Afkodning

Afkodning is the process of converting encoded or encrypted information into its original form or a usable representation. The term is formed from af- meaning removal or reversal and kodning meaning coding. In Danish, afkodning is often used to refer to decoding in various technical and cognitive contexts, and it is sometimes synonymous with dekodning, though usage can vary by field.

In communications engineering, afkodning refers to recovering the original signal from a modulated or encoded transmission. This includes demodulation, decoding of error‑correcting codes, and handling channel effects such as noise. Modern systems rely on forward error correction, interleaving, and synchronization to reconstruct data accurately over radio, copper, or optical fiber links.

In data, media, and computing contexts, decoding means reconstructing the original data from an encoded representation. This covers audio and video decoders, image decompression, and file format implementations, where standardized codecs and bitstreams are processed to produce usable media or information.

In linguistics and cognitive psychology, decoding describes the process by which readers translate written text into spoken language, using letter–sound mapping and word recognition. Difficulties in decoding are central to some reading disorders.

In cryptography and information security, decoding can denote decrypting ciphertext to obtain plaintext, usually under authorization. Attempts to decode without a key are considered cryptanalysis and are often illegal.