diff --git a/js/imagediff.js b/js/imagediff.js
index 958aab6..c1b12ff 100644
--- a/js/imagediff.js
+++ b/js/imagediff.js
@@ -148,20 +148,46 @@
   function equalDimensions (a, b) {
     return equalHeight(a, b) && equalWidth(a, b);
   }
-  function equal (a, b, tolerance) {
+  function hasTotalDifference (aData, bData, totalToleranceRatio) {
+    var length         = aData.length,
+        sumDifferences = 0,
+        i;
+    for (i = 0; i < length; i++) {
+      sumDifferences += Math.abs(aData[i] - bData[i]);
+    };
+
+    return sumDifferences / (255 * length) <= totalToleranceRatio;
+  }
+  function hasPerPixelDifference (aData, bData, relativePixelTolerance) {
+    var length = aData.length,
+        i;
+    for (i = length; i--;) if (aData[i] !== bData[i] && Math.abs(aData[i] - bData[i]) > relativePixelTolerance) return false;
+    return true;
+  }
+  function equal (a, b, options) {
 
     var
-      aData     = a.data,
-      bData     = b.data,
-      length    = aData.length,
-      i;
+      aData             = a.data,
+      bData             = b.data,
+      toleranceValue, toleranceMethod;
+
+    // Support old interface
+    if (typeof options === "number") {
+      options = {
+        toleranceValue: options
+      };
+    }
 
-    tolerance = tolerance || 0;
+    toleranceValue = options && options.toleranceValue || 0;
+    toleranceMethod = options && options.toleranceMethod || 'relativePerPixel';
 
     if (!equalDimensions(a, b)) return false;
-    for (i = length; i--;) if (aData[i] !== bData[i] && Math.abs(aData[i] - bData[i]) > tolerance) return false;
 
-    return true;
+    if (toleranceMethod === 'totalRatio') {
+      return hasTotalDifference(aData, bData, toleranceValue)
+    } else {
+      return hasPerPixelDifference(aData, bData, toleranceValue);
+    }
   }
 
 
diff --git a/spec/ImageDiffSpec.js b/spec/ImageDiffSpec.js
index 05fea69..9e5b900 100644
--- a/spec/ImageDiffSpec.js
+++ b/spec/ImageDiffSpec.js
@@ -258,22 +258,67 @@ describe('ImageUtils', function() {
       expect(imagediff.equal(a, b)).toEqual(false);
     });
 
-    it('should be equal within optional tolerance', function () {
-      b = context.createImageData(2, 2);
-      b.data[0] = 100;
-      expect(imagediff.equal(a, b, 101)).toEqual(true);
-    });
+    describe("tolerance", function () {
+      it('should be equal within optional tolerance', function () {
+        b = context.createImageData(2, 2);
+        b.data[0] = 100;
+        expect(imagediff.equal(a, b, 101)).toEqual(true);
+      });
 
-    it('should be equal optional tolerance', function () {
-      b = context.createImageData(2, 2);
-      b.data[0] = 100;
-      expect(imagediff.equal(a, b, 100)).toEqual(true);
-    });
+      it('should be equal optional tolerance', function () {
+        b = context.createImageData(2, 2);
+        b.data[0] = 100;
+        expect(imagediff.equal(a, b, 100)).toEqual(true);
+      });
 
-    it('should not be equal outside tolerance', function () {
-      b = context.createImageData(2, 2);
-      b.data[0] = 100;
-      expect(imagediff.equal(a, b, 5)).toEqual(false);
+      it('should not be equal outside tolerance', function () {
+        b = context.createImageData(2, 2);
+        b.data[0] = 100;
+        expect(imagediff.equal(a, b, 5)).toEqual(false);
+      });
+
+      it('should be equal within optional tolerance using new API', function () {
+        b = context.createImageData(2, 2);
+        b.data[0] = 100;
+        expect(imagediff.equal(a, b, {toleranceValue: 101, toleranceMethod: 'relativePerPixel'})).toEqual(true);
+      });
+
+      it('should be equal optional tolerance using new API', function () {
+        b = context.createImageData(2, 2);
+        b.data[0] = 100;
+        expect(imagediff.equal(a, b, {toleranceValue: 100, toleranceMethod: 'relativePerPixel'})).toEqual(true);
+      });
+
+      it('should not be equal outside tolerance using new API', function () {
+        b = context.createImageData(2, 2);
+        b.data[0] = 100;
+        expect(imagediff.equal(a, b, {toleranceValue: 5, toleranceMethod: 'relativePerPixel'})).toEqual(false);
+      });
+
+      it('should be equal within optional total tolerance', function () {
+        b = context.createImageData(2, 2);
+        b.data[0] = 255;
+        expect(imagediff.equal(a, b, {toleranceValue: 1/4, toleranceMethod: 'totalRatio'})).toEqual(true);
+      });
+
+      it('should be equal optional total tolerance', function () {
+        b = context.createImageData(2, 2);
+        b.data[0] = 255;
+        expect(imagediff.equal(a, b, {toleranceValue: 1/16, toleranceMethod: 'totalRatio'})).toEqual(true);
+      });
+
+      it('should not be equal outside total tolerance', function () {
+        b = context.createImageData(2, 2);
+        b.data[0] = 255;
+        expect(imagediff.equal(a, b, {toleranceValue: 1/20, toleranceMethod: 'totalRatio'})).toEqual(false);
+      });
+
+      it('should use tolerance method "relativePerPixel" by default', function () {
+        b = context.createImageData(2, 2);
+        b.data[0] = 100;
+        expect(imagediff.equal(a, b, {toleranceValue: 100})).toEqual(true);
+        expect(imagediff.equal(a, b, {toleranceValue: 99})).toEqual(false);
+      });
     });
   });