Digital Recording

Digital recording is a technique for preserving audio signals and video or visual images as a series of pulses that can be stored on magnetic tapes, optical discs (compact discs), or computer diskettes. These pulses are stored in the form of a series of binary digits (that is, zeros and ones). To make the recording, an analog-to-digital converter transforms the sound signal or visual image into digital information (a complex series of zeros and ones) that is recorded on high-speed magnetic tape or on disc or diskette. The system that plays back or reads out the sound or image translates the binary code back into analog (line like) signals using a digital-to-analog converter. Tape players, compact disc players, video disc players, and CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read-Only Memory) players in home computers are examples of digital-to-analog converters used to play back audio and video codes in our homes.