A specialized limiter circuit characterized by an extreme, near-infinite compression ratio. It abruptly cuts off any signal peaks that attempt to cross the set threshold, rather than smoothly attenuating them. This hard clipping protects downstream components like analog-to-digital converters or broadcast transmitters from overloading, though it can introduce severe harmonic distortion if overdriven.
Put a brick-wall limiter right before the ADC so we don't clip the input during transient spikes.
Related terms
Limiter
A circuit that prevents an electrical signal from exceeding a predetermined amplitude.
Clipper
A circuit that cuts off the top or bottom of a waveform at a specific voltage level.
Analog-to-digital converter
A mixed-signal circuit component that translates continuous physical voltages into discrete digital numbers.