Systems and methods for visualizing errors in video signals
View Patent ↗Systems and methods for analyzing the performance of a digital network include capturing a stream of digital data, e.g., internet protocol (IP) packets, that represent streaming video, identifying which of the IP packets include bit errors, determining to which of a plurality of pixels the IP packets including bit errors belong and identifying such pixels as corrupted pixels, and illuminating only the corrupted pixels on a display of a tool. Corrupted pixels in different time blocks can be displayed with different colors to gain a better appreciation of the bit error rate over time.
1. A method for analyzing a data stream representing streaming video, comprising:
capturing, by a portable bit error rate tester (BERT), the data stream representing streaming video, the data stream comprising digital data representing pixels being transmitted on a network, the BERT storing a predetermined test pattern;
comparing, by the BERT, the captured data stream with the predetermined test pattern; in response to the comparing, identifying, by the BERT, a subset of the pixels transmitted on the network, wherein the subset of the pixels are corrupted pixels of the pixels represented by the digital data in the data stream;
determining whether a temporal display function is enabled; and
presenting on a display only the subset of corrupted pixels, wherein the presented subset of corrupted pixels are illuminated in locations on the display at which the corrupted pixels would otherwise be located in the streaming video.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising accumulating data regarding the corrupted pixels.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the BERT receives the data stream transmitted via a digital network.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the BERT identifies corrupted pixels by at least partially decoding the data stream.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data stream is transmitted via at least one of Digital Subscriber line (xDSL), Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) and Fiber to the X (FTTx).
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising calculating a quality score of the data stream.
7. The method of claim 1 comprising capturing an image of the display wherein only the corrupted pixels are illuminated and saving said image to a file system.
8. The method of claim 1 comprising identifying the corrupted pixels by analyzing the captured data stream prior to a decoding step in which the data stream is decoded for display as video.
9. A method, performed by a device, of analyzing a performance of a digital network, the method comprising:
capturing a stream of internet protocol (IP) packets that represent streaming video;
comparing the captured stream with a test pattern;
identifying a subset of the IP packets that include bit errors based on the comparison;
determining pixels belonging to the subset of IP packets, wherein the determined pixels are identified as corrupted pixels by analyzing the IP packets prior to a decoding step in which the captured stream of IP packets is decoded for display as video; and
presenting only the corrupted pixels belonging to the subset of IP packets on a display.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the digital network comprises a Digital Subscriber line (xDSL) network.
11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the digital network comprises and an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) network.
12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the comparing the captured stream with the test pattern comprises comparing a first test pattern received with the streaming video to a stored version of the first test pattern.
13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the method is performed by a portable bit error rate tester (BERT).
14. The method of claim 9 , further comprising calculating a quality score of the streaming video.
15. A method, performed by a device, for analyzing a data stream representing streaming video, comprising:
capturing the data stream representing streaming video, the data stream comprising digital data representing pixels being transmitted on a network;
comparing the captured data stream with a test pattern;
identifying a subset of the pixels transmitted on the network based on the comparing, wherein the subset of the pixels are corrupted pixels of the pixels represented by the digital data in the data stream;
presenting on a display only the subset of corrupted pixels, wherein the presented subset of corrupted pixels are illuminated in locations on the display at which the corrupted pixels would otherwise be located in the streaming video; and
capturing an image of the display wherein only the corrupted pixels are illuminated and saving said image to a file system.