Opticom PEAQ DATASHEET

PEAQ – Perceptual
Evaluation of Audio Quality

Voice
Quality Testing

OPTICOM's PEAQ (Perceptual Evaluation of
Audio Quality) provides accurate and repeatable
estimates of audio quality degradation occur­ring through e.g. coding procedures. It compares
the audio signal input to a device under test
(DUT) with the corresponding (degraded) audio
signal output from that device on a perceptual
basis.

Being already widely used in active testing in
lab environments, OPTICOM's PEAQ measure­ment has achieved a great reputation for its

Principle

Reference
Signal

Device
under test

The intention of a measurement tool like PEAQ
is to evaluate the audio quality of an audio
device under test, e.g. an audio codec. PEAQ
compares the input and output audio signal of
that device and outputs a quality score that rep­resents the Basic Audio Quality of the output
signal and therefore also the quality of the
device. The comparison of the two signals takes
only perceptual differences into account, while
imperceptible distortions are neglected. In order
to be able to distinguish between perceptible
and imperceptible distortions PEAQ employs a
multitude of perceptual measurement concepts
using different ear models from which different
signal representations are derived.

PEAQ in general comprises ear models based
on the fast Fourier transform as well as on a fil­ter bank. The output values of the models are
based partly on the masked threshold concept
and partly on a comparison of internal represen­tations (also known as comparison in the
cochlear domain). In addition, it also yields out­put values based on a comparison of linear
spectra, which are not processed by an ear
model.

ease of use and its reliability of its results while
avoiding the costs for expensive and time con­suming listening tests.

PEAQ is fully compliant to ITU-R BS.1387 cover­ing the applicability to high quality audio sig­nals with sampling frequencies of 44.1-48kHz.

OPTICOM who is the leading provider of signal
based perceptual measurement technologies
and sole licenser for PEAQ offers algorithms for
voice, audio and video quality measurements.

Audio
quality

Objective
measurement
method

The model outputs the partial loudness of non­linear distortions, the partial loudness of linear
distortions (signal components lost due to an
unbalanced frequency response), a noise to
mask ratio, measures of alterations of temporal
envelopes, a measure of harmonics in the error
signal, a probability of error detection, and the
proportion of signal frames containing audible
distortions. Selected output values are mapped
to a single quality indicator - the Objective
Difference Grade (ODG) - by an artificial neural
network with one hidden layer. The ODG indi­cates the measured basic audio quality of the
signal under test on a continuous scale from -4
(very annoying impairment) to 0 (imperceptible
impairment). Besides the ODG the model out­puts a complementary quality value – the
Distortion Index (DI). The DI is a quality indica­tor like the ODG except for its higher sensitivity
towards very low signal qualities.

estimate

OPTICOM Product Line:
Voice/Audio Quality

PESQ ITU-T P.862
3SQM ITU-T P.563
PSQM ITU-T P.861
ECHO
PEAQ ITU-T BS.1387

Video Quality

PEVQ

Network Quality

VQmon

Key Features:

• Perceptual analysis of
degradations in audio sig­nals

• Well established, repeat­able results

• Output score correlates
very well with subjective
tests

• PEAQ Basic for real-time
measurements

• PEAQ Advance for more
detailed quality analysis

PEVQ™, 3SQM™ and the OPTICOM logo are registered trademarks of OPTICOM GmbH; the ‘single-sided speech quality measure’ and
‘the perceptual quality experts’ are trademarks of OPTICOM GmbH. This information may be subject to change.
All brand and product names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
All rights reserved. Copyright © 2005 OPTICOM GmbH – www.opticom.de

PEAQ comes in two versions: PEAQ Basic for
real-time measurements and PEAQ Advanced
for detailed analysis in non-real-time environ­ments. The main difference of the two models
lies in the used ear models and the set of mod­ule output values to calculate a final quality
score.

Input signals

(Reference and signal under test)

Playback level Playback level

Peripheral
ear model

(FFT based)

Pre-processing

of excitation patterns

Excitation patterns, specific loudness patterns,

modulation patterns, error signal

Calculate model

output values

Calculate quality measure

(artificial neural network)

Distortion index Objective difference grade

Specifications

Typical applications for PEAQ are: Assessment
of implementations, perceptual quality line up,
online monitoring, equipment or connection sta­tus, codec identification, codec development,
network planning and aid to subjective assess­ment.

Peripheral
ear model

(Filterbank based)

Pre-processing

of excitation patterns

Excitation patterns, specific loudness patterns,

modulation patterns

About OPTICOM

With PSQM, PESQ and PEAQ,
OPTICOM GmbH, the pioneer
in perceptual quality testing
has been providing three
international world-class
standards for voice and audio
quality measurement since
its foundation in 1995. With
their new single-sided
speech quality measure

™

3SQM

, a joint development
with partners, the perceptual
experts from Germany now
presented their fourth ITU
standard. At its 10th anniver­sary, the presentation of the
new PEVQ™ video measure
leverages the company’s
huge experience towards the
multimedia testing domain.
Recognized an industry refer­ence, OPTICOM’s OPERA
voice/audio quality test tools
are available to users world
wide. And while specialized
on OEM customers in particu­lar, the directory of OEM
licensees today reads like the
‘Who-is-Who’ of the
Telecoms industry. OPTICOM
is a privately held company
located in Erlangen, Germany.

PEAQ - Perceptual Evaluation of Audio Quality

Functionality

• ITU-R BS.1387-1 Perceptual Evaluation of
Audio Quality, with mapping to ODG scale
(0=imperceptible, … 4=very annoying)

Input

• 16 bit linear audio sampled at 44.1kHz and
48kHz

• Input audio files 10 to 20 seconds in length

Output

• Objective Difference Grade (ODG)

• Distortion Index (DI)

• PEAQ Basic Model Output Values:
Modulation changes, loudness of distortions,
Bandwidths of Signals, Frequency of audible
distortions, Noise-to-mask ratio, Detection
probability, Harmonic structure of error

• PEAQ Advanced Model Output Values:
Loudness of distortion, Changes in modula­tion, Linear distortions, Noise-to-mask ratio,
Harmonic structure of error

Complexity

• PEAQ Basic real-time

• PEAQ Advanced needs about four times the
computational resources as PEAQ Basic

• Floating point library required

Platform

• Windows

(others on request)

Sales Contacts:

OPTICOM GmbH

Nägelsbachstraße 38
91052 Erlangen, GERMANY
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[e-mail]
www.opticom.de

North America:

Telchemy Inc.

Phone [phone]

JDSU - Acterna U.S.

Phone [phone]

Europe, Latin America,
Middle East & Africa,
Asia Pacific, CIS Countries:

JDSU - Acterna
Germany GmbH

Phone: [phone]

Through our distributor net­work, we are represented in
more than 80 countries. To find
your local sales office, please
contact [e-mail]

PEVQ™, 3SQM™ and the OPTICOM logo are registered trademarks of OPTICOM GmbH; the ‘single-sided speech quality measure’ and
‘the perceptual quality experts’ are trademarks of OPTICOM GmbH. This information may be subject to change.
All brand and product names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
All rights reserved. Copyright © 2005 OPTICOM GmbH – www.opticom.de