user18532: I have to encode (transcode) many video files (usually from AVI to MP4). But to see if the encoded files are correct or not I will play all the files manually, which is rather tedious.
Is there any tool to check if an encoded file is perfect or not?

user14523: You can use a free tool like the Moscow State University Video Quality Measurement Tool or something like Tektronix Aurora or Interra Baton in a professional setting.
However, you should always visually check at least the heads and tails of the video, in addition to any areas flagged by an automated QC tool. Spot checking the middle of the file is also a good idea. A specialty player like QCTools is helpful.
One thing to note: I've generally found that the amount of time needed to set up a good automated QC workflow is only worthwhile if you have a lot of material to QC (tens of hours or more) or you will use the workflow repeatedly for a long time. The amount of work needed to automate the QC outweighs the time spent checking short term, small workloads.

user13989: There are several methods/algorithms to compare a transcoded file against its original. 
This is a good article which I believe covers what you're asking. It touches on algorithms such as Peak Signal-to-Noise (PSNR) ratio and Structural Similarity Index (SSIM) used to perform objective analysis -- without having to watch the actual video.
http://www.streamingmedia.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=110206&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=Article_Reads

Without question, the gold standard for assessing video quality is a controlled subjective test, which, as previously mentioned, can be time-consuming and expensive to run. Objective quality benchmarks are algorithms that compare the compressed video with the source and render a value that predicts how the compressed file would fare in subjective tests. There are multiple algorithms, all rated according to how well they correspond with actual subjective evaluations. None are perfect, but some perform better than others.

Jan Ozer, the article author, even links to a demo of the Moscow University Video Quality Measurement Tool showing good and bad frame-to-frame comparisons.



Cheers,
Ian

18532: <p>I have to encode (transcode) many video files (usually from AVI to MP4). But to see if the encoded files are correct or not I will play all the files manually, which is rather tedious.</p>

<p>Is there any tool to check if an encoded file is perfect or not?</p>
 14523: <p>You can use a free tool like the Moscow State University <a href="http://www.compression.ru/video/quality_measure/video_measurement_tool.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Video Quality Measurement Tool</a> or something like <a href="http://www.tek.com/aurora" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Tektronix Aurora</a> or <a href="http://www.interrasystems.com/file-based-qc.php" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Interra Baton</a> in a professional setting.</p>

<p>However, you should always visually check at least the heads and tails of the video, in addition to any areas flagged by an automated QC tool. Spot checking the middle of the file is also a good idea. A specialty player like <a href="https://bavc.org/preserve-media/preservation-tools" rel="nofollow noreferrer">QCTools</a> is helpful.</p>

<p>One thing to note: I've generally found that the amount of time needed to set up a good automated QC workflow is only worthwhile if you have a lot of material to QC (tens of hours or more) or you will use the workflow repeatedly for a long time. The <a href="http://thedoghousediaries.com/5412" rel="nofollow noreferrer">amount of work needed to automate the QC outweighs the time spent checking</a> short term, small workloads.</p>
 13989: <p>There are several methods/algorithms to compare a transcoded file against its original. </p>

<p>This is a good article which I believe covers what you're asking. It touches on algorithms such as Peak Signal-to-Noise (PSNR) ratio and Structural Similarity Index (SSIM) used to perform objective analysis -- without having to watch the actual video.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.streamingmedia.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=110206&amp;utm_source=RSS&amp;utm_medium=RSS&amp;utm_campaign=Article_Reads" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.streamingmedia.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=110206&amp;utm_source=RSS&amp;utm_medium=RSS&amp;utm_campaign=Article_Reads</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Without question, the gold standard for assessing video quality is a controlled subjective test, which, as previously mentioned, can be time-consuming and expensive to run. Objective quality benchmarks are algorithms that compare the compressed video with the source and render a value that predicts how the compressed file would fare in subjective tests. There are multiple algorithms, all rated according to how well they correspond with actual subjective evaluations. None are perfect, but some perform better than others.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Jan Ozer, the article author, even links to a demo of the Moscow University Video Quality Measurement Tool showing good and bad frame-to-frame comparisons.</p>

<p><div class="youtube-embed"><div>
                <iframe width="640px" height="395px" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tfeQ2MLi3mg?start=0"></iframe>
            </div></div></p>

<p>Cheers,</p>

<p>Ian</p>
