Editing Dynamic range (section)

{{Short description|Ratio between the largest and smallest values that a certain quantity can assume}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2024}}

'''Dynamic range''' (abbreviated '''DR''', '''DNR''',<ref>ISSCC Glossary https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=4242527</ref> or '''DYR'''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ti.com/lit/ug/slou301/slou301.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2016-08-11 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150411140621/http://www.ti.com/lit/ug/slou301/slou301.pdf |archive-date=2015-04-11 }}, {{cite web |url=https://media.digikey.com/pdf/Data%20Sheets/Cirrus%20Logic%20PDFs/CS3511.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2016-08-11 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822003316/https://media.digikey.com/pdf/Data%20Sheets/Cirrus%20Logic%20PDFs/CS3511.pdf |archive-date=2016-08-22 }}, {{cite web |url=http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/55106/1/proc-page35.pdf |title=The data {{as written|a|quisition [sic&#93;}} method of the Sussex MK4 EIM system |date=24 April 2014 |access-date=2016-08-11 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160827150714/http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/55106/1/proc-page35.pdf |archive-date=2016-08-27 }}</ref>) is the [[ratio]] between the largest and smallest measurable values of a specific quantity. It is often used in the context of [[signal]]s, like [[sound]] and [[light]]. It is measured either as a ratio or as a [[base-10]] ([[decibel]]) or [[base-2]] (doublings, [[bit]]s or [[Stops (Dynamic Range)|stop]]s) [[Logarithmic scale|logarithmic]] value of the ratio between the largest and smallest signal values.<ref>{{citation |title=Dynamic range |url=http://www.electropedia.org/iev/iev.nsf/display?openform&ievref=723-03-11 |work=Electropedia|publisher=IEC |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150426032033/http://www.electropedia.org/iev/iev.nsf/display?openform&ievref=723-03-11 |archive-date=2015-04-26}}</ref>

Electronically reproduced audio and video is often processed to fit the original material with a wide dynamic range into a narrower recorded dynamic range for easier storage and reproduction. This process is called [[dynamic range compression]].