Discrete transforms represent signals only at finite discrete frequencies, unlike infinite Fourier series

Evidence

This means that the transform values only exist at a finite number of discrete frequencies. This is a bit like the harmonics in a Fourier series except that there are a finite number of them. — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 2777

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies what ‘discrete’ means in the DFT: values exist only at a finite number of frequency points, analogous to—but limited unlike—Fourier series harmonics.