Prescaling
Prescaling is a technique used in data collection and signal processing to reduce the rate at which data are recorded or processed by selecting only a fraction of events or samples. This is accomplished by applying a prescale factor, which specifies how many events to skip or how many to accept. A prescale factor of p means that approximately one out of every p events is kept; a factor of 1 is unprescaled, and larger factors discard most events.
In high-energy physics experiments, prescaling is commonly applied at the trigger level. Collisions occur at high
The choice of prescales involves trade-offs between data volume and physics reach. Higher prescales reduce storage
While most commonly discussed in the context of particle physics, prescaling is a general method in data