Feasibility Study for the Development of a Motion Imagery Quality Metric

Published

October 1, 2004

Author(s)

J Irvine, Charles D. Fenimore, D Cannon, John W. Roberts, S Israel, L Simon, C Watts, J Miller, A I. Aviles, P F. Tighe, R J. Behrens

Abstract

The motion imagery community would benefit from the availability of standard measures for assessing image interpretability. The National Imagery Interpretability Rating Scale (NIIRS) has served as a community standard for still imagery, but no comparable scale exists for motion imagery. Several considerations unique to motion imagery indicate that the standard methodology employed in the past for NIIRS development may not be applicable or, at a minimum, require modifications. Traditional methods for NIIRS development rely on a close linkage between perceived image quality, as captured by specific image interpretation tasks, and the sensor parameters associated with image acquisition. The dynamic nature of motion imagery suggests that this type of linkage may not exist or may be modulated by other factors. An initial study was conducted to understand the effects of specific factors on perceived image interpretability for motion imagery. These factors are: Target motion: Other studies indicate that moving targets exhibit greater salience that can enhance target detection and recognition; Camera motion: The parallax effect and changing viewing geometry assist the analyst, particularly when viewing partially occluded targets; Scene complexity: It has been hypothesized that both target and camera motion exhibit greater effects on perceived interpretability when the scenes are more complex. In this evaluation, a number of experienced imagery analysts provided ratings and comparisons of a number of motion imagery clips and images derived from these clips. The image set was well characterized in terms of target motion, camera motion, and scene complexity, as well as ground sampled distance. Analysis of the data from this evaluation provides insight into the magnitude of these effects on perceived image interpretability. This paper describes the evaluation, presents the results, and explores the implications for development of a NIIRS-like scale for motion imagery.

Proceedings Title

Proceedings of Applied Imagery Pattern Recognition Workshop 2004

Conference Dates

October 13-15, 2004

Conference Location

Washington, http://www.itl.nist.gov/iad/IADpapers/2004/MIQM_AIPR_Paper.pdf

Pub Type

Conferences

Citation

Irvine, J. , Fenimore, C. , Cannon, D. , Roberts, J. , Israel, S. , Simon, L. , Watts, C. , Miller, J. , Aviles, A. , Tighe, P. and Behrens, R. (2004), Feasibility Study for the Development of a Motion Imagery Quality Metric, Proceedings of Applied Imagery Pattern Recognition Workshop 2004, Washington, http://www.itl.nist.gov/iad/IADpapers/2004/MIQM_AIPR_Paper.pdf (Accessed October 14, 2025)