Difference Between Analog and Digital

Analog vs digital

Technologically speaking, analog and digital are two types of processes used for the transmission of any electrical signal. In general, the information that is transformed into an electrical signal is audio or video. This is done through the translation of any information into different types of electrical signals. For the analog format, the data translation is done in electrical pulses that vary in amplitude, while for the digital format, the data translation is done in binary format with two distinct amplitudes representing each bit.

The devices come with built-in ‘translation’ facilities so that you have equipment such as analog or digital telephones, fax machines, modems, clocks, watches, etc. A microphone and speaker are good examples for analog devices.

Analog technology is older and has been used for decades. It’s also cheap, but the problem with analog signals is that there is a limitation on the size of data that can be transmitted at any given time.

Digital technology has changed the way most of our equipment works. It changes all data to binary code at the point of transmission and this binary code is reassembled back into data as original at the point of transmission reception. Since digital signals can be manipulated by software, it gives you many more options than an analog one. In telecommunications, compared to analog signals, since digital signals have an original plane that needs to be replicated at the point of completion of the transmission, it is more precise and clear.

However, another difference between digital and analog technology is that of quality. Since digital devices are translating and reassembling data, the quality is not that great. But advances in computer technology make it possible to artificially eliminate possible errors and disturbances in any digital signal. Digital is still quite expensive compared to analog. However, global tech giants are working to bring the price down.

The most efficient use of digital technology has been in the cell phone industry, with analog increasingly redundant, although sound quality is better in the latter. It can be said that all natural signals are analog. For example, when human speech is directly transformed into electrical signals, it is an analog signal. But converting it to digital format opens up an infinite possibility of use, such as a simple act of saving it on a computer.