Translations:Time series/5/en

Because a time series represents only the sampled values of a continuous-time signal, it provides only a limited description of the signal. By taking the sampling instants close enough together, the amount of information that is lost by replacing a well-behaved continuous-time function by a time series can be made small. A time spacing that is too gross would mean substantial information loss in the sampling process. At the other extreme, a time spacing that is too fine would mean substantial redundancy in information produced by the sampling process. Thus, in determining the time interval for sampling, we always must balance redundant information against lost information, with consideration given to their relative costs.