Ron Capik wrote:
"Floyd L. Davidson" wrote:

Distortion can *always* be counteracted by the introduction of
an "error signal" which is opposite to the distortion.
Therefore it would seem that distortion is necessarily a signal
in all cases.
....

I'd tend to say that distortion adds to noise side of the SNR, and
some can be corrected ...but *always* ? Let's say the distortion
is the result of clipping...

[ ...or maybe I've missed your point. ]

Later...

Absolutely always. Recall that distortion is a known condition
resulting from the communications channel itself. The output is
known *before* the signal is input. (E.g., clipping is not
arbitrary, and produces a very specific error signal.)

Which of course is something Shannon describes, and uses in
examples, in "A Mathematical Theory of Communication".

--
Floyd L. Davidson http://www.apaflo.com/floyd_davidson
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska)