Decibel and Power Converter

power: Convert to dB

result dB:

dB: Convert to Power

result power:

What's a dB?

Decibels (dB) can be described as a ratio of power between two signals. It is useful for comparing signals where the difference between them is too small to be viewed linearlly/directly. The name Bel is in reference to Alexander Graham Bell. Originall, the unit used was just plain old Bels, but it was found that it is more common to have resulting values smaller than a single Bel, e.g. one tenth Bel. Thus, it became standard to use decibels instead, where one decibel is one tenth of a single Bel. A value/power ratio is converted to Decibels by the formula dB = 10*log₁₀(ratio), e.g. if power A is 2.0 and power B is 1.0, their ratio is 2.0/1.0, and the result decibel is 10*log₁₀(2/1) = 10*log₁₀(2)