9618 · 1.2.2
Multimedia - Sound
Computers can't store smooth sound waves directly, so they take quick snapshots of the wave's height and record them as numbers. The more snapshots you take, and the more precise the numbers are, the better the digital sound quality.
Need to know
What you need to know
- **Higher Sampling Rate:** More samples are taken per second, creating a more accurate representation of the original wave. This leads to higher fidelity sound but also a larger file size.
- **Lower Sampling Rate:** Fewer samples are taken, potentially missing details of the wave. This results in lower quality sound but a smaller file size.
Explanation
From Wave to Bits
- Start with the original analogue sound wave, which is continuous.
- At regular, tiny time intervals, measure the amplitude (height) of the wave. This is called sampling.
- Each measurement is approximated to the nearest available level, a process called quantisation.
- This level is then stored as a binary number. The number of bits used determines the precision.