Analog vs. Digital
By: Carmen Jewkes
Analog Technology
- Record Player: this is analog technology because it will play the raw/original sound that was recorded onto the vinyl record.
- Microphone: this is analog technology because when you speak into the microphone, it takes your voice and changes it into an electric current, then changes it back into a sound wave and projects it, while still using the original sound.
- Telephone: this is analog technology because, a lot like the microphone, the phone takes your voice and will change it into an electric current, send it over the phone wires, and then change it back to a sound wave while still using the original sound.
- Common thread: each technology will take the original sound and use electric currents/waves to copy the sound onto another device.
Digital Technology
- CD: this is an example of digital technology because the device uses pits and lands (1's and 0's) from the center to the edge of the CD, and the CD player converts those pits and lands into a sound.
- T.V. : this is an example of digital technology because the DVD player that is hooked up to the T.V. takes the pits and lands from the DVD and converts the 1's and 0's onto the T.V. which generates an image.
- MP3 player: this is an example of digital technology because you burn the binary format from the CD onto the MP3 player, which is converted onto the player, so you can listen to the song on the player.
- Common thread: each technology uses pits and lands/ binary format, to listen to the sound.
Differences between Analog and Digital SIgnals
- Analog is a continuous electrical signal, unlike digital which is a non-continuous electrical signal.
- Analog has a worse quality because it is the original sound and cannot be edited, opposite of digital.
- Analog is usually copied onto a magnetic tape, (used in tape recorders), and digital is used burned onto a computer.
Differences between Analog and Digital Technology
- Digital technology usually generates an electronic image or sound with the signal it receives, unlike analog technology.
- Digital technology has a better image/sound than analog technology.
- Analog technology plays the original recording, while digital technology plays the electronic recording.
Why Digital is better than Analog
- Digital has a better quality, because analog is the original recording, and may have extra sounds in the back round.
- Digital is more durable, because it is electronic, while analog sound is on a magnetic tape and can be torn/scratched.
- Digital is easier to make copies of, while with analog technology you would have to take the original tape recording and record it on another piece of magnetic tape, instead of just burning it onto a computer like digital technology, which is much easier.
Sources
- www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Hardware_software/iPod_mp3Player.asp
- https://web.standford.edu/class/cslo/analog-digital-1.html
- academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/cis/iguemey/cis3/analogdigital.html
- www.differencebetween.net/technology/difference-between-analog-and-digital-signals/
- http://www.quepublishing.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1245329