waveform
Amplitude over time
A waveform is the shape of a wave when represented visually—typically as a graph showing amplitude over time.
The term appears most often in audio and electronics: The waveform showed a clean sine wave.
Sound editing software displays audio as waveforms, letting users see volume and patterns.
Different wave shapes (sine, square, sawtooth) produce distinct sounds in synthesizers.
Repeated back-and-forth movement
- vibrationRapid oscillating movement
- frequencyRate of recurrence
- periodPunctuation ending sentences
- cycleRepeating sequence of events
amplitude · phase · interference · superposition · propagation · damping · resonance · node
Maximum oscillation displacement
- frequencyRate of recurrence
- harmonicsFrequencies above the fundamental
- timbreSound's distinctive character
- pitchFrequency of sound
tone · resonance · distortion · fidelity · modulation · equalization · clipping · envelope
Opposite over hypotenuse
- squareRhombus with right angles
- sawtoothTriangular repeating edge pattern
- triangleThree-sided plane figure
- pulseArterial blood throb
complex · fundamental · harmonic · periodic · smooth · stepped · clipped · rounded
Electrical potential difference
- currentDirected flow of charge
- oscilloscopeVoltage waveform display device
- ACElectrical current or cooling
- DCUnidirectional electrical flow
rectification · ripple · sawtooth · square · pulse · PWM · inverter · alternating
Voltage waveform display device
- displayPresentation for viewing
- traceMinute remnant or pursue
- visualizationForming mental or graphical images
- plotStoryline or land parcel
curve · peak · trough · timeline · axis · grid · sweep · trigger
Extracting subset for study
- quantizationConversion to discrete values
- bit-depthBits per sample measurement
- DACHereditary membership society
- ADCMilitary personal assistant
aliasing · WAV · encoding · decoding · interpolation · reconstruction · oversampling · dithering
oscillation
Repeated back-and-forth movement
cycle · amplitude · phase · interference · superposition · propagation · damping · resonance · node · antinode
amplitude
Maximum oscillation displacement
- frequencyRate of recurrence
- harmonicsFrequencies above the fundamental
- timbreSound's distinctive character
pitch · tone · resonance · distortion · fidelity · modulation · equalization · clipping · envelope · attack
sine
Opposite over hypotenuse
- squareRhombus with right angles
- sawtoothTriangular repeating edge pattern
- triangleThree-sided plane figure
pulse · complex · fundamental · harmonic · periodic · smooth · stepped · clipped · rounded · symmetrical
voltage
Electrical potential difference
- currentDirected flow of charge
- oscilloscopeVoltage waveform display device
- ACElectrical current or cooling
DC · rectification · ripple · sawtooth · square · pulse · PWM · inverter · alternating · smoothing
oscilloscope
Voltage waveform display device
- displayPresentation for viewing
- traceMinute remnant or pursue
- visualizationForming mental or graphical images
plot · curve · peak · trough · timeline · axis · grid · sweep · trigger · scale
sampling
Extracting subset for study
- quantizationConversion to discrete values
- bit-depthBits per sample measurement
- DACHereditary membership society
ADC · aliasing · WAV · encoding · decoding · interpolation · reconstruction · oversampling · dithering · lossless
- Signal ConversionADC, DAC, converter, codec, encode
- ultrafast opticsfemtosecond, autocorrelation, dispersion, streaking, bandwidth limit
- voice analysisvoice quality, voiceprint, voice match, vocal range, voice clarity
- voice synthesistext-to-speech, TTS, speech synthesis, voice synthesis, synthetic voice
- speech toolsvoice recorder, audiometer, spectrograph, spectrogram, laryngoscope
- visualizersvisualizer, audio visualizer, equalizer, oscilloscope, spectrogram