Digital Media

Forms of digital media:
A sound file: computer, ipod.
Video:tv, computer.
Photos: digital camera, phone, video camera.


Which number system is digital data based on?

Digital data is based on the binary number system which uses the numbers 0 or 1. Everything in the computer is that used by strings which are made up of these two numbers.

What is a bit and what is a byte?

Bit: A bit is an electronic signal which is either on (1) or off (0). It is the smallest unit of information the computer uses.

Byte: The byte is a unit of digital information in computing and telecommunications, that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, a byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and it is for this reason the basic addressable element in many computer architectures.

What is a sampling rate?

A sampling rate, sample rate or sampling frequency defines the number of samples per second (or per other unit) taken from a continour signal to make a discrete signal. Wikipedia image:

 How does Colour Depth (Color Depth) or bit depth effect the appearance of an image?

Colour depth is a term used to describe the maximum number of colours present in an image.

The chosen colour depth effects the final size of the image as well as varies the clarity of the image. The more colour the image has, the more image realistic and sophisticated the image looks [visually pleasing].

Why does Colour depth affect both still and video digital media but sampling rate only effects video but not still media?
Sampling rate only effects video not still media because the sampling rate is for the number of samples of data taken in one second for each channel of audio being recorded. Still media has no audio nor video so there would obviously be no effect of the sampling rate.