Total harmonic distortion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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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, for example, allows the components in a loudspeaker,
amplifier or microphone or other equipment to make a violin sound like a violin when played back,
and not a cello or simply a distorted noise.

Contents

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

Explanation
In most cases, the transfer function of a system is linear and time-invariant. When a signal passes
through a non-linear device, additional content is added at the harmonics of the original frequencies.
THD is a measurement of the extent of that distortion.
The measurement is most commonly the ratio of the sum of the powers of all harmonic frequencies
above the fundamental frequency to the power of the fundamental:

Other calculations for amplitudes, voltages, currents, and so forth are equivalent. For a voltage
signal, for instance, the ratio of the squares of the RMS voltages is equivalent to the power ratio:

In this calculation, Vn means the RMS voltage of harmonic n, where n=1 is the fundamental
harmonic. One can also calculate THD using all harmonics (n=):

Other definitions may be used. Many authors define THD as an amplitude ratio rather than a power
ratio. This results in a definition of THD which is the square root of that given above. For example in
terms of voltages the definition would be:

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This latter definition is the one 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. Fortunately if the THD is expressed in dB then both
definitions are equivalent. Note however that this is not the case if the THD is expressed as a
percentage.
A measurement must also specify how it was measured. 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. A meaningful measurement must include the
number of harmonics included.

THD+N
THD+N means total harmonic distortion plus noise. This measurement is much more common and
more comparable between devices. This is usually measured by inputting a sine wave, notch filtering
the output in question, and measuring 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, interference, and so on, instead of just harmonic distortion.
For a given input frequency and amplitude, THD+N is equal to SINAD, provided the bandwidth for
the noise measurement is the same for both (the Nyquist bandwidth).[1]

See also

Audio system measurements

THD analyzer
SINAD

References
1. ^ 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/en/content/0,2886,760%5F788%
5F91250,00.html) Analog Devices Tutorial MT-003 by Walt Kester

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)

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Categories: Electrical parameters

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This page was last modified on 11 April 2008, at 05:33.

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