signal-to-noise ratio
1. (SNR, "s/n ratio", "s:n ratio") "Signal"
refers to useful information conveyed by some communications
medium, and "noise" to anything else on that medium. The
ratio of these is usually expressed logarithmically, in
{decibels}.
2. The term is often applied to {Usenet}
newsgroups though figures are never given. Here it is quite
common to have more noise (inappropriate postings which
contribute nothing) than signal (relevant, useful or
interesting postings). The signal gets {lost in the noise}
when it becomes too much effort to try to find interesting
articles among all the crud. Posting "noise" is probably the
worst breach of {netiquette} and is a waste of {bandwidth}.
[{Jargon File}]
(1996-01-29)