DISTORTION

in acoustics and electronics, any change in a signal that alters the basic waveform or the relationship between various frequency components; it is usually a degradation of the signal. Straight amplification or attenuation without alteration of the waveform is not usually considered to be distortion. Amplitude distortion refers to unequal amplification or attenuation of the various frequency components of the signal, and phase distortion refers to unequal reproduction of the various phase relationships in the signal. Intermodulation distortion is a result of nonlinearities in the system such that one frequency component tends to modulate another frequency componente.g., a high audio frequency modulating a low audio frequency. In audio systems, the most noticeable types of distortion are amplitude, frequency, and intermodulation. In video systems, appreciable distortion of any kind may be observed as a degradation of the reproduced image. Noise added to a signal, either purposely or inadvertently, is sometimes referred to as distortion.