Definition of Aliasing

Aliasing refers to the effect produced when a signal is imperfectly reconstructed from the original signal. Aliasing occurs when a signal is not sampled at a high enough frequency to create an accurate representation. This effect is shown in the following example of a sinusoidal function:

In this example, the dots represent the sampled data and the curve represents the original signal. Because there are too few sampled data points, the resulting pattern produced by the sampled data is a poor representation of the original. Aliasing is relevant in fields associated with signal processing, such as digital audio, digital photography, and computer graphics.

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