<s>
Clipping	B-Algorithm
is	O
a	O
form	O
of	O
distortion	O
that	O
limits	O
a	O
signal	O
once	O
it	O
exceeds	O
a	O
threshold	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Clipping	B-Algorithm
may	O
occur	O
when	O
a	O
signal	O
is	O
recorded	O
by	O
a	O
sensor	O
that	O
has	O
constraints	O
on	O
the	O
range	O
of	O
data	O
it	O
can	O
measure	O
,	O
it	O
can	O
occur	O
when	O
a	O
signal	O
is	O
digitized	O
,	O
or	O
it	O
can	O
occur	O
any	O
other	O
time	O
an	O
analog	O
or	O
digital	O
signal	O
is	O
transformed	O
,	O
particularly	O
in	O
the	O
presence	O
of	O
gain	O
or	O
overshoot	B-Algorithm
and	I-Algorithm
undershoot	I-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
Clipping	B-Algorithm
may	O
be	O
described	O
as	O
hard	O
,	O
in	O
cases	O
where	O
the	O
signal	O
is	O
strictly	O
limited	O
at	O
the	O
threshold	O
,	O
producing	O
a	O
flat	O
cutoff	O
;	O
or	O
it	O
may	O
be	O
described	O
as	O
soft	O
,	O
in	O
cases	O
where	O
the	O
clipped	O
signal	O
continues	O
to	O
follow	O
the	O
original	O
at	O
a	O
reduced	O
gain	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Hard	O
clipping	B-Algorithm
results	O
in	O
many	O
high-frequency	O
harmonics	O
;	O
soft	O
clipping	B-Algorithm
results	O
in	O
fewer	O
higher-order	O
harmonics	O
and	O
intermodulation	O
distortion	O
components	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
frequency	O
domain	O
,	O
clipping	B-Algorithm
produces	O
strong	O
harmonics	O
in	O
the	O
high-frequency	O
range	O
(	O
as	O
the	O
clipped	O
waveform	O
comes	O
closer	O
to	O
a	O
squarewave	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
extra	O
high-frequency	O
weighting	O
of	O
the	O
signal	O
could	O
make	O
tweeter	B-Device
damage	O
more	O
likely	O
than	O
if	O
the	O
signal	O
was	O
not	O
clipped	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
electric	O
guitar	O
players	O
intentionally	O
overdrive	O
their	O
amplifiers	O
(	O
or	O
insert	O
a	O
"	O
fuzz	O
box	O
"	O
)	O
to	O
cause	O
clipping	B-Algorithm
in	O
order	O
to	O
get	O
a	O
desired	O
sound	O
(	O
see	O
guitar	O
distortion	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
general	O
,	O
the	O
distortion	O
associated	O
with	O
clipping	B-Algorithm
is	O
unwanted	O
,	O
and	O
is	O
visible	O
on	O
an	O
oscilloscope	O
even	O
if	O
it	O
is	O
inaudible	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
image	O
domain	O
,	O
clipping	B-Algorithm
is	O
seen	O
as	O
desaturated	O
(	O
washed-out	O
)	O
bright	O
areas	O
that	O
turn	O
to	O
pure	O
white	O
if	O
all	O
color	B-Algorithm
components	I-Algorithm
clip	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
digital	O
colour	O
photography	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
also	O
possible	O
for	O
individual	O
colour	B-Algorithm
channels	I-Algorithm
to	O
clip	O
,	O
which	O
results	O
in	O
inaccurate	O
colour	O
reproduction	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
transformer	B-Algorithm
(	O
most	O
commonly	O
used	O
between	O
stages	O
in	O
tube	O
equipment	O
)	O
will	O
clip	O
when	O
its	O
ferromagnetic	O
core	O
becomes	O
electromagnetically	O
saturated	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
digital	B-General_Concept
signal	I-General_Concept
processing	I-General_Concept
,	O
clipping	B-Algorithm
occurs	O
when	O
the	O
signal	O
is	O
restricted	O
by	O
the	O
range	O
of	O
a	O
chosen	O
representation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
in	O
a	O
system	O
using	O
16-bit	O
signed	O
integers	O
,	O
32767	O
is	O
the	O
largest	O
positive	O
value	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
represented	O
,	O
and	O
if	O
during	O
processing	O
the	O
amplitude	O
of	O
the	O
signal	O
is	O
doubled	O
,	O
sample	B-Algorithm
values	O
of	O
32000	O
should	O
become	O
64000	O
,	O
but	O
instead	O
they	O
are	O
truncated	O
to	O
the	O
maximum	O
,	O
32767	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Clipping	B-Algorithm
is	O
preferable	O
to	O
the	O
alternative	O
in	O
digital	O
systems	O
—	O
wrapping	O
—	O
which	O
occurs	O
if	O
the	O
digital	O
hardware	O
is	O
allowed	O
to	O
"	O
overflow	B-Algorithm
"	O
,	O
ignoring	O
the	O
most	O
significant	O
bits	O
of	O
the	O
magnitude	O
,	O
and	O
sometimes	O
even	O
the	O
sign	O
of	O
the	O
sample	B-Algorithm
value	O
,	O
resulting	O
in	O
gross	O
distortion	O
of	O
the	O
signal	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
incidence	O
of	O
clipping	B-Algorithm
may	O
be	O
greatly	O
reduced	O
by	O
using	O
floating	B-Algorithm
point	I-Algorithm
numbers	I-Algorithm
instead	O
of	O
integers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
floating	B-Algorithm
point	I-Algorithm
numbers	I-Algorithm
are	O
usually	O
less	O
efficient	O
to	O
use	O
,	O
sometimes	O
result	O
in	O
a	O
loss	O
of	O
precision	O
,	O
and	O
they	O
can	O
still	O
clip	O
if	O
a	O
number	O
is	O
extremely	O
large	O
or	O
small	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Clipping	B-Algorithm
can	O
be	O
detected	O
by	O
viewing	O
the	O
signal	O
(	O
on	O
an	O
oscilloscope	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
observing	O
that	O
the	O
tops	O
and	O
bottoms	O
of	O
waves	O
are	O
n't	O
smooth	O
anymore	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
working	O
with	O
images	O
,	O
some	O
tools	O
can	O
highlight	O
all	O
pixels	B-Algorithm
that	O
are	O
pure	O
white	O
,	O
allowing	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
identify	O
larger	O
groups	O
of	O
white	O
pixels	B-Algorithm
and	O
decide	O
if	O
too	O
much	O
clipping	B-Algorithm
has	O
occurred	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
avoid	O
clipping	B-Algorithm
,	O
the	O
signal	O
can	O
be	O
dynamically	O
reduced	O
using	O
a	O
limiter	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
clipping	B-Algorithm
occurs	O
,	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
original	O
signal	O
is	O
lost	O
,	O
so	O
perfect	O
restoration	O
is	O
impossible	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Thus	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
much	O
preferable	O
to	O
avoid	O
clipping	B-Algorithm
in	O
the	O
first	O
place	O
.	O
</s>
