Converting to the analog domain, there is no clipping problem as long as the analog circuitry in the digital-to-analog converter is well designed. It is possible for the analog signal represented by the digital data to exceed digital full scale even if the digital data does not, and vice versa. The signal passes through an anti-aliasing, resampling, or reconstruction filter, which may increase peak amplitude slightly due to ringing. In a floating-point representation, a full-scale signal is typically defined to reach from −1.0 to +1.0. Signal processing in digital audio workstations often uses floating-point arithmetic, which can include values past full-scale, to avoid clipping in intermediate processing stages. (This means that −32,768, the lowest possible value, slightly exceeds full-scale.) A signal is at full-scale if it reaches from −32,767 to +32,767. For example, 16-bit PCM audio is centered on the value 0, and can contain values from −32,768 to +32,767. Since binary integer representation range is asymmetrical, full scale is defined using the maximum positive value that can be represented. In analog systems, full scale may be defined by the maximum voltage available, or the maximum deflection ( full scale deflection or FSD) or indication of an analog instrument such as a moving coil meter or galvanometer. The amplitude of a digital signal can be represented in percent full scale or decibels, full scale (dBFS). Once a signal has reached digital full scale, all headroom has been utilized, and any further increase in amplitude will result in an error known as clipping. In digital systems, a signal is said to be at digital full scale when its magnitude has reached the maximum representable value.

In electronics and signal processing, full scale represents the maximum amplitude a system can represent. For other uses, see Full Scale (disambiguation).

Decibel full scale