Disclosed herein is a method for determining the location of at least one error in a digital data stream and identifying the data surrounding the error which comprises selecting a user data stream to be analyzed for errors, selecting a seed bit segment out of the user data stream and converting that to a reference data stream, synchronizing the reference data stream with the user data stream, determining if an error exists, if an error has occurred calculating where on the data stream the error occurred, comparing the data stream segment containing the error with the reference data stream, analyzing the data surrounding the error, and computing actual data values from phase, data type and error location.