Which of the following factors can cause signal degradation?

• A. Attenuation
• B. Noise
• C. Latency
• D. All of the above

Answer: (D)

Signal degradation happens when the quality of a transmitted signal declines as it travels through a medium or a system. Attenuation is the loss of signal strength with distance or through components, so the received signal is weaker and harder to interpret. Noise introduces random unwanted energy that corrupts the information and lowers the signal-to-noise ratio, making it harder to recover the original data. Latency, while not reducing amplitude, can degrade real-time usefulness by causing timing delays and synchronization issues, which distort how the signal is perceived or processed. Because each of these factors can contribute to deteriorating signal quality, all of the above is the best answer.