# Compare Images

To identify differences between an image and a reference image that you added to the Media Server database, configure an image comparison analysis task by following these steps.

To compare images

1. Create a new configuration to send to Media Server with the `process` action, or open an existing configuration that you want to modify.

2. In the `[Session]` section, add a new analysis task by setting the `EngineN` parameter. You can give the task any name, for example:

       [Session]
       Engine0=Ingest
       Engine1=CompareImages

3. Create a new configuration section to contain the task settings, and set the following parameters:

   `Type` | The analysis engine to use. Set this parameter to `ImageComparison`.
   `Input` | (Optional) The image track to process.
   `Database` | (Optional) The database that contains the references to compare to. By default, Media Server uses all databases. Database names are case-sensitive.
   `Identifier` | (Optional) A comma-separated list of identifiers that specifies the reference images to compare against. To use this parameter you must set the `Database` parameter and the references that you specify must exist in that database. Micro Focus recommends that you set both `Database` and `Identifier` to reduce the number of comparisons.
   `Region` | (Optional) Set this parameter to compare a region of the ingested image to the reference image(s).

   For example:

       [CompareImages]
       Type=ImageComparison
       Database=ReferenceImages
       Identifier=TransportCamera39

   For more details about the parameters that you can use to customize image comparison, refer to the Media Server Reference.

4. Save and close the configuration file. Micro Focus recommends that you save your configuration files in the location specified by the `ConfigDirectory` parameter.

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