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100 Things #53: Make ITU-T-P.63 Compliant POLQA Measurements With SoundCheck

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Opticom’s POLQA algorithm is available as an option in SoundCheck, where it can be used in a test sequence to automate measurements, or for stand-alone analysis. POLQA is an alternative to a panel of human listeners for quantifiable measurement of speech degradation.

POLQA Analysis within SoundCheck

Learn more about POLQA Analysis Using SoundCheck

Read about POLQA for SoundCheck, or check out our more detailed video demonstrating POLQA measurements.

 

Video Script: Make ITU-T-P.63 Compliant POLQA Measurements With SoundCheck

Did you know that Opticom’s POLQA algorithm is now integrated into SoundCheck? You can access all the functionality of this algorithm through the familiar SoundCheck interface, and it can be integrated into test sequences for rapid, automated measurement.

POLQA Analysis is a fast and cost-effective alternative to a panel of human listeners for perceptual measurements of speech degradation in communications applications. It compares a reference and response waveform and returns a mean opinion score, or MOS, on a scale of 1 to 5.

This SoundCheck add-on module operates just like any other post-processing step. You configure the reference and response waveforms, set test parameters, and define outputs through the familiar soundcheck interface, and SoundCheck returns results as graphs and tables like any other analysis. It can naturally be used within sequences to accelerate and simplify test procedures, and can also be used to process imported data using Batch File Processing. This means that you can quickly calculate scores for hundreds or even thousands of waveforms captured offline, as well as those that you have measured in SoundCheck.

SoundCheck uses Version 3 of the algorithm which implements the ITU-T P.863 standard, but it also includes the option to analyze data using the older Version 2.4 for correlation with measurements made on older systems.

This algorithm is applicable to many communications devices from traditional phones to smart devices. For example, you can assess the impact of a noise reduction algorithm on an audio communication system, evaluate the perceived audio degradation in a Bluetooth connection due to packet loss, or quantify the impact of various speech codecs on perceived speech quality.

If you want to learn more, check out our YouTube channel for a more complete demonstration of this capability.

 

 

 

 

 

In-Vehicle Audio System Distortion Audibility versus Level and Its Impact on Perceived Sound Quality

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As in-vehicle audio system output level increases, so too does audio distortion. At what level is distortion audible and how is sound quality perceived as level increases? Binaural recordings of musical excerpts played through the in-vehicle audio system at various volume levels were made in the driver’s position. These were adjusted to equal loudness and played through a low distortion reference headphone. Listeners ranked both distortion audibility and perceived sound quality. The distortion at each volume level was also measured objectively using a commercial audio test system. The correlation between perceived sound quality and objective distortion measurements is discussed.

Authors: Steve Temme, Listen, Inc. and Patrick Dennis, Nissan Technical Center North America, Inc.,
Presented at the 141st AES Convention, Los Angeles, CA 2015

Full Paper