design for quality evaluation

During its more than 20 years of existence, DXOMARK has acquired in-depth and comprehensive expertise on quality analysis of electronic systems, starting in the early 2000’s with the launch of imaging quality analysis of camera sensors, and later for DSLRs. To perform their evaluations, our experts developed their own state-of-the-art testing solutions, which became our Analyzer software and lab solutions product line.Since then, DXOMARK has extended its knowledge and skills to audio, battery, camera, and display with the same goal and methodology of using an integrated set of lab solutions and engineering services to bring meaningful evaluations to smartphone, computing, and automotive industry manufacturers and end-users. Beyond these recent success stories, DXOMARK addresses a wide range of electronic products such as 3D cameras and wireless speakers, as well as specialized defense and medical devices.

Discover what we can offer

“In creating DxO and then DXOMARK, our goal was to bring a better experience to photographers. Our vision has continued to expand and now allows us to improve the user experience in a wide variety of areas.”–  Frédéric Guichard, CEO & first DXOMARK expert

DSLRs & lenses

Camera makers face more competition than ever. The rapid rise of the smartphone as a popular tool for capturing photos and videos has led manufacturers to invest more and more in phone camera imaging capabilities, bringing them increasingly closer to the performance of traditional cameras and lenses.A successful response requires not just deep experience in standalone camera design, but an ability to incorporate some of the best ideas and technologies from other markets to create competitive products. Standalone cameras require both industry-leading image quality and an extensive and challenging set of user features. Fierce competition from new imaging platforms requires maintaining excellent image quality in increasingly smaller and lighter forms.In addition, cameras are also expected to provide extensive zoom capability without a noticeable reduction in image quality, along with improved low-light performance. Camera vendors also face the challenge of staying ahead of computational imaging features provided in smartphones by harnessing new, often AI-driven features that help “digitize the photographer.”

DXOMARK services and solutions

DXOMARK’s roots in camera development, design, and software engineering make us the ideal partner for optimizing the performance capacity of any digital camera or lens. We provide benchmarking services that can help you compare the real-world performance of various camera and lens components and their impact on image quality before the design phase of camera development. Further, our consulting services can help you tune and optimize your device throughout the camera development cycle.Analyzer is a complete hardware and software lab and measurement solution that consists of carefully designed modules you can use to perform various photo and video quality measurements, as well as perceptual analysis. Using Workflow Manager from Analyzer, you can even customize your workflows, thus increasing lab efficiency and output. Learn more.

Audio products

Today’s audio systems allow the end user to enjoy sound content even when listening via different applications and hardware such as soundbars, wireless speakers, headsets or headphones. Wireless speakers have become an essential appliance in millions of households worldwide, allowing people to use Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or proprietary protocols to easily connect to their music, their televisions, and other forms of entertainment without the need for cables. Such wireless systems are simple to install and are easily transportable. These advantages have brought presented manufacturers with such challenges as reducing size and weight while maintaining optimal audio quality.

DXOMARK services and solutions

DXOMARK provides in-depth audio quality testing reports, product benchmarking, and performance analysis tailored to the audio product ecosystem. Our testing capabilities include a dedicated state-of-the-art audio lab with a semi-anechoic chamber, a specially-designed living space for real-life testing, and sophisticated equipment for testing and measuring speaker audio capabilities both in our lab and in the real world.Our experts have also developed dedicated test protocols for evaluating and comparing products’ audio playback quality. We designed these tests around the end-user experience with scientific precision. Our speaker protocol combines a variety of objective tests and many hours of perceptual evaluation under controlled lab and real-life conditions, based on several of the most common listening use cases.Dedicated to helping clients from the earliest phases of design all the way through tuning and production, our audio service engineers can help manufacturers and component suppliers benchmark and design products that meet user expectations.

Security cameras

As surveillance systems advance from simple passive observation windows to active agents incorporating advanced technologies such as facial recognition, parcel detection, and traffic flow management, they require the integration of increasingly advanced camera technology. Similarly, aerospace and defense applications are increasing their use of advanced camera-based capabilities that require specialized knowledge and experience.

Extreme conditions combined with uncompromising video quality goals make surveillance camera design a unique challenge. Effective surveillance requires seeing all elements of a scene in lighting conditions that potentially range from complete darkness to bright daylight. In addition, they often need to handle intense back lighting. As a result, many surveillance applications require integrating multiple sensors, including near-IR and thermal sensors, with visible-light cameras, as well as with multi-frame or other HDR solutions. Given the environments in which they often operate, surveillance cameras must have good video stabilization, as they are susceptible to being swayed by the wind or shaken by heavy vehicular traffic (for example). Further, surveillance camera systems have to capture good wide-angle shots that avoid distortion and have a coherent and uniform appearance all across the field.

With the growing popularity of automatic image analysis, surveillance cameras need to be optimized for both human and computer vision, including input to AI-based analysis systems. Given the large amount of data that cameras capture, the intelligent compression of the data stream without sacrificing important information is also crucial. Depending on circumstances, many surveillance systems also need to be able to support deployment in harsh conditions, including rain and snow.

DXOMARK services and solutions

Our experience in designing multi-camera systems for a variety of industries makes DXOMARK an ideal partner for your surveillance camera projects. We can provide in-depth evaluation of such surveillance system types as indoor fixed-focus cameras and outdoor PTZ cameras, among others.

Our benchmarking and consulting services can help you through all stages of your product development. Our lab solutions also address key challenges in the surveillance industry such as stabilization, wide-angle quality analysis, HDR scene management and more. Analyzer not only helps you evaluate these image-quality attributes, but also tests automatic white balance, automatic exposure, and noise under challenging lighting scenarios simulated by our lighting system. (Learn more.)

Drones & action cameras

Cameras that move — such as those in drones and especially in-action cameras — require their own specialized strategies. It is no longer acceptable to repackage a standard camera. Users expect high-performance image stabilization even from rapidly moving cameras, and high-quality video even in quickly changing lighting and scene conditions.Recording quality video despite extreme motion is among the unique challenges facing drone camera designers. In addition to all the same challenges of mobile device cameras, drones and action cameras require particular attention to stabilization under extremely adverse conditions, especially when it comes to controlling judder.Users also expect drone and action cameras to feature a broad set of capabilities, including zoom and HDR, all in a light and small package at relatively low cost. Moreover, consumers have come to expect competing manufacturers to offer AI-enhanced image and video processing computational imaging. Further, commercial drones also require measurement accuracy and reliability.

DXOMARK services and solutions

DXOMARK has more than a decade of experience in the drone and action camera market. We offer testing and benchmarking services to help manufacturers identify ways to improve their products at each step of development. Our experts have designed specific tools to evaluate camera color, texture, and contrast in HDR and extremely low-light conditions, along with video stabilization — a key component for these types of cameras. Moving cameras also need to take wide-angle shots while avoiding distortion and to have coherent and uniform performance all across the field.Our Analyzer product line not only helps you evaluate these image-quality attributes, but also tests automatic white balance, automatic exposure, and noise under challenging lighting scenarios simulated by our lighting system. (Learn more.)

Wearables and augmented/virtual reality

Wearable cameras present unique challenges for product design and manufacturing. In addition to the same issues faced by other kinds of moving cameras, these devices need to provide high-quality images using very-wide-angle lenses, typically with no user intervention or assistance. In addition, wearable cameras have to handle difficult scenes that can require controlling flare from extreme back lighting and judder from unpredictable actions. Users expect video output to feature smooth panning despite jerky or sporadic motions.

As for AR/VR headsets, multiple cameras need to be calibrated and evaluated for their 3D performance, and often must have their output fused with output from other sensors on the device.

DXOMARK solutions and services

We can help your team with its camera architecture and product design choices, as well as with creating vendor specifications, performance goals, and milestones. During the development process, in addition to progress reports, we can provide you with wearable-specific camera module benchmarks to help you select the right components to achieve your desired results. We have worked with makers of 180-degree, 360-degree, and AR/VR devices, and understand their unique challenges.

Analyzer is a complete hardware and software camera lab with measurement solutions for evaluating component-level and system-level performance. In particular, you can use Analyzer for evaluating camera color, texture, and contrast under HDR and low-light conditions.

Good stabilization is also a key component in meeting users’ expectations of smooth playback, and Analyzer’s in-depth video analysis includes assessing automatic white balance, automatic exposure, noise, flare, and stabilization under challenging lighting scenarios simulated by our lighting systems.

Wearables also need to take wide-angle shots that avoid distortion and provide coherent and uniform performance all across the field. Analyzer not only helps you evaluate these image-quality attributes, but can also perform multi-camera parallax testing to ensure better device calibration. Learn more.

TV screens

Television screens are a must-have in living rooms all over the world, whether for watching news channels, series, or movies, or for streaming platform content. These devices are getting thinner and larger and constantly offer new technology to provide the best possible content rendering. One of the most important challenges is the management of HDR content, including such popular formats as Dolby vision, HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG. But the quest for the best LED, OLED, QLED display technologies is very intense, and all these improvements pose test the limits of screen quality and need to be studied in detail.

DXOMARK solutions and services

Our experts have in-depth knowledge of screen evaluation for multimedia applications. DXOMARK can provide in-depth analysis of display quality and benchmarks that are independent of the technologies chosen by manufacturers for the panel or screen. Our teams also offer consulting services to improve the performance of these devices.We have already tested dozens of products in our lab, using our proprietary test bench, video content, and testing solutions. These tools allow us to evaluate all key criteria such as brightness, contrast, EOTF, color, uniformity, angular performance and the management of different kinds of HDR and SDR content. These tools and tests are all available in our Display Lab offer.

And many more!

The examples we have mentioned are just a few of the industries we work closely with. With our state-of-the-art expertise in Audio, Battery, Display and Camera quality evaluation, DXOMARK also provides service in many other fields.

Our scientifically rigorous testing methodology and protocols allow us to evaluate all types of consumer and professional products even outside our core expertise, such as GPS performance (read this article to learn more).

If you have a request, do not hesitate to contact us. Our experts are at your disposal to help you achieve excellence.

DXOMARK Quality Experts are active participants on numerous standard and technical committees for
Audio, Battery, Camera, and Display.