If sampling occurs below the Nyquist rate, what artifact is expected to appear?

If sampling occurs below the Nyquist rate, what artifact is expected to appear?

• A. Aliasing
• B. Sharper image
• C. Increased dynamic range
• D. No artifact

Answer: (A)

Sampling below the Nyquist rate means you’re not taking enough samples to capture the highest frequencies in the signal. The result is aliasing, where those high frequencies fold back into lower frequencies and create false, misleading content in the image. In OCT, this shows up as distorted depth information or ghost features that don’t correspond to real structures, because the fast changes are misrepresented by the insufficient sampling. Sharper images require more sampling, increased dynamic range is about detector and signal strength rather than sampling rate, and no artifact would occur only when the sampling meets or exceeds Nyquist.

Sampling below the Nyquist rate means you’re not taking enough samples to capture the highest frequencies in the signal. The result is aliasing, where those high frequencies fold back into lower frequencies and create false, misleading content in the image. In OCT, this shows up as distorted depth information or ghost features that don’t correspond to real structures, because the fast changes are misrepresented by the insufficient sampling. Sharper images require more sampling, increased dynamic range is about detector and signal strength rather than sampling rate, and no artifact would occur only when the sampling meets or exceeds Nyquist.