---
updatedAt: 2025-06-18T02:44:40.000Z
agentTools:
  projectIndex: https://api.encoding.com/llms.txt
---

# Video Quality Metrics

When the <qc_video_metrics> parameter is added to your QC check, the source asset <original_source> is used as a reference file to quantitatively compare VQ using your choice of 4 industry-standard perceptual quality tools VMAF, PSNR, SSIM, and MS_SSIM. Comparing the report metrics of outputs with different codecs or encoding parameters can be an invaluable tool to help improve the playback experience.  Custom threshold parameters can be configured to return alerts when the quality scores are higher or lower than the predefined targets.

```xml
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<query>
    <userid>[UserID]</userid> <!-- required-->
    <userkey>[UserKey]</userkey> <!-- required-->
    <action>AddMedia</action>
    <source>[SourceFile]</source><!-- required -->
    <format>
        <output>qc_check</output><!-- required -->
        <source_options>
            <qc> 
                <qc_video_metrics>
                    <original_source>[OriginalSurceFile]</original_source> <!-- required -->
                    <original_transformations>
                        <type>scale</type>
                        <width>[Width]</width>
                        <height>[Height]</height>
                        <algo>[ScaleAlgo]</algo>
                    </original_transformations>
                    <original_transformations>
                        <type>pad</type>
                        <width>[Width]</width>
                        <height>[Height]</height>
                        <x>[PadX]</x>
                        <y>[PadY]</y>
                    </original_transformations>
                    <original_transformations>
                        <!-- original_transformations params -->
                    </original_transformations>
                    <metrics>
                        <metric>vmaf</metric> <!-- required -->
                        <model>[hdtv|4ktv]</model>
                        <thresholds>
                            <severity>[warning|fatal]</severity>
                            <min>
                                <lower>[LowerValue]</lower>
                                <upper>[UpperValue]</upper>
                            </min>
                            <max>
                                <lower>[LowerValue]</lower>
                                <upper>[UpperValue]</upper>
                            </max>
                            <percentile>
                                <perc>[PercentileValue]</perc>
                                <lower>[LowerValue]</lower>
                                <upper>[UpperValue]</upper>
                            </percentile>
                            <median>
                                <lower>[LowerValue]</lower>
                                <upper>[UpperValue]</upper>
                            </median>
                            <mean>
                                <lower>[LowerValue]</lower>
                                <upper>[UpperValue]</upper>
                            </mean>
                            <harm_mean>
                                <lower>[LowerValue]</lower>
                                <upper>[UpperValue]</upper>
                            </harm_mean>
                        </thresholds>
                        <thresholds>
                            <!-- thresholds params -->
                        </thresholds>
                    </metrics>
                    <metrics>
                        <metric>ms_ssim</metric> <!-- required -->
                        <thresholds>
                            <!-- thresholds params -->
                        </thresholds>
                    </metrics>
                    <metrics>
                        <metric>ssim</metric> <!-- required -->
                        <thresholds>
                            <!-- thresholds params -->
                        </thresholds>
                    </metrics>
                    <metrics>
                        <metric>psnr</metric> <!-- required -->
                        <thresholds>
                            <!-- thresholds params -->
                        </thresholds>
                    </metrics>
                    <metrics>
                        <metric>bitrate</metric> <!-- required -->
                        <thresholds>
                            <!-- thresholds params -->
                        </thresholds>
                    </metrics>
                </qc_video_metrics>
            </qc>
        </source_options>
        <!-- format params -->
    </format>
</query>
```
```json
{
    "query": {
        "userid": "[UserID]", // required
        "userkey": "[UserKey]", // required
        "action": "AddMedia", // required
        "source": "[SourceFile|SourcePlaylist]", // required
        "format": {
            "output": "qc_check", // required
            "source_options": {
                "qc": {
                    "qc_video_metrics": {
                        "original_source": "[OriginalSurceFile]", // required
                        "original_transformations": [
                            {
                                "type": "scale",
                                "width": "[Width]",
                                "height": "[Height]",
                                "algo": "[ScaleAlgo]"
                            },
                            {
                                "type": "pad",
                                "width": "[Width]",
                                "height": "[Height]",
                                "x": "[PadX]",
                                "y": "[PadY]"
                            },
                            {
                                // original_transformations params
                            }
                        ],
                        "metrics": [
                            {
                                "metric": "vmaf", // required
                                "model": "[hdtv|4ktv]",
                                "thresholds": [
                                    {
                                        "severity": "[warning|fatal]",
                                        "min": {
                                            "lower": "[LowerValue]",
                                            "upper": "[UpperValue]"
                                        },
                                        "max": {
                                            "lower": "[LowerValue]",
                                            "upper": "[UpperValue]"
                                        },
                                        "percentile": {
                                            "perc": "[PercentileValue]",
                                            "lower": "[LowerValue]",
                                            "upper": "[UpperValue]"
                                        },
                                        "median": {
                                            "lower": "[LowerValue]",
                                            "upper": "[UpperValue]"
                                        },
                                        "mean": {
                                            "lower": "[LowerValue]",
                                            "upper": "[UpperValue]"
                                        },
                                        "harm_mean": {
                                            "lower": "[LowerValue]",
                                            "upper": "[UpperValue]"
                                        }
                                    },
                                    {
                                        // thresholds params
                                    }
                                ]
                            },
                            {
                                "metric": "ms_ssim", // required
                                "thresholds": [
                                    {
                                        // thresholds params
                                    }
                                ]
                            },
                            {
                                "metric": "ssim", // required
                                "thresholds": [
                                    {
                                        // thresholds params
                                    }
                                ]
                            },
                            {
                                "metric": "psnr", // required
                                "thresholds": [
                                    {
                                        // thresholds params
                                    }
                                ]
                            },
                            {
                                "metric": "bitrate", // required
                                "thresholds": [
                                    {
                                        // thresholds params
                                    }
                                ]
                            }
                        ]
                    }
                }
            }
            // format params
        }
    }
}
```

\| Parameter                         | Description                                 | Allowed Values                                                                                         | Default Value |  |
\|:--------------------------------- |:------------------------------------------- |:------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |:------------- |: |
\| **original\_source**               | Original Source File for VMAF metric        | Valid URL                                                                                              | *none*        | - |
\| **original\_transformations**      | Source file transformations for VMAF metric | -                                                                                                      | -             | - |
\| *Original transformations params* | -                                           | -                                                                                                      | -             | - |
\| **type**                          | Transformation type                         | scale, pad                                                                                             | *none*        | - |
\| **width**                         | Width                                       | Positive integer number                                                                                | *none*        | - |
\| **height**                        | Height                                      | Positive integer number                                                                                | *none*        | - |
\| **algo**                          | Scale algorithm                             | fast\_bilinear, bilinear, bicubic, experimental, neighbor, area, bicublin, gauss, sinc, lanczos, spline | *none*        | - |
\| **x**                             | Horizontal padding                          | Positive integer number                                                                                | *none*        | - |
\| **y**                             | Vertical padding                            | Positive integer number                                                                                | *none*        | - |
\| **metrics**                       | Metrics array                               | -                                                                                                      | -             | - |
\| *Metrics params*                  | -                                           | -                                                                                                      | -             | - |
\| **metric**                        | Metric name                                 | vmaf, psnr, ssim, ms\_ssim, bitrate                                                                     | *none*        | - |
\| **model**                         | VMAF model                                  | hdtv, 4ktv                                                                                             | *none*        | - |
\| **thresholds**                    | Metric threshold functions array            | -                                                                                                      | -             | - |
\| *Thresholds params*               | -                                           | -                                                                                                      | -             | - |
\| **severity**                      | Test severity                               | warning, fatal                                                                                         | warning       | - |
\| **min**                           | Minimum function                            | -                                                                                                      | -             | - |
\| **max**                           | Maximum function                            | -                                                                                                      | -             | - |
\| **percentile**                    | Percentile function                         | -                                                                                                      | -             | - |
\| **median**                        | Median function                             | -                                                                                                      | -             | - |
\| **mean**                          | Mean function                               | -                                                                                                      | -             | - |
\| **harm\_mean**                     | Harmonic mean function                      | -                                                                                                      | -             | - |
\| *Threshold function params*       | -                                           | -                                                                                                      | -             | - |
\| **lower**                         | Lower value                                 | Positive integer number                                                                                | *none*        | - |
\| **upper**                         | Upper value                                 | Positive integer number                                                                                | *none*        | - |
\| **perc**                          | Percentile value                            | Positive integer number                                                                                | *none*        | - |

> 🚧 Note
>
> The **qc\_video\_metrics** test is available only for **mpeg-4**, **mpeg-ts**, and **mxf** source file formats.