How is sound digitized
The quality of sound recorded on a computer is determined by:
- sample rate: the number of times per second the computer samples the
sound (the higher the number the better quality the sound). This is similar to pixel
resolution in images.
- sample resolution: the number of bits used for each sample (the
higher the number
the better the sound). This is similar to bit depth or number of
colours.
A comparison to still image to come...
Sound Quality vs. File Size
The sample resolution and sample rate you use depends on a number of factors mostly related to how much space you have and how fast your user can transfer the data. Your choice is most often some comprimise between quality vs. file size.
Notes:
- 8 bit means each sample can have a value from 0 to 255 or 256 possible values
- 16 bit means each sample can have a value from 0 to 65535 or 65536 (thousands) possible values.
Valid for Fall/Winter 2003-2004
The material contained in this site is copyright and owned exclusively by Don Sinclair and members of the FACS teaching team.
Last modified on 14-Nov-03 at 9:28 AM.
Introduction
