In an FFT analyzer, the input signal is recorded in time blocks, called time records, and individual spectra are computed from each block of data. Because the input signal period is not synchronized with the duration of the time block, the signal will be truncated at the beginning and end of the block. This truncation causes an error in the calculation, which effectively spreads out, or 'smears', the spectrum in the frequency domain. This phenomenon is called leakage it reduces the accuracy of the measured levels of peaks in the spectrum, and reduces the effective frequency resolution of the analysis. Leakage is worst for continuous signals and rectangular window, and it is greatly reduced by use of the hanning window, which forces the signal level to zero at the ends of the data block.