Wavelet

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Wavelet \Wave"let\, n.
     A little wave; a ripple.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:



  wavelet
       n : a small wave on the surface of a liquid [syn: {ripple}, {rippling},
            {riffle}]

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  wavelet
       
           A waveform that is bounded in both {frequency}
          and duration.  Wavelet tranforms provide an alternative to
          more traditional {Fourier transforms} used for analysing
          waveforms, e.g. sound.
       
          The {Fourier transform} converts a signal into a continuous
          series of {sine waves}, each of which is of constant frequency
          and {amplitude} and of infinite duration.  In contrast, most
          real-world signals (such as music or images) have a finite
          duration and abrupt changes in frequency.
       
          Wavelet transforms convert a signal into a series of wavelets.
          In theory, signals processed by the wavelet transform can be
          stored more efficiently than ones processed by Fourier
          transform.  Wavelets can also be constructed with rough edges,
          to better approximate real-world signals.
       
          For example, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation
          found that Fourier transforms proved inefficient for
          approximating the whorls of fingerprints but a wavelet
          transform resulted in crisper reconstructed images.
       
          {SBG Austria (http://www.mat.sbg.ac.at/~uhl/wav.html)}.
       
          ["Ten Lectures on Wavelets", Ingrid Daubechies].
       
          (1994-11-09)