GainUnterschieden

GainUnterschieden is a term used in signal processing and electronics to describe the degree of non-uniform amplification across different signal paths, channels, or frequency bands. The word combines the English term gain with the German word for differences, and it appears in German-language technical writing to refer to the disparity in amplification within a system.

In practice, GainUnterschieden refers to how much the gain varies between channels. For a system with channel gains g1, g2, ..., gN, the absolute gain difference can be expressed as the range max_i(g_i) minus min_i(g_i). When gains are expressed in decibels, the difference is often written as ΔL = max_i(L_i) − min_i(L_i), where L_i = 20 log10(g_i). A relative form can be defined as R = (max_i g_i / min_i g_i) − 1. Practitioners may also use the standard deviation of the gains as a statistical measure of non-uniformity.

Measurement typically involves a known reference input and a calibrated measurement of the output level for each channel, followed by computation of the chosen GainUnterschieden metric. It is common to perform measurements across the intended operating range to capture both static and dynamic variations.

Applications of GainUnterschieden include audio systems (such as multichannel amplifiers and loudspeaker arrays), microphone and sensor networks, and RF link designs where uniform gain is desirable for accuracy, imaging, or beamforming. Large differences can affect perceived balance, introduce distortions, or degrade coherence, while strategies such as hardware gain matching, automatic gain control, and digital calibration are used to minimize them. See also gain matching, calibration, and amplitude response.