What are the advantages and disadvantages of a digital signal over an analog signal?

Answer 1

A digital signal is just a sequence of numbers, so a digital signal can be stored, transmitted, and reproduced exactly - every copy is the same as the original. Mathematics can be used to detect and correct errors. However, with noise or weak reception, a digital signal degrades much less gracefully than analog.

A digital transmission is in the form of a sequence of "true" / "false" settings - commonly described as "zeroes" and "ones" - at a steady signal amplitude (meaning "volume" or "strength") whereby a machine be programmed to make decisions on its contents.

On the other hand, an analog signal can be transmitted either at variable amplitude levels to convey the information (as in AM, meaning Amplitude Modulation) or at a steady amplitude but with varying frequencies to convey the information (as in FM, meaning Frequency Modulation). If the overall signal amplitude varies a lot - especially if it gets either very weak or overwhelmingly much too strong - many ambiguities of interpretation can come into play which will greatly affect the type of automatic machine decision-making that can be done.

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The question of digital technology is rather broader than that on just tv models because several other devices use this mode of technology too.

Digital technology has several advantages among which are;

- enables transmission of signals over a long distance.

- transmission is at a higher rate and with a wider broadband width.

- it is more secure.

- it is also easier to translate human audio and video signals and other messages into machine language.

- there is minimal electromagnetic interference in digital technology.

- it enables multi-directional transmission simultaneously.

On the other hand it also has some setbacks and disadvantages.

Basically, the previous answer that was based on tv models helps to guide one in understanding the general picture of digital technologies but is not applicable to all the other devices that use digital technology.

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Mathematics tells me that there no digital infinity while analog can almost approach it.