IEC 61280-2-8:2021 is available as IEC 61280-2-8:2021 RLV which contains the International Standard and its Redline version, showing all changes of the technical content compared to the previous edition.

IEC 61280-2-8:2021 specifies two main methods for the determination of low BER values by making accelerated measurements. These include the variable decision threshold method (Clause 5) and the variable optical threshold method (Clause 6). In addition, a third method, the sinusoidal interference method, is described in Annex B. This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition published in 2003. This edition constitutes a technical revision. This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition:
- correction of errors in Formula (8) in 5.5.2 and in a related formula in 5.5.3;
- correction of errors in the references to clauses, subclauses, figures, procedures, and in the Bibliography;
- alignment of the terms and definitions in 3.1 with those in IEC 61281-1.