S/N ratio

S/N ratio
 //, n.

   (also s/n ratio, s:n ratio). Syn. {signal-to-noise ratio}. Often
   abbreviated SNR.
    

signal-to-noise ratio
SNR
S/N ratio

   1. <communications> (SNR, "s/n ratio", "s:n ratio") "Signal"
   refers to useful information conveyed by some communications
   medium, and "noise" to anything else on that medium.  The
   ratio of these is usually expressed logarithmically, in
   {decibels}.

   2. <networking> The term is often applied to {Usenet}
   newsgroups though figures are never given.  Here it is quite
   common to have more noise (inappropriate postings which
   contribute nothing) than signal (relevant, useful or
   interesting postings).  The signal gets {lost in the noise}
   when it becomes too much effort to try to find interesting
   articles among all the crud.  Posting "noise" is probably the
   worst breach of {netiquette} and is a waste of {bandwidth}.

   [{Jargon File}]

   (1996-01-29)