What are Analog and Digital Signals?
Here’s a little semi-technical information on the difference between analog and digital TV signals, and why a digital signal is preferable for television broadcasting. An analog signal is a continuous electrical wave that varies in response to changes in the sound or image being transmitted. A digital signal is a sequence of pulses. The original information is converted into a series of ON/OFF signals (bits) before being transmitted, sort of like Morse code. Why is digital better? Digital signals can be sent for longer distances and are less prone to interference than analog signals. And since a digital signal is just a string of numbers, it can be reproduced exactly, an umlimited number of times. By contrast, analog signals cannot be copied perfectly. Each copy of an analog audio or video recording will have deterioration.
