Also, decoding a folded Reed–Solomon code is an easier task. Suppose we want to correct a third of the errors. The decoding algorithm chosen must correct an error pattern that corrects every third symbol in the Reed–Solomon encoding. But after folding, this error pattern will corrupt all symbols over \mathbb{F}_q^3 and will eliminate the need for error correction. This propagation of errors is indicated by the blue color in the graphical description. This proves that for a fixed fraction of errors \rho, the folding operation reduces the channel's flexibility to distribute errors, which in turn leads to a reduction in the number of error patterns that need to be corrected.
