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Drop 'dB' from proposal
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Too much controversy and too little interest in standardization of dB scales.
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henrikt-ma committed Apr 10, 2023
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Expand Up @@ -212,25 +212,6 @@ \subsubsection{Axis Properties}\label{axis-properties}
For example, when \lstinline!base! is 10, major axis ticks should preferrably be placed at integer powers of 10, and natural alternatives that a tool may use for major axis tick labels could look like $0.001$ or $10^{-3}$.
Under some circumstances, such as when the axis range does not span even a single order of magnitude, a tool may disregard the preference in order to get useful axis ticks.

Use \lstinline!dB! for a decibel axis:
\begin{lstlisting}[language=modelica]
record dB
extends AxisScale;
Integer factor "Decibel conversion factor, either 10 or 20";
end dB;
\end{lstlisting}%
\index{dB@\robustinline{dB} (decibel axis scale)}

The mandatory \lstinline!factor! is used to define a tick label conversion according to $y \mapsto \text{\lstinline!factor!}\, \operatorname{log}_{10}(y)$.
This mapping shall be applied before presenting values in tick labels.
The only allowed values for \lstinline!factor! are 10 and 20.
It is recommended that value of \lstinline!factor! is somehow indicated on the axis or its tick labels, for example by presenting a major tick label as $-40\, \mathrm{dB}_{20}$.
Major axis ticks are preferred at integer converted values, and minor ticks should be placed at evenly distributed converted values (similar to a linear axis scale).

\begin{nonnormative}
The \lstinline!factor! value 10 is typically used when plotting signal power, and 20 is typically used when plotting signal amplitude.
\end{nonnormative}

\begin{example}
A \emph{symmetric log} axis scale is sometimes used for axes spanning across several order of magnitudes of both positive and negative values.
Details vary, but the mapping from value to linear position along axis is some variation of $y \mapsto \operatorname{sign}(y)\, \operatorname{log}(1 + \frac{\abs{y}}{10^{\alpha}})$.
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