Clipper (electronics)

In electronics, a clipper is a circuit designed to prevent a signal from exceeding a predetermined reference voltage level. A clipper does not distort the remaining part of the applied waveform. Clipping circuits are used to select, for purposes of transmission, that part of a signal waveform which lies above or below the predetermined reference voltage level.

Clipping may be achieved either at one level or two levels. A clipper circuit can remove certain portions of an arbitrary waveform near the positive or negative peaks or both. Clipping changes the shape of the waveform and alters its spectral components.

A clipping circuit consists of linear elements like resistors and non-linear elements like diodes or transistors, but it does not contain energy-storage elements like capacitors.

Clipping circuits are also called slicers or amplitude selectors.