The method is, to a large degree, nonintrusive. The added tracers (if they are properly chosen) generally cause negligible distortion of the fluid flow.
Optical measurement avoids the need for Pitot tubes, hotwire anemometers or other intrusive Flow measurement probes. The method is capable of measuring an entire two-dimensional cross section (geometry) of the flow field simultaneously.
High speed data processing allows the generation of large numbers of image pairs which, on a personal computer may be analysed in real time or at a later time, and a high quantity of near-continuous information may be gained.
Sub pixel displacement values allow a high degree of accuracy, since each vector is the statistical average for many particles within a particular tile. Displacement can typically be accurate down to 10% of one pixel on the image plane.