Real-world Testing: Applications
Many multimedia applications can be used for real-world performance testing. Encoding sample video clips with Microsoft Windows Media Encoder, VirtualDub, or Adobe Premiere can be a very effective comparative test, as long as each encoding pass is accomplished under the same system configuration. Each of these applications can return values that indicate the amount of time elapsed during encoding. Similar operations can also measure the time required to apply transforms or filters to graphics in applications such as GIMP or Adobe Photoshop.
