DictionaryditherNoise that smooths digital signals
noun / verb

dither

Deliberately added noise that reduces digital banding or distortion.

The editor adds dither to keep the sky gradient smooth.

Etymology

The older verb names trembling or small oscillations. Engineering adapted that fluctuating motion to deliberately introduced noise that breaks up regular quantization errors.

More examples

  • We dither the audio before reducing its bit depth.
  • Without dither, quiet passages can develop distortion during conversion.
  • The software dithered the image to reduce visible color bands.

Forms

dither · dithers · dithered · dithering

Similar words

noise
Noise is broader and need not be deliberately added.