Conversion Latency

A specific form of latency germane to A/D and D/A converters. It specifically refers to the delay that occurs between the time that audio is presented (in the case of the A/D Converter) as in the clock cycle where the digital snapshot is taken and the time that the data is presented to the output of the converter for processing or storage by other components in the system. Data is generally presented at the output on every clock cycle, but will lag behind the actual sample taken by some amount due to various factors including things ranging from how long it takes to actually measure the data to any processing or filtering that takes place in the converter. In short, converters have latency. Another term for conversion latency is pipeline delay.