What factor impacts the accuracy and fidelity of the digital representation of an analog signal?

The sampling rate is a critical factor that significantly impacts the accuracy and fidelity of the digital representation of an analog signal. The sampling rate determines how frequently the analog signal is sampled over time, and this plays a crucial role in capturing the essential characteristics of the signal. According to the Nyquist Theorem, to accurately represent a signal without distortion, it must be sampled at a rate that is at least twice the maximum frequency present in the signal.

If the sampling rate is too low, it can lead to aliasing, where higher frequency components of the signal are misrepresented as lower frequencies in the digital representation, causing significant fidelity loss. Therefore, ensuring an adequate sampling rate is fundamental to maintaining the integrity of the analog signal when converting it to a digital format.

Other factors listed, such as signal strength, bandpass limits, and frequency response, may also affect the quality of the signal but do not have the same direct relationship to the preservation of the signal's representation as sampling rate does. Signal strength relates to the amplitude of the signal and its susceptibility to noise, bandpass limits define the range of frequencies that can be effectively measured, and frequency response pertains to how a system responds across various frequencies. However, none directly influence the fundamental requirement of