Clipping is one form of distortion that occurs when an amplifier is overdriven, which happens when it attempts to increase voltage or current beyond its limits. A distortion is the (usually) undesirable alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of an object, image, sound, waveform or other form of information or representation. ... For guitar amplifier, go to Instrument amplifier An amplifier can be considered to be any device that uses a small amount of energy to control a larger amount, although the term today usually refers to an electronic amplifier. ...

The picture shows an an oscilloscope screen of an amplifier "clipping." The amplifer should be outputting a clean sine wave, but instead the top and bottom of the waveform is cut off, or "clipped." This can be observed because the tops and bottoms of the wave, which should be rounded, are flat. The term "clipping" is used because the top and bottom of the waveform appear to visually have been "clipped" with a pair of sissors or shears.

When an amplifier is asked to create a signal greater than its maximum capacity, it will amplify the signal only up to its maximum capacity, at which point the signal will be amplified no further. As the signal simply "cuts" or "clips" at the maximum capacity of the amplifier, the signal is said to be "clipped." The extra signal which is beyond the capability of the amplifier is simply cut off, resulting in a fixed signal. Note that this fixed signal suffers from other forms of distortion, such as total harmonic distortion. Image File history File links Clipping_1KHz_10V_DIV_clip_A_5ohms-1-.jpg Summary Oscilloscope readout of an amplifier output. ... Image File history File links Clipping_1KHz_10V_DIV_clip_A_5ohms-1-.jpg Summary Oscilloscope readout of an amplifier output. ... A Tektronix model 475A portable analogue oscilloscope, a very typical instrument of the late 1970s. ... In trigonometry, an ideal sine wave is a waveform whose graph is identical to the generalized sine function y = Asin[ω(x − α)] + C, where A is the amplitude, ω is the angular frequency (2π/P where P is the wavelength), α is the phase shift, and C is the... Different types of scissors - sewing, kitchen, paper Scissors are a tool used for cutting thin material which requires little force. ... A small pair of shears A pair of shears is any scissors-type tool of relatively large size. ... The total harmonic distortion, or THD, of a signal is a measurement of the harmonic distortion present, that is, any departure of the output signal waveform from that which should result from the input signal waveforms being operated on by the systems specified or ideal transfer function. ...

All amplifiers will clip at some point. In high fidelity systems, amplifier clipping is dangerous in that the distortion caused by clipping introduces additional frequency components of the signal which may overpower the loudspeaker, more specifically, the tweeter. High Fidelity is also the title of a book by Nick Hornby and a film directed by Stephen Frears, based upon Hornbys book. ... Sine waves of various frequencies; the lower waves have higher frequencies than those above. ... Closeup of a loudspeaker driver A loudspeaker, or simply speaker, is an electromechanical device which converts an electrical signal into sound. ... A Sony tweeter. ...

Some Audiophiles believe that the clipping behavior of vacuum tubes is superior to that of transistors, in that vacuum tubes clip more gradually than transistors, resulting in harmonic distortion that is claimed to be less objectionable. An audiophile, most generally, is a lover of sound or music, but the word is more commonly used about someone who cares about hi-fi playback of sound recordings, rather than live performances. ... In electronics, a vacuum tube (American English) or (thermionic) valve (British English) is a device generally used to amplify, or otherwise modify, a signal by controlling the movement of electrons in an evacuated space. ... Photo of transistor types (tape measure marked in centimeters) Transistor in the SMD form factor The transistor is a solid state semiconductor device used for amplification and switching. ...

In fact, some (electric) guitar players will intentionally overdrive their vacuum tube guitar amplifiers to cause clipping in order to get a desired sound. See Guitar Distortion. Steve Howe playing lead guitar for Yes in 1977 A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. ... A distortion is the (usually) undesirable alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of an object, image, sound, waveform or other form of information or representation. ...

In digital signal processing, clipping occurs when the signal is restricted by the range of a chosen representation. For example in a system using 16-bit signed integers, 32767 is the largest positive value that can be represented, and if during processing the amplitude of the signal is doubled, sample values of 32000 should become 64000, but instead they are truncated to the maximum, 32767. Clipping is preferable to the alternative in digital systems - wrapping occurs if the digital hardware is allowed to "overflow", ignoring the most significant bits of the magnitude, and sometimes even the sign of the sample value, resulting in terrible distortion of the signal.