discrete Fourier transform

from The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)

discrete Fourier transform
DFT

   <mathematics> (DFT) A {Fourier transform}, specialized to the
   case where the {abscissas} are integers.

   The DFT is central to many kinds of {signal processing},
   including the analysis and {compression} of video and {sound}
   information.

   A common implementation of the DFT is the {Fast Fourier
   Transform} (FFT).

   See also {discrete cosine transform}.

   (1997-03-10)