Waveform

Article

A waveform is the shape of a signal as it varies with time, distance, phase, or another independent variable. It may represent sound pressure, voltage, current, light intensity, displacement, or any other changing quantity.

Common periodic waveforms include sine, square, triangle, sawtooth, and pulse waves. Each has a characteristic harmonic spectrum and time-domain shape.

A waveform is described using properties such as amplitude, frequency, period, wavelength, phase, duty cycle, rise time, and offset. Complex waveforms can often be represented as combinations of simpler sinusoidal components using Fourier analysis.

Waveforms are central to acoustics, electronics, communications, seismology, music, imaging, control systems, and computer graphics. Oscilloscopes and digital signal-processing tools are commonly used to display and analyse them.

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• Source / publisher: Wikipedia
• URL type: WWW
• Credits: Wikipedia
• URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waveform