A video quality estimation method, comprising the steps of: - receiving a video bitstream comprising a series of picture frames; - determining an error occurrence in a macro block of a picture frame; - keeping track of at least one of a temporal propagation and a spatial propagation of the error by using at least one of motion vector information and intra prediction that relates to the error-affected macro block; - estimating a quality of the video bitstream based on the error propagation; and - determining a visual degradation caused by the error, wherein a penalty value is calculated for each error-affected macro block and is indicative of the amount of visual degradation caused by the error, - wherein the penalty value is calculated according to one or more of the following rules: -- assigning a higher penalty value to the error if the error occurs in a scene change; -- assigning a higher penalty value to the error if the video bitstream comprises motion data directly after an error-affected picture frame and particularly if a relative magnitude of the motion is large; -- assigning no penalty value to the error for the macro block if the macro block is a skip or is an estimated skip, optionally unless there is a scene change or an estimated scene change; -- decreasing the penalty value assigned to the error for at least one subsequent picture frame by a predetermined amount or factor; and -- resetting the penalty value upon reception of an intra-coded macro block or an intra-coded picture frame. - receiving a video bitstream comprising a series of picture frames; - determining an error occurrence in a macro block of a picture frame; - keeping track of at least one of a temporal propagation and a spatial propagation of the error by using at least one of motion vector information and intra prediction that relates to the error-affected macro block; - estimating a quality of the video bitstream based on the error propagation; and - determining a visual degradation caused by the error, wherein a penalty value is calculated for each error-affected macro block and is indicative of the amount of visual degradation caused by the error, - wherein the penalty value is calculated according to one or more of the following rules: -- assigning a higher penalty value to the error if the error occurs in a scene change; -- assigning a higher penalty value to the error if the video bitstream comprises motion data directly after an error-affected picture frame and particularly if a relative magnitude of the motion is large; -- assigning no penalty value to the error for the macro block if the macro block is a skip or is an estimated skip, optionally unless there is a scene change or an estimated scene change; -- decreasing the penalty value assigned to the error for at least one subsequent picture frame by a predetermined amount or factor; and -- resetting the penalty value upon reception of an intra-coded macro block or an intra-coded picture frame. -- assigning a higher penalty value to the error if the error occurs in a scene change; -- assigning a higher penalty value to the error if the video bitstream comprises motion data directly after an error-affected picture frame and particularly if a relative magnitude of the motion is large; -- assigning no penalty value to the error for the macro block if the macro block is a skip or is an estimated skip, optionally unless there is a scene change or an estimated scene change; -- decreasing the penalty value assigned to the error for at least one subsequent picture frame by a predetermined amount or factor; and -- resetting the penalty value upon reception of an intra-coded macro block or an intra-coded picture frame.