Quantitative Video Scoring in Flight Test

Video capture and encoding has long been a key function of Flight Test Data Acquisition systems. The encoding methods that are used have gradually evolved from H.261 to MPEG-2 and now to H.264 and H.265. With each improvement in video encoding scheme, users of FTI equipment can achieve compression ratios with better quality video. This allows instrumentation engineers to increase the video resolution and frame rate while making more efficient use of the limited transmission spectrum inherent to FTI operations. While Curtiss-Wright’s design team was weighing options in next generation video encoders, it became clear that quantifiable measurements of video quality we’re required to communicate the improvements seen in sample video files to the average Flight test Engineer. In this paper, we will explore industry standard video quality metrics and illustrate a sample data set and results for measuring the quality of FTI video encoding.