The process of dividing an analog signal into a string of discrete outputs,…

Correct answer: Quantization — dividing an analog signal into discrete amplitude levels.

Explanation: Quantization is the process of mapping continuous amplitude values to a finite set of discrete levels. It is a key step in analog-to-digital conversion and follows the sampling (time discretization) step.

• Sampling vs quantization: Sampling captures the signal at discrete time instants; quantization converts the captured amplitude values into discrete numeric levels.

• Quantization error: Because amplitudes are rounded or mapped to levels, a small difference between the original and quantized value (quantization error) is introduced.

• Why the other terms are incorrect:

  Strobing pertains to time-based sampling or briefly illuminating/capturing moments; it does not perform amplitude discretization.

  Amplification increases signal strength but does not turn continuous amplitudes into discrete levels.

  Conditioning prepares or modifies a signal (filtering, scaling) for processing but does not itself quantize amplitude.