Sink (Analysis) Stages¶
Analysis sink stages are terminal stages that generate diagnostics, metrics, and reports rather than producing media or hardware output. They consume processed data from upstream stages and emit analysis results intended for comparison, validation, or debugging.
Analysis sinks:
- Do not modify video, audio, or metadata
- Do not produce outputs that can be connected further downstream
- Display results in a chart window and can optionally write a CSV file
They are typically used to:
- Compare capture quality across multiple sources
- Validate signal stability and decode quality
- Quantify the effects of transform stages such as stacking or dropout correction
All three analysis sinks work the same way: trigger the stage to compute the dataset, after which the matching analysis chart dialog opens automatically. The dataset is cached in the stage and the chart can be re-opened at any time from the Stage Tools menu.
Burst Level Analysis Sink¶
| Stage id | burst_level_analysis_sink |
| Stage name | Burst Level Analysis Sink |
| Connections | 1 input → no outputs |
| Purpose | Measure colour burst level stability across fields |
Use this stage when:
- Evaluating chroma signal stability
- Comparing multiple captures of the same source
- Diagnosing colour amplitude fluctuations or capture issues
What it does
This stage measures the amplitude of the colour burst for each field and generates statistics describing burst level variation over time (per-field measurements plus aggregate mean, variance, min/max). After triggering, the Burst Level Analysis chart is opened automatically.
Parameters
output_path(file path)- Destination CSV file for burst metrics. Leave empty to skip file output.
write_csv(bool)- Enable writing results to CSV at trigger time.
Stage tools
- Burst Level Analysis — displays per-frame colour-burst amplitude measurements in a chart window. Invoked automatically after triggering; can be re-opened from the Stage Tools menu.
Notes
- Results are meaningful only if colour burst timing is correct upstream.
- Masking or altering the burst region before this stage will invalidate results.
- Connect one instance before and one after the Stacker stage to compare burst stability across captures.
Dropout Analysis Sink¶
| Stage id | dropout_analysis_sink |
| Stage name | Dropout Analysis Sink |
| Connections | 1 input → no outputs |
| Purpose | Produce statistics describing dropout frequency, size, and distribution |
Use this stage when:
- Comparing dropout levels between captures
- Evaluating the effectiveness of stacking or dropout correction
- Identifying problematic regions of a capture
What it does
This stage reads dropout hints present in the stream (originating from the source or modified by transform stages such as dropout_map) and generates statistical summaries: total dropout count, per-field counts, size distributions, and line/field density metrics. After triggering, the Dropout Analysis chart is opened automatically.
It does not perform dropout detection or correction itself.
Parameters
output_path(file path)- Destination CSV file for dropout metrics. Leave empty to skip file output.
write_csv(bool)- Enable writing results to CSV at trigger time.
Stage tools
- Dropout Analysis — displays dropout frequency, size, and distribution charts. Invoked automatically after triggering; can be re-opened from the Stage Tools menu.
Notes
- Results depend on the quality of upstream dropout detection.
- Removing or adding dropouts upstream will directly affect analysis output.
- Connect one instance before the Stacker and one after to see the dropout reduction achieved by stacking.
SNR Analysis Sink¶
| Stage id | snr_analysis_sink |
| Stage name | SNR Analysis Sink |
| Connections | 1 input → no outputs |
| Purpose | Produce signal-to-noise metrics for capture quality comparison |
Use this stage when:
- Comparing multiple captures of the same material
- Quantifying improvements from stacking or filtering
- Evaluating capture hardware or settings
What it does
This stage estimates signal-to-noise ratio using spatial and temporal analysis of the incoming video stream, reporting white SNR and black SNR per field along with aggregate statistics. Results are consistent across comparable pipelines, allowing meaningful cross-capture comparison. After triggering, the SNR Analysis chart is opened automatically.
Parameters
output_path(file path)- Destination CSV file for SNR metrics. Leave empty to skip file output.
write_csv(bool)- Enable writing results to CSV at trigger time.
Stage tools
- SNR Analysis — displays white SNR and black SNR metrics over time in a chart window. Invoked automatically after triggering; can be re-opened from the Stage Tools menu.
Notes
- Meaningful SNR comparison requires aligned sources.
- Use
source_alignandstackerappropriately upstream when comparing captures. - Stacking improves SNR only where sources contain independent noise; identical sources will not show an SNR improvement on dropout-free areas.
Notes on Analysis Sink Stages¶
- Analysis sink stages terminate pipeline branches.
- Multiple analysis sinks may consume the same upstream output.
- Analysis sinks are side-effect-free with respect to media data.
- Results are intended for diagnostics, comparison, and validation—not for further pipeline processing.