monitors every key point in the network to address the growing network complexity that introduces video and audio quality errors, as service providers aggregate hundreds of national and local programs, compressing these programs to save bandwidth, multiplexing them for delivery across their networks, and inserting advertisements at the network edge.

Price: not provided.