sample-and-hold is a human-made technique and circuit that captures the instantaneous value of a continuous-time signal and maintains (holds) that value for a defined period. Parameters: (1) capture mechanism — a switch or transistor that closes briefly to track the input; (2) storage element — a capacitor or equivalent that retains the captured voltage; (3) hold duration — the fixed or variable period during which the value is maintained; (4) droop rate — the voltage change during hold caused by leakage current. Persistence: through implementation in analog-to-digital converters, data-acquisition systems, and pulse-code-modulation encoders, where it bridges continuous-time and discrete-time domains. [formal: <latin> | substrate: matter | horizon: a moment | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.01]
Accepted ontology entry
sample-and-hold
sample-and-hold is a human-made technique and circuit that captures the instantaneous value of a continuous-time signal and maintains (holds) that value for a defined period. Parameters: (1) capture mechanism — a switch or transistor that…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A human-made technique and circuit for capturing the instantaneous value of a continuous-time signal and maintaining that value for a defined period; built to persist through sampling systems, data-acquisition hardware, and analog-to-digital conversion.
Names and aliases
- sample-and-holden · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmrw0g7st02xt2ceiy2ihtwthINSTANCE_OF →
Sample-and-hold is a specific technique for capturing and holding the instantaneous value of a continuous-time signal. It is a particular kind of sampling operation — a method of sampling that includes both the capture (sample) and the retention (hold) phases. Nearest kind: sampling.
- cmrsb393a00miollhxpcc7bkzDEPENDS_ON →
Sample-and-hold captures and holds a signal value; remove signal and it has nothing to sample or hold, operation stops.
- analog-to-digital-converterSERVES →
Law 8d servant→master device: the sample-and-hold exists to hold a stable value for the ADC's conversion stage — the accepted ADC definition names 'sampling via a track-and-hold circuit' as its own stage 2, and the S/H's accepted definition says it persists through implementation in analog-to-digital converters. Built for whose sake? The converter: without the hold, the (slower) quantization stage would measure a moving voltage. Pinned sense: S/H as the ADC's sampling stage, servant pointing at its master device (not the discipline, which is already covered by the ADC's own SERVES audio-engineering edge). Distinct from its accepted INSTANCE_OF sampling and DEPENDS_ON signal.
Relations to this entry
No accepted relations in this direction.
Record identity
- Created
- Sep 12, 2026, 5:49 AM UTC
- Content hash
- 2eb4c8d772e3b08edfad3e2f96f15644e4479d3e369c391233d52ffb50ee8521