Dithering - definition

Dithering is a technique used in digital signal processing that aims to minimise visible or audible artefacts resulting from limited resolution quantisation. It involves the deliberate addition of random or ordered noise to a signal prior to quantisation, allowing rounding errors to be more evenly distributed and reducing the effect of bands that interfere with perception.

In the field of computer graphics, dithering makes it possible to visually increase the number of colour tones when the hardware or file format limits the colour palette. By creating dot or checkerboard patterns, the technique simulates the presence of intermediate colours, which reduces the posterisation effect and improves the impression of smooth tonal transitions. In the context of print or low-bit-depth displays, the use of dithering allows for a more natural representation of detail and shadows.

In audio processing, dithering improves audio quality by eliminating correlations between quantisation errors and the source signal. This reduces the audibility of artefacts such as harmonic distortion, especially in quiet parts of recordings. It is most commonly used when converting a format or reducing the bit depth of an audio file, for example from 24 bits to 16 bits.

Dithering is also used in measurement systems, digital control and analogue-to-digital and digital-to-analogue converters. Although it introduces additional noise, it allows improved averaged accuracy and increased effective resolution in limited numerical systems.](/ca/en/news/library-articles/page/61734/) Others [dithering algorithms, such as white noise, diffusion errors or deterministic sequences, are used depending on the application.

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