Itu-T: Mean Opinion Score (MOS) Terminology
Itu-T: Mean Opinion Score (MOS) Terminology
Itu-T: Mean Opinion Score (MOS) Terminology
ITU-T P.800.1
TELECOMMUNICATION (07/2016)
STANDARDIZATION SECTOR
OF ITU
Vocabulary and effects of transmission parameters on customer opinion of transmission quality Series P.10
Voice terminal characteristics Series P.30
P.300
Reference systems Series P.40
Objective measuring apparatus Series P.50
P.500
Objective electro-acoustical measurements Series P.60
Measurements related to speech loudness Series P.70
Methods for objective and subjective assessment of speech quality Series P.80
Methods for objective and subjective assessment of speech and video quality Series P.800
Audiovisual quality in multimedia services Series P.900
Transmission performance and QoS aspects of IP end-points Series P.1000
Communications involving vehicles Series P.1100
Models and tools for quality assessment of streamed media Series P.1200
Telemeeting assessment Series P.1300
Statistical analysis, evaluation and reporting guidelines of quality measurements Series P.1400
Methods for objective and subjective assessment of quality of services other than speech and video Series P.1500
Summary
Recommendation ITU-T P.800.1 provides a terminology which shall be used in conjunction with
audio, video and audiovisual quality expressions in terms of mean opinion score (MOS). This
terminology is motivated by the intention to avoid misunderstanding as to whether specific values of
MOS for audio are related to listening quality, talking quality or conversational quality, whether they
originate from subjective tests, from objective models or from network planning models, as well as
extending the concept to video and audiovisual quality. Furthermore, this Recommendation provides
identifiers regarding the audio bandwidth, the type of interface (electrical or acoustical) and the
video resolution. Further guidance on the interpretation of MOS is given in Recommendation
ITU-T P.800.2.
History
Edition Recommendation Approval Study Group Unique ID*
1.0 ITU-T P.800.1 2003-03-16 12 11.1002/1000/6257
2.0 ITU-T P.800.1 2006-07-14 12 11.1002/1000/8860
3.0 ITU-T P.800.1 2016-02-29 12 11.1002/1000/12749
4.0 ITU-T P.800.1 2016-07-29 12 11.1002/1000/12972
Keywords
Audio, audio-visual, MOS, notation, video.
* To access the Recommendation, type the URL http://handle.itu.int/ in the address field of your web
browser, followed by the Recommendation's unique ID. For example, http://handle.itu.int/11.1002/1000/11
830-en.
NOTE
In this Recommendation, the expression "Administration" is used for conciseness to indicate both a
telecommunication administration and a recognized operating agency.
Compliance with this Recommendation is voluntary. However, the Recommendation may contain certain
mandatory provisions (to ensure, e.g., interoperability or applicability) and compliance with the
Recommendation is achieved when all of these mandatory provisions are met. The words "shall" or some
other obligatory language such as "must" and the negative equivalents are used to express requirements. The
use of such words does not suggest that compliance with the Recommendation is required of any party.
ITU 2016
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, by any means whatsoever, without the
prior written permission of ITU.
1 Scope
This Recommendation provides a terminology which shall be used in conjunction with audio, video
and audio-visual quality expressions in terms of mean opinion score (MOS).
2 References
The following ITU-T Recommendations and other references contain provisions which, through
reference in this text, constitute provisions of this Recommendation. At the time of publication, the
editions indicated were valid. All Recommendations and other references are subject to revision;
users of this Recommendation are therefore encouraged to investigate the possibility of applying the
most recent edition of the Recommendations and other references listed below. A list of the
currently valid ITU-T Recommendations is regularly published. The reference to a document within
this Recommendation does not give it, as a stand-alone document, the status of a Recommendation.
[ITU-T G.107] Recommendation ITU-T G.107 (2015), The E-model, a computational model
for use in transmission planning.
[ITU-T G.113 Ap.I] Recommendation ITU-T G.113 (2007), Appendix I, Provisional planning
values for the equipment impairment factor, Ie, and packet-loss robustness
factor, Bpl.
[ITU-T G.1070] Recommendation ITU-T G.1070 (2012), Opinion model for video-telephony
applications
[ITU-T G.1071] Recommendation ITU-T G.1071 (2015), Opinion model for network planning
of video and audio streaming applications.
[ITU-T J.140] Recommendation ITU-T J.140 (1998), Subjective picture quality assessment
for digital cable television systems.
[ITU-T J.144] Recommendation ITU-T J.144 (2004), Objective perceptual video quality
measurement techniques for digital cable television in the presence of a full
reference.
[ITU-T J.247] Recommendation ITU-T J.247 (2008), Objective perceptual multimedia video
quality measurement in the presence of a full reference.
[ITU-T J.341] Recommendation ITU-T J.341 (2016), Objective perceptual multimedia video
quality measurement of HDTV for digital cable television in the presence of a
full reference.
[ITU-T J.343] Recommendation ITU-T J.343 (2014), Hybrid perceptual bitstream models
for objective video quality measurements.
[ITU-T P.10] Recommendation ITU-T P.10/G.100 (2006), Vocabulary for performance
and quality of service.
[ITU-T P.562] Recommendation ITU-T P.562 (2004), Analysis and interpretation of INMD
voice-service measurements.
[ITU-T P.563] Recommendation ITU-T P.563 ((2004), Single-ended method for objective
speech quality assessment in narrow-band telephony applications.
[ITU-T P.800] Recommendation ITU-T P.800 (1996), Methods for subjective determination
of transmission quality.
3 Definitions
None.
5 Conventions
In this Recommendation the following conventions are used:
MOS-AVQE is used to refer to MOS estimated audiovisual quality;
MOS-AVQO is used to refer to MOS objective audiovisual quality;
MOS-AVQS is used to refer to MOS subjective audiovisual quality;
MOS-CQE is used to refer to MOS estimated conversational quality;
MOS-CQO is used to refer to MOS objective conversational quality;
MOS-CQS is used to refer to MOS subjective conversational quality;
MOS-LQE is used to refer to MOS estimated listening quality;
MOS-LQO is used to refer to MOS objective listening quality;
MOS-LQS is used to refer to MOS subjective listening quality;
MOS-TQE is used to refer to MOS estimated talking quality;
MOS-TQO is used to refer to MOS objective talking quality;
MOS-TQS is used to refer to MOS subjective talking quality;
MOS-VQE is used to refer to MOS estimated video quality;
MOS-VQO is used to refer to MOS objective video quality;
MOS-VQS is used to refer to MOS subjective video quality.
8.2 MOS-VQO
MOS-VQO refers to objective video quality, which represents the MOS score obtained from an
algorithmic quality evaluation model. The evaluation model uses real-time objective metrics that
can be obtained from information carried in the video streams and corresponding networks.
[ITU-T J.144], [ITU-T J.247], [ITU-T J.341], [ITU-T J.343], [ITU-T P.1201], [ITU-T P.1202] are
examples of such models.
8.3 MOS-VQE
The score is calculated by a network planning model which aims at predicting the quality in a video
application situation, based on non real-time parameters. [ITU-T G.1070] and [ITU-T G.1071] are
examples of such models.
9.1 MOS-AVQS
The score has been collected in a laboratory test by calculating the arithmetic mean value of
subjective judgments, typically on a 5-point quality scale. Subjective tests carried out according to
[ITU-T P.911], [ITU-T P.913], [ITU-T P.920] and [ITU-T P.1301] give results in terms of MOS-
AVQS.
9.2 MOS-AVQO
MOS-AVQO refers to objective audiovisual quality, which represents the MOS score obtained from
an algorithmic quality evaluation model. The evaluation model uses real-time objective metrics that
can be obtained from information carried in the audiovisual streams and corresponding networks..
[ITU-T P.1201] is an example of such a model.
9.3 MOS-AVQE
The score is calculated by a network planning model which aims at predicting the quality in an
audiovisual application situation, based on non real-time parameters. [ITU-T G.1070] is an example
of a model providing a two-way MOS-AVQE score, while [ITU-T G.1071] is an example of a
model giving a one-way MOS-AVQE score.
Series E Overall network operation, telephone service, service operation and human factors
Series F Non-telephone telecommunication services
Series G Transmission systems and media, digital systems and networks
Series Y Global information infrastructure, Internet protocol aspects and next-generation networks,
Internet of Things and smart cities
Printed in Switzerland
Geneva, 2016