Delta_modulation - Wikiparency

# Delta modulation  ## Microsims — p5.js ### Delta modulation (p5.js) · `1-bit Δ` <div class="microsim-player"> <iframe src="https://editor.p5js.org/sciencenibber/full/Lte8YYi_S" width="100%" height="480" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin" title="Delta modulation — p5.js microsim"></iframe> </div> *Encode only whether the signal rose or fell since the last sample — the simplest one-bit predictor.* **Open in the editor:** [▶ fork this sketch](https://editor.p5js.org/sciencenibber/sketches/Lte8YYi_S) · movement *I · Sampling, quantization & data conversion* · library `p5js` ### Related microsims Live sims on neighbouring articles — 6 of them inside this article's own Wikipedia link tree: - [[Companding]] *(in tree)* - [[Convolution]] *(in tree)* - [[Data_compression]] *(in tree)* - [[Differential_pulse-code_modulation]] *(in tree)* - [[Discrete_cosine_transform]] *(in tree)* - [[Discrete_wavelet_transform]] *(in tree)* *Sim hosted off-article; the article owns the reference, not the runtime (WIKI_RULES §10.4). 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See it next [![Pulse-code modulation|200](Pulse-code_modulation_thumb.png)](Pulse-code_modulation) *→ Pulse-code modulation*  --- Back to Signal Processing Portal · the room · Semiotic gateway  ## What it is Delta modulation (DM) is a simple analog-to-digital conversion technique that encodes a signal as a stream of single bits, where each bit indicates only whether the signal has increased or decreased since the previous sample. ## How it works / why it matters The modulator compares the incoming signal with a locally reconstructed estimate: it outputs a "1" if the input is higher than the estimate and a "0" if lower, then increments or decrements the estimate by a fixed step size $\Delta$. Because it transmits one bit per sample rather than a full code word, DM is far simpler than Pulse-code modulation but requires a high sampling rate (heavy Oversampling) to track the signal. Its two characteristic errors are **slope overload**, when the signal changes faster than $\Delta$ per step can follow, and **granular noise** (idle-channel hunting) during nearly constant input. Adaptive delta modulation varies the step size to reduce both, and the idea underlies the widely used sigma-delta converter. ## Signs & universals Instantiates: encoding · sampling · signal · amplitude. ## Related Delta modulation is a bit-rate-efficient alternative to Pulse-code modulation and a form of Analog-to-digital conversion. It relies on Oversampling and is closely tied to [[Quantization_(signal_processing)]] and Quantization error through its step-size trade-offs.  ## From the Real GENERATIVE library > Delta modulation (DM or Δ-modulation) is an analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog signal conversion technique used for transmission of voice information where quality is not of primary importance. DM is the simplest form of differential pulse-code modulation (DPCM) where the difference between successive samples is encoded into n-bit data streams. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_modulation))   *Built to the [[WT!P5_js_Microsim_Master_Class|p5.js Master Class]].*  ## Wikipedia : Wikitube **Strict pair:** [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_modulation) : [Wikitube](https://en.wikitube.io/wiki/Delta_modulation) ## Previous hub tags Tree parent: [[Information_theory]]. Legacy hubs: none. --- *Sources: 1 legacy note. Minted wave 1, 2026-07-30 (v1.6 order).*