The Digital Mystique: A Review of Digital Technology and its Application to Television

ABSTRACT This article explores the divergences and convergences and convergences between the worlds of analog and of digital. It reviews some of the basic concepts of digital conversion and then compares and contrasts analog and digital signals, including their application to telephone and television signals. Issues arising from the use of digital and analog compression to save bandwidth are discussed. Lessons learned from the use of compression of cellular telephone signals are applied to the world of digital television.