1/27/2011 Total harmonic distortion - Wikipedia, t…

Total harmonic distortion

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The total harmonic

distortion, or THD, of a signal
is a measurement of the
harmonic distortion present and
is defined as the ratio of the
sum of the powers of all
harmonic components to the
power of the fundamental
frequency. Lesser THD allows
the components in a
loudspeaker, amplifier or
An animation illustrating harmonic summing
microphone or other equipment
to produce a more accurate
reproduction by reducing harmonics added by electronics and audio media. A THD rating < 1% is considered to
be in high-fidelity and inaudible to the human ear.

Contents
1 Explanation
2 THD+N
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

Explanation
To understand a system with an input and an output, such as an audio amplifier, we start with an ideal system where
the transfer function is linear and time-invariant. When a signal passes through a non-ideal, non-linear device,
additional content is added at the harmonics of the original frequencies. THD is a measurement of the extent of that
distortion.

When the input is a pure sine wave, the measurement is most commonly the ratio of the sum of the powers of all
higher harmonic frequencies to the power at the first harmonic, or fundamental, frequency:

which can equivalently be written as

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Measurements based on amplitudes (e.g. voltage or current) must be converted to powers to make addition of
harmonics distortion meaningful. For a voltage signal, for example, the ratio of the squares of the RMS voltages is
equivalent to the power ratio:

where Vn is the RMS voltage of nth harmonic and n=1 is the fundamental frequency.

THD is also commonly defined as an amplitude ratio rather than a power ratio,[1] resulting in a definition of THD
which is the square root of that given above:

This latter definition is commonly used in audio distortion (percentage THD) specifications. It is unfortunate that
these two conflicting definitions of THD (one as a power ratio and the other as an amplitude ratio) are both in
common usage. The power THD can be higher than 100% and is known as IEEE, but for audio measurements
100% is preferred as maximum, thus the IEC version is used (used by Rohde & Schwartz, Brüel and Kjær).

As a result, THD is a non-standardized specification and the results between manufacturers are not easily
comparable. Since individual harmonic amplitudes are measured, it is required that the manufacturer disclose the
test signal frequency range, level and gain conditions, and number of measurements taken. It is possible to measure
the full 20–20 kHz range using a sweep. For all signal processing equipment, except microphone preamplifiers, the
preferred gain setting is unity. For microphone preamplifiers, standard practice is to use maximum gain.

Measurements for calculating the THD are made at the output of a device under specified conditions. The THD is
usually expressed in percent as distortion factor or in dB as distortion attenuation.

THD+N
THD+N means total harmonic distortion plus noise. This measurement is much more common and more
comparable between devices. It is usually measured by inputting a sine wave, notch filtering the output, and
comparing the ratio between the output signal with and without the sine wave:

A meaningful measurement must include the bandwidth of measurement. This measurement includes effects from
intermodulation distortion, and so on, in addition to harmonic distortion. In Europe, it is preferable to apply a ITU-R
BS.468 weighed curve, which is intended to accentuate what is most audible to the human ear, contributing to a
more accurate measurement. However, as the weight of the curve adds 12 dB of gain to the critical midband,
making THD+N measurements bigger, manufacturers object to its use and have widely prevented its adoption in
American and Asian markets.
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For a given input frequency and amplitude, THD+N is equal to SINAD, provided that both measurements are
made over the same bandwidth.[2]

See also
Audio system measurements
ITU-R BS.468
SINAD
Timbre
THD analyzer

References
1. ^ Slone, G. Randy (2001). The audiophile's project sourcebook. McGraw-Hill/TAB Electronics. p. 10.
ISBN 0071379290.
2. ^ Kester, Walt. "Tutorial MT-003: Understand SINAD, ENOB, SNR, THD, THD + N, and SFDR so You Don't Get
Lost in the Noise Floor" (http://www.analog.com/static/imported-files/tutorials/MT-003.pdf) (PDF). Analog
Devices. http://www.analog.com/static/imported-files/tutorials/MT-003.pdf. Retrieved 1 April 2010.

External links
Explanation of THD measurements (http://www.dogstar.dantimax.dk/tubestuf/thdconv.htm)
Rane audio's definition of both THD and THD+N (http://www.rane.com/note145.html)
Conversion: Distortion attenuation in dB to distortion factor THD in %
(http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-thd.htm)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_harmonic_distortion"
Categories: Electrical parameters

This page was last modified on 26 January 2011 at 07:22.

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