Data Representation

(Chapter 1)
Syllabus Content:

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 1 Data Representation

1.1 | Number Systems

1.1.1 Use of Binary in Computers:

Any form of data needs to be converted to binary to be processed by a computer.
The data is processed using logic gates and stored in registers.
The basic building block in all computers is the binary number system which consists of 1’s
and 0’s only.
A computer contains millions of tiny switches, which must be in ON or OFF position.
These switches make use of logic gates and are used to store & process data.
A switch in the ON position is represented by 1 and a switch in the OFF position is
represented by 0 in binary.

1.1.2 Binary, Denary & Hexadecimal Systems:

Base means number of
In our syllabus, there are three types of number systems:
components e.g., binary
1. The binary system; (0,1)2 has two values 0 and 1
2. The denary system; (0-9)10 hence 2 components only.
3. The hexadecimal system; (0-9, A-F)16 It means a base of 2.

1) The Binary System:

The binary number system is a base 2 number system.
The numbers in this form are said to be in base 2 as only two values 0 and 1 are used to
represent each digit; they are called binary numbers.
Any positive integer (whole number) can be easily represented in binary by a sequence of
0's and 1's.
This means that it counts in multiples of 2 giving us the headings such as 2 0, 21, 22, 23 and
so on.

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Example:

The following is an 8-bit register which means it contains 8 digits. The registers are always filled
from right to left.

27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20

2*2*2*2*2*2*2 2*2*2*2*2*2 2*2*2*2*2 2*2*2*2 2*2*2 2*2 2 1

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

2) The Denary System:

The denary number system is a base 10 number system.
The numbers in this form are said to be in base 10 as ten values 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9
are used to represent each digit; they are called denary numbers.
They are also called the decimal number system.
This means that it counts in multiples of 10 giving us the headings such as 10 0, 101, 102, 103
and so on.

Example:

104 103 102 101 100

10*10*10*10 10*10*10 10*10 10 1

10 000 1000 100 10 1

Understanding Bits:
For a better understanding, binary numbers can be broken down into their smallest representation
called bits (the term bit is short for binary digit). The easiest way to understand bits is to think of
them as digits. Digit is simply a single place that can hold numerical values between 0 and 9.

Digits are normally combined together in groups to create larger numbers.

For example, 6357 has four digits. It is understood that in this number:

• The 7 is filling the 1’s place.

• The 5 is filling the 10’s place.
• The 3 is filling the 100’s place.
• The 6 is filling the 1000’s place.

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So you could express things this way if you wanted to be clear:

(6 x 1000) + (3 x 100) + (5 x 10) + (7 x 1) = 6000 + 300 + 50 + 7 = 6357

Another way to represent it would be in denary (decimal) number system by using powers of 10
like we saw in the table above. The power increases from right-hand side to the left-hand side.

(6 x 103) + (3 x 102) + (5 x 101) + (7 x 100) = 6000 + 300 + 50 + 7 = 6357

It can be seen from this that each digit is a placeholder for the next higher power of 10, starting
from the first digit with 10 raised to the power of zero and so on.

The binary number system works exactly the same way as the denary system, except that it
contains only two digits, 0 and 1.

For example, to figure out the value of binary number 1101, you use the similar method described
above but with a base of 2 instead of 10 (which means that increasing powers of 2 from right-hand
side to the left-hand side instead of powers of 10).

(1 x 23) + (1 x 22) + (0 x 21) + (1 x 20) = (1 x 8) + (1 x 4) + (0 x 2) + (1 x 1) = 8 + 4 + 0 + 1 = 13

To further simplify this, we can use the table method as well, by drawing a 4 bit register as 1101
contains only 4 digits.

23 22 21 20

8 4 2 1

? ? ? ?

Now fill 1101 in the table and remember that 1 means YES/ON and 0 means NO/OFF. So
accordingly, the powers of 2 above 1’s would be counted whereas the powers above 0 would be
ignored.

23 22 21 20

8 4 2 1

1 1 0 1

We get 8 (23), 4 (22) and 1 (20) from the table and 2 (21) is ignored as the binary value 0 means OFF
or more simply, 2 x 0 = 0.

Add together all the numbers obtained: 8 + 4 + 1 = 13.

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Conversions:
(i) binary to denary:
1. First, draw a table like the ones above.
2. On top of the table, simply write the powers of 2 starting from right to left in an increasing
order.
3. The binary number given to you is written underneath the powers.
4. The powers of 2 above binary number “1” are taken into consideration and those above “0”
are simply ignored.
5. The powers of 2 above “1” are all written and added together to obtain the denary number.

Examples:
The maximum binary number length for conversion to be used in this syllabus is 16-bit.

The process of binary to denary conversion is best shown by four examples below which use the 6-
bit, 8-bit, 12-bit & 16-bit binary numbers:

1) Convert (11101110)2 to denary [8-bit]:

Since the total digits are 8, we’ll use an 8-bit register as given below.

You can either write it as powers of 2 from right to left or straight away the results of the powers.
For example, you can either use 23 or its result 8.

27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0

Numbers “16” and “1” are ignored since the binary value underneath them is 0. We simply take
128, 64, 32, 8, 4, 2 and add them all together.

128 + 64+ 32 + 8 + 4 + 2 = (238)10

(238)10 represents that this is a denary
number as 10 is written outside the bracket
in sub-script indicating this is a base 10
number.

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2) Convert (111001)2 to denary [6-bit]:

Since the total digits are 6, we’ll still use an 8-bit register but in a slightly different way.

We will write this binary number in the table starting from right-hand side to the left hand-side.
Only 6 places will be filled and leftmost 2 will be left empty.

In a register, all the places have to be filled so we will write 0 in the empty spaces instead of
leaving them blank to fulfil the pattern of 8-bit register.

27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 (blank) 0 (blank) 1 1 1 0 0 1

Numbers “128”, “64”, “4” and “2” are ignored since the binary value underneath them is 0. We
simply take 32, 16, 8, 1 and add them all together.

32 + 16+ 8 + 1 = (57)10

3) Convert (011110001011)2 to denary [12-bit]:

Since the total digits are 12, we’ll use an 12-bit register as given below.

You can either write it as powers of 2 from right to left or straight away the results of the powers.
For example, you can either use 23 or its result 8.

211 210 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20

2048 1024 512 256 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1

Numbers “2048”, “64”, “32”, “16” and “4” are ignored since the binary value underneath them is 0.
We simply take 1024, 512, 256, 128, 8, 2, 1 and add them all together.

1024 + 512 + 256 + 128 + 8 + 2 + 1 = (1931)10

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 4) Convert (0011000111100110)2 to denary [16-bit]:

Since the total digits are 16, we’ll use a 16-bit register as given below.

You can either write it as powers of 2 from right to left or straight away the results of the powers.
For example, you can either use 23 or its result 8.

215 214 213 212 211 210 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20

32768 16384 8192 4096 2048 1024 512 256 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0

Numbers “32768”, “16384”, “2048”, “1024”, “512”, “16”, “8” and “1” are ignored since the binary
value underneath them is 0. We simply take 8192, 4096, 256, 128, 64, 32, 4, 2 and add them all
together.

8192 + 4096 + 256 + 128 + 64 + 32 + 4 + 2 = (12774)10

This same method can be used for a binary number of any size.

(ii) denary to binary:

To convert from denary to binary, place all 1s in appropriate position under the suitable column
headings so that it equates to the denary number.

Examples:

The process of denary to binary conversion is best shown by three examples below:

1) Convert (142)10 to binary [8-bit]:

Step by step subtraction approach:

1. Does the number go into 128? Yes, so it becomes a ‘1’ and (142 – 128 = 14).
2. Does the remaining 14 go into 64? No, so it becomes a ‘0’.
3. Does the remaining 14 go into 32? No, so it also becomes a ‘0’.
4. Does the remaining 14 go into 16? No, so it also becomes a ‘0’.
5. Does the remaining 14 go into 8? Yes, so it becomes a ‘1’ and (14 – 8 = 6).
6. Does the remaining 6 go into 4? Yes, so it also becomes a ‘1’ and (6 – 4 = 2).
7. Does the remaining 2 go into 2? Yes, so it also becomes a ‘1’ and (2 – 2 = 0).
8. Since there is nothing left to compare with 1, it becomes a ‘0’ by default.

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0

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Hence the answer becomes: (10001110)2

You can now double check your answer by the same method used in binary to denary
conversion:

Numbers “64”, “32”, “16” and “1” are ignored since the binary value underneath them is 0. We
simply take 128, 8, 4, 2 and add them all together.

128 + 8 + 4 + 2 = (142)10

Hence this confirms that the answer of conversion from denary to binary (10001110)2 is
correct.

2) Convert (59)10 to binary [8-bit]:

Step by step subtraction approach:

1. Does the number go into 128? No, so it becomes a ‘0’.

2. Does the number go into 64? No, so it also becomes a ‘0’.
3. Does the number go into 32? Yes, so it becomes a ‘1’ and (59 – 32 = 27).
4. Does the remaining 27 go into 16? Yes, so it also becomes a ‘1’ and (27 – 16 = 11).
5. Does the remaining 11 go into 8? Yes, so it also becomes a ‘1’ and (11 – 8 = 3).
6. Does the remaining 3 go into 4? No, so it becomes a ‘0’.
7. Does the remaining 3 go into 2? Yes, so it becomes a ‘1’ and (3 – 2 = 1).
8. Does the remaining 1 go into 1? Yes, so it becomes a ‘1’ and (1 – 1 = 0).

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1

Hence the answer becomes: (00111011)2

You can now double check your answer by the same method used in binary to denary
conversion:

Numbers “128”, “64” and “4” are ignored since the binary value underneath them is 0. We simply
take 32, 16, 8, 2, 1 and add them all together.

32 + 16 + 8 + 2 + 1 = (59)10

Hence this confirms that the answer of conversion from denary to binary (00111011)2 is
correct.

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 The third example shows how this method can be used for any size of binary number, which
in this case is a 16-bit binary number.

3) Convert (35000)10 to binary [16-bit]:

Step by step subtraction approach:

1. Does the number go into 32768? Yes, so it becomes a ‘1’ and (35000 – 32768 = 2232).
2. Does the remaining 2232 go into 16384? No, so it becomes a ‘0’.
3. Does the remaining 2232 go into 8192? No, so it also becomes a ‘0’.
4. Does the remaining 2232 go into 4096? No, so it also becomes a ‘0’.
5. Does the remaining 2232 go into 2048? Yes, so it becomes a ‘1’ and (2232 – 2048 = 184)
6. Does the remaining 184 go into 1024? No, so it becomes a ‘0’.
7. Does the remaining 184 go into 512? No, so it also becomes a ‘0’.
8. Does the remaining 184 go into 256? No, so it also becomes a ‘0’.
9. Does the remaining 184 go into 128? Yes, so it becomes a ‘1’ and (184 – 128 = 56).
10. Does the remaining 56 go into 64? No, so it also becomes a ‘0’.
11. Does the remaining 56 go into 32? Yes, so it becomes a ‘1’ and (56 – 32 = 24).
12. Does the remaining 24 go into 16? Yes, so it also becomes a ‘1’ and (24 – 16 = 8).
13. Does the remaining 8 go into 8? Yes, so it also becomes a ‘1’ and (8 – 8 = 0).
14. Since there is nothing left to compare with 4, 2 & 1, they all become ‘0’ by default.

32768 16384 8192 4096 2048 1024 512 256 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0

Hence the answer becomes: (1000100010111000)2

You can now double check your answer by the same method used in binary to denary
conversion:

Numbers “16384”, “8192”, “4096”, “1024”, “512”, “256”, “64”, “4”, “2” and “1” are ignored since the
binary value underneath them is 0. We simply take 32768, 2048, 128, 32, 16, 8 and add them all
together.

32768 + 2048 + 128 + 32 + 16 + 8 = (35000)10

Hence this confirms that the answer of conversion from denary to binary
(1000100010111000)2 is correct.

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Why is data always stored as binary in computers?

The computer uses transistors/logic circuits.

As a result, they can only store data in 2 states that are ON and OFF which are represented
by binary digits 1 and 0.

Example Use of Binary:

Binary is used in registers; a register is made up of a group of binary digits (bits).

When computers are used to control devices e.g., robots, registers are used as part of the
control system.
They store the instructions and allow for the movement and functioning of devices, e.g.
robots.

For example, the following is a robot vacuum cleaner with the shown structure and register:

(a) What would be the effect if the register contains:

(Instructions: Always remember that binary value 1 means True/Yes that shows it follows the condition above
it whereas binary value 0 means False/No that shows it does not follow the condition above it).

i) 10101010:

motor B is ON and motor C is ON and both motors are turning to produce forward motion.

ii) 10011000:

motor B is ON and motor C is OFF and motor B is turning to produce forward motion.

iii) 10100110:

motor B is ON and motor C is ON and motor B is moving backwards while motor C is

moving forward.

(b) What would the register contain if only motor C was ON and the motors were turning in
a backwards direction?

01100101

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c) What would the register contain if motor B and motor C were both ON but B was turning
in a backward direction and C was turning in a forward direction?

10100110

Uses for Binary Numbers (stored in a register):

1. Address in main memory

2. Data
3. Number
4. Instruction
5. ASCII value
6. A sound
7. Part of image

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Exam Style Questions:

Question 1:

Explain the difference between binary number system and denary number system. (4)

Exam Tip:
One statement about either binary or denary earns you 1 mark while a statement
involving both binary and denary with an appropriate comparison using words such as
“whereas or while” earns you 2 marks for each proper comparison.
To obtain 4/4 marks in such questions, you need to write two proper comparisons which
means a total of 4 statements (2 about binary + 2 about denary).

Possible answers:

A binary number system is a base-2 system whereas a denary number system is a base-10
system.
A binary number system uses 0 and 1 values whereas a denary number system uses 0 to 9
values.
Binary has units that increase by power of 2 whereas denary has units that increase by
power of 10.

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Question 2:

Answer:

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3) The Hexadecimal System:
The hexadecimal number system is a base 16 number system.
It uses 16 different values to represent each digit and the values used are 0-9 and A-F.
It can be written in sequence as 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 and 10,11,12,13,14,15 which becomes
letters such as:

Digit Letter

10 = A

11 = B

12 = C

13 = D

14 = E

15 = F

This means that it counts in multiples of 16 giving us the headings such as 160, 161, 162, 163
and so on.

Since 16 = 24 this means that four binary digits are equivalent to each hexadecimal digit.

The table on the next page summarizes the link between binary, hexadecimal and denary. It is
mostly used for direct conversions from binary to hexadecimal, and hexadecimal to binary.

It should be memorized at all costs.

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Conversions (continued):

Hexadecimal Denary (i) binary to hexadecimal:

Binary value
value value
Examples:
0 0 0 0 0 0
1) Convert (101111100001)2 to hexadecimal:
0 0 0 1 1 1
First split this up into groups of 4 bits starting
0 0 1 0 2 2 from right-hand side to left-hand side like this:
0 0 1 1 3 3 1011 1110 0001
0 1 0 0 4 4 Then using the table on left, find the equivalent
0 1 0 1 5 5 hexadecimal digits for all three parts.

1011 = B, 1110 = E, 0001 = 1

0 1 1 0 6 6
Hence the hexadecimal number is (BE1)16
0 1 1 1 7 7

1 0 0 0 8 8
(ii) hexadecimal to binary:
1 0 0 1 9 9
Examples:
1 0 1 0 A 10
1) Convert (21FD)16 to binary:
1 0 1 1 B 11
Use the table on the left and for each digit find
1 1 0 0 C 12 equivalent binary digits.
1 1 0 1 D 13 2 = 0010, 1 = 0001, F = 1111, D = 1101
1 1 1 0 E 14 Hence the binary number is:

1 1 1 1 F 15 (0010000111111101)2

Note: In case of a binary number with 14 digits, it will be split into 4 groups (from right to left
always) and each must contain four bits. 4 bits x 4 groups = 16 digits total. Hence, we must add 0’s
to fill the empty space of 2 digits.

Example: 10000111111101 becomes 10 0001 1111 1101

To complete the space of 2 digits on left, we will add 2 zeroes and it will become:

0010 0001 1111 1101

Following the same method, we will use the table above and find the equivalent hexadecimal
digits for all four parts.

0010 = 2, 0001 = 1, 1111 = F, 1101 = D, hence the hexadecimal number is (21FD)16

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(iii) hexadecimal to denary:
Examples:

1) Convert (45A)16 to denary:

First multiply each digit by its value (power of 16 written above it) and then add the results
together:

162 = 256 161 = 16 160 = 1

4 5 A = 10

(4 x 256) + (5 x 16) + (10 x 1) = 1024 + 80 + 10 = 1114

Hence the denary number is (1114)10

2) Convert (C8F)16 to denary:

First multiply each digit by its value (power of 16 written above it) and then add the results
together:

162 = 256 161 = 16 160 = 1

C = 12 8 F = 15

(12 x 256) + (8 x 16) + (15 x 1) = 3072 + 128 + 15 = 3215

Hence the denary number is (3215)10

(iv) denary to hexadecimal:

Examples:

1) Convert (2004)10 to hexadecimal:

Place hexadecimal digits in appropriate positions (under appropriate powers of 16) so that the
total equates to 2004:

256 16 1

7 13 = D 4

(7 x 256) + (13 x 16) + (4 x 1) = 1792 + 208 + 4 = 2004

Hence the hexadecimal number is (7D4)16

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2) Convert (3743)10 to hexadecimal:

Place hexadecimal digits in appropriate positions (under appropriate powers of 16) so that the
total equates to 3743:

256 16 1

14 = E 9 15 = F

(14 x 256) + (9 x 16) + (15 x 1) = 3584 + 144 + 15 = 3743

Hence the hexadecimal number is (E9F)16

Another method involves successive division by 16. The remainders are then read from
bottom to top to give hexadecimal value. Using 3743, we get:

Divisor Dividend Remainder

16 3743

16 233 15

16 14 9

0 14

Reading the remainder from bottom to top gives:

14 = E
9
15 = F

Hence the hexadecimal number is (E9F)16

1.1.3 Uses of Hexadecimal System:

Hexadecimal is easier for humans to understand than binary, as it is a shorter representation
of the binary.
A computer can only work with binary data whilst computer scientists find hexadecimal to
be more convenient to use.
This is because one hex digit represents four binary digits so a complex binary number, such
as 1101001010101111 can be written in hex in a shorter form as D2AF.

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There are four main uses of the hexadecimal system in our syllabus:

1. Error codes
2. Media Access Control (addresses) / MAC addresses
3. Internet Protocol addresses / IPv6 addresses
4. HTML color codes

1) Error Codes:
The error codes are often shown as hexadecimal values.
These numbers refer to the memory location of the error and are usually automatically
generated by the computer.
The programmer needs to know how to interpret the hexadecimal error codes.

2) Media Access Control (MAC) addresses:

It is represented using six groups of hexadecimal digits:

NN–NN–NN–DD–DD–DD OR NN:NN:NN:DD:DD:DD

Explain what is meant by MAC address?

NOTE: Any of the following points written according to number of marks will earn you full
marks in exam question such as:
For a 3 mark question, write any 3 points.
For a 4 mark question, write 4 points
Therefore, write answers accordingly based on number of marks

It is media access control (address).

It is a unique number/address that identifies a device connected to the internet.
It is a static address which means it does not change.
The first part of the address is manufacturer ID, and second part is the serial number of
device.
It is set by the manufacturer.

State why MAC addresses are used.

It allows all devices to be uniquely identified.

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Explain what the hexadecimal code in a MAC address represents.

NOTE: The hexadecimal code in a MAC address is the NN’s and DD’s.

It is a unique physical address/number associated with network interface card in a device.

It is usually made up of 48 bits which are shown as six groups of hexadecimal digits.
The first part or 6 digits (NN-NN-NN) is the manufacturer ID of device.
The second part or last 6 digits (DD-DD-DD) is the serial number of device.

3) Internet Protocol (IP) addresses:

Each device on the internet is given a unique address known as the Internet Protocol (IP)
address.
IP addresses can be IPv4 (32 bit) or IPv6 (128 bit).

IPv4 address:

IPv4 address is a 32-bit number written in denary or hexadecimal form.

For example: 109.108.158.1 in denary or 77.76.9e.01 in hex.

IPv6 address:

IPv4 has recently been improved upon by adoption of IPv6.

IPv6 address is a 128-bit number broken down into 16-bit chunks, represented by a
hexadecimal number.
For example: a8fb:7a88:fff0:0fff:3d21:2085:66fb:f0fa

Note: IPv6 uses a colon (:) rather than a decimal point (.) as used in IPv4.

4) HyperText Mark-up Language (HTML) color codes:

What is HyperText Mark-up Language?

It is used to create and develop webpages/websites (web authoring language).

It is not a programming language but is simply a mark-up language.
It is used in processing, definition, and presentation of text.

HTML Color Codes:

HTML is used in specifying the color of the text using tags which bracket a piece of code.
It is used to represent different colors of text on computer screens and all colors can be
made up of different combinations of three primary colors: red, green & blue.
The different intensity of each primary color is determined by its hexadecimal value.
This shows different hexadecimal values represent different colors.

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 The color codes are always six hexadecimal digits representing the red, green & blue
components.
There are a possible 256 values for red, 256 values for green and 256 values for blue.
This proves 256 x 256 x 256 = 16 177 216 possible colors.

Example:

1. # FF 00 00 represents primary color red.

2. # 00 FF 00 represents primary color green.
3. # 00 00 FF represents primary color blue.

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Exam Style Questions:

Question 1:

Answer:

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Question 2:

25
Answer:

Question 3:

Answer:

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Question 4:

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Answer:

Question 5:

Answer:

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Question 6:

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Answer:

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1.1.4 Binary Addition & Overflow:

NOTE: Binary Addition & Overflow are newly added topics in the Computer Science
(2210) syllabus for the session 2023–2025.

According to the new syllabus, we will look at the method of adding two positive 8-bit binary
integers.

The given key facts must be memorized at all costs because they will help in solving all types
of addition questions easily.

Remember the following rules when carrying out addition of two binary digits:

Binary Addition Carry Sum

0+0 0 0

0+1 0 1

1+0 0 1

1+1 1 0

Remember the following extension of rules when carrying out addition of three binary
digits:

Binary Addition Carry Sum

0+0+0 0 0

0+0+1 0 1

0+1+0 0 1

0+1+1 1 0

1+0+0 0 1

1+0+1 1 0

1+1+0 1 0

1+1+1 1 1

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Examples:

The labeling below represents column numbers, such as c1 is column 1 & c5 is column 5.

Since binary addition is a newly added topic, the following addition example is solved step-by-step
so you can understand it better first and then practice a lot afterwards.

Addition of 00100111 + 01001010:

c8 c7 c6 c5 c4 c3 c2 c1

0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1
+ 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0

 carry values

 sum values

1) Solving c1 first (according to rules of tables for two-digit addition):

1 + 0 = 1 (sum) & 0 (carry); therefore, carry column will be left blank for next column (c2).

c8 c7 c6 c5 c4 c3 c2 c1

0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1
+ 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0

 carry values

1  sum values

2) Solving c2 (according to rules of tables for two-digit addition):

1 + 1 = 0 (sum) & 1 (carry); the carry value will be added to next column (c3).

c8 c7 c6 c5 c4 c3 c2 c1

0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1
+ 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0

1  carry values

0 1  sum values

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3) Solving c3 (according to rules of tables for three-digit addition):

1 + 0 + 1 (from carry) = 0 (sum) & 1 (carry); the carry value will be added to next column
(c4).
c8 c7 c6 c5 c4 c3 c2 c1

0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1
+ 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0

1 1  carry values

0 0 1  sum values

4) Solving c4 (according to rules of tables for three-digit addition):

0 + 1 + 1 = 0 (sum) & 1 (carry); the carry value will be added to the next column (c5).

c8 c7 c6 c5 c4 c3 c2 c1

0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1
+ 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0

1 1 1  carry values

0 0 0 1  sum values

5) Solving c5 (according to rules of tables for three-digit addition):

0 + 0 + 1 = 1 (sum) & 0 (carry); therefore, carry column will be left blank for next column
(c6).
c8 c7 c6 c5 c4 c3 c2 c1

0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1
+ 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0

1 1 1  carry values

1 0 0 0 1  sum values

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6) Solving c6 (according to rules of tables for two-digit addition):

1 + 0 = 1 (sum) & 0 (carry); therefore, carry column will be left blank for next column (c7).

c8 c7 c6 c5 c4 c3 c2 c1

0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1
+ 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0

1 1 1  carry values

1 1 0 0 0 1  sum values

7) Solving c7 (according to rules of tables for two-digit addition):

0 + 1 = 1 (sum) & 0 (carry); therefore, carry column will be left blank for last column (c8).

c8 c7 c6 c5 c4 c3 c2 c1

0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1
+ 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0

1 1 1  carry values

1 1 1 0 0 0 1  sum values

8) Solving c8 (according to rules of tables for two-digit addition):

0 + 0 = 0 (sum) & 0 (carry); therefore, no additional 9th bit would be generated and so
no overflow will occur (overflow discussed later).

c8 c7 c6 c5 c4 c3 c2 c1

0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1
+ 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0

1 1 1  carry values

0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1  sum values

Answer of binary addition = 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 (sum values)

34
The second addition example is more advanced and solved step-by-step so you can understand it
better first and then practice a lot afterwards.

Convert 126 and 62 into binary:

126 = 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0
62 = 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0

Add these two binary values obtained above and check that the result matches the addition
of these two denary numbers above:

Addition of 00100111 + 01001010:

c8 c7 c6 c5 c4 c3 c2 c1

0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0
+ 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0

 carry values

 sum values

1) Solving c1 first (according to rules of tables for two-digit addition):

0 + 0 = 0 (sum) & 0 (carry); therefore, carry column will be left blank for next column (c2).

c8 c7 c6 c5 c4 c3 c2 c1

0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0
+ 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0

 carry values

0  sum values

35
2) Solving c2 (according to rules of tables for two-digit addition):

1 + 1 = 0 (sum) & 1 (carry); the carry value will be added to the next column (c3).

c8 c7 c6 c5 c4 c3 c2 c1

0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0
+ 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0

1  carry values

0 0  sum values

3) Solving c3 (according to rules of tables for three-digit addition):

1 + 1 + 1 = 1 (sum) & 1 (carry); the carry value will be added to the next column (c4).

c8 c7 c6 c5 c4 c3 c2 c1

0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0
+ 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0

1 1  carry values

1 0 0  sum values

4) Solving c4 (according to rules of tables for three-digit addition):

1 + 1 + 1 = 1 (sum) & 1 (carry); the carry value will be added to the next column (c5).

c8 c7 c6 c5 c4 c3 c2 c1

0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0
+ 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0

1 1 1  carry values

1 1 0 0  sum values

36
5) Solving c5 (according to rules of tables for three-digit addition):

1 + 1 + 1 = 1 (sum) & 1 (carry); the carry value will be added to the next column (c6).

c8 c7 c6 c5 c4 c3 c2 c1

0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0
+ 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0

1 1 1 1  carry values

1 1 1 0 0  sum values

6) Solving c6 (according to rules of tables for three-digit addition):

1 + 1 + 1 = 1 (sum) & 1 (carry); the carry value will be added to the next column (c7).

c8 c7 c6 c5 c4 c3 c2 c1

0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0
+ 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0

1 1 1 1 1  carry values

1 1 1 1 0 0  sum values

7) Solving c7 (according to rules of tables for three-digit addition):

1 + 0 + 1 = 0 (sum) & 1 (carry); the carry value will be added to the next column (c8).

c8 c7 c6 c5 c4 c3 c2 c1

0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0
+ 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0

1 1 1 1 1 1  carry values

0 1 1 1 1 0 0  sum values

37
8) Solving c8 (according to rules of tables for three-digit addition):

0 + 0 + 1 = 1 (sum) & 0 (carry); therefore, no additional 9th bit would be generated and
so no overflow will occur (overflow discussed later)

c8 c7 c6 c5 c4 c3 c2 c1

0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0
+ 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0

1 1 1 1 1 1  carry values

1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0  sum values

Answer of binary addition = 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 (sum values)

The answer of binary addition 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 has equivalent denary value of:

128 + 32 + 16 + 8 + 4 = 188

The answer of addition of both denary values is:

126 + 62 = 188

Hence the result of two binary numbers matches the addition of their two denary numbers.

Concept & Reason of Overflow:

An overflow error will occur if the value of addition (result) is greater than 255 in an 8-bit
register.
A computer or a device has a predefined limit that it can represent or store e.g., 16-bit.
An overflow error occurs when a value outside this limit should be returned.

Overflow in 8-bit register:

An overflow error will occur if the result of addition is greater than 255 in an 8-bit register.
An 8-bit register would allow a maximum denary value of 255 (which is 28 – 1) to be stored.
The generation of a 9th bit in addition shows sum has exceeded this value causing overflow
error.
This indicates that a number is too big to be stored in the computer using 8 bits hence it
requires more bits for storage.

However, the greater the number of bits which can be used to represent a number then the
larger the number that can be stored. The examples are given on the next page.

38
Overflow in 16-bit register:

An overflow error will occur if the result of addition is greater than 65 535 in a 16-bit
register.
A 16-bit register would allow a maximum denary value of 65 535 (which is 216 – 1) to be
stored.
The generation of a 9th bit in addition shows sum has exceeded this value causing overflow
error.
This indicates that a number is too big to be stored in the computer using 16 bits hence it
requires more bits for storage.

Overflow in 32-bit register:

An overflow error will occur if the result of addition is greater than 4 294 967 295 in a 32-bit
register.
A 32-bit register would allow a maximum denary value of 4 294 967 295 (which is 232 – 1) to
be stored.
The generation of a 9th bit in addition shows sum has exceeded this value causing overflow
error.
This indicates that a number is too big to be stored in the computer using 32 bits hence it
requires more bits for storage.

This process of overflow goes on for 64-bit register, 128-bit register and so on in a similar way.

Example of Overflow:

The labeling below represents column numbers, such as c1 is column 1 & c5 is column 5.

Since overflow & binary addition are newly added topics, the following overflow in addition
example is solved step-by-step so you can understand it better first and then practice a lot
afterwards.

Addition of 01101110 + 11011110 (using 8 bits):

c8 c7 c6 c5 c4 c3 c2 c1

0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0
+ 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0

 carry values

 sum values

Note: The denary number of 01101110 is 110 & denary number of 11011110 is 222.

39
1) Solving c1 & c2 first (according to rules of tables for two-digit addition):

c1 → 0 + 0 = 0 (sum) & 0 (carry); the carry column will be left blank for next column (c2).
c2 → 1 + 1 = 0 (sum) & 1 (carry); the carry value will be added to the next column (c3).

c8 c7 c6 c5 c4 c3 c2 c1

0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0
+ 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0

1  carry values

0 0  sum values

2) Solving c3 & c4 (according to rules of tables for three-digit addition):

c3 → 1 + 1 + 1 = 1 (sum) & 1 (carry); the carry value will be added to the next column (c4).
c4 → 1 + 1 + 1 = 1 (sum) & 1 (carry); the carry value will be added to the next column (c5).

c8 c7 c6 c5 c4 c3 c2 c1

0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0
+ 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0

1 1 1  carry values

1 1 0 0  sum values

3) Solving c5 & c6 (according to rules of tables for three-digit addition):

c5 → 0 + 1 + 1 = 0 (sum) & 1 (carry); the carry value will be added to the next column (c6).
c6 → 1 + 0 + 1 = 0 (sum) & 1 (carry); the carry value will be added to the next column (c7).

c8 c7 c6 c5 c4 c3 c2 c1

0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0
+ 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0

1 1 1 1 1  carry values

0 0 1 1 0 0  sum values

40
4) Solving c7 (according to rules of tables for three-digit addition):

c7 → 1 + 1 + 1 = 1 (sum) & 1 (carry); the carry value will be added to the next column (c8).

c8 c7 c6 c5 c4 c3 c2 c1

0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0
+ 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0

1 1 1 1 1 1  carry values

1 0 0 1 1 0 0  sum values

5) Solving c8 (according to rules of tables for three-digit addition):

c8 → 0 + 1 + 1 = 0 (sum) & 1 (carry); therefore, an additional 9th bit would be generated

and so overflow will occur

c8 c7 c6 c5 c4 c3 c2 c1

0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0
+ 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0

1 1 1 1 1 1 1  carry values

1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0  sum values

9th bit generated

This addition has generated a 9th bit.

The 8 bits of the answer (sum values) are 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0
These bits give the denary value 64 + 8 + 4 = 76.
This is incorrect because the denary value of the addition of both denary numbers (whose
binary numbers are used in example) is 110 + 222 = 332.
Therefore, generation of a 9th bit indicates an overflow error because an 8-bit register would
allow a maximum denary value of 255 to be stored.
The correct value 332 is greater than 255 (which is maximum capacity of 8-bit register) and
hence it cannot be stored in 8-bit register causing an overflow error.

41
 Exam Tip:
The description of overflow given on previous page is for your conceptual understanding
only.
However, in the exam you will only write a specific, to the point and short answer such as
sample answers written for sample questions given below:

Sample Question 1: Describe an error that may occur during addition of binary numbers. (2)

Sample Answer:

The answer cannot be represented in the current number of bits.

This error is called overflow.

Sample Question 2: State how an overflow can occur when adding two binary integers. (1)

Sample Answer:

The result is a larger number than can be stored in the given number of bits OR
The result is greater than 255.

42
Exam Style Questions:

Question 1:

Answer:

43
Question 2:

Answer:

Question 3:

Answer:

44
Question 4:

Answer:

45
Question 5:

Answer:

46
1.1.5 Logical Binary Shifts:

NOTE: Logical Binary Shifts is a newly added topic in the Computer Science (2210)
syllabus for the session 2023–2025.

According to the new syllabus, we will look at the method of performing a logical binary shift on a
positive 8-bit binary integer and understanding the effect this has on the positive binary integer.

Computers can carry out a logical shift on a sequence of binary numbers.

Logical shift means moving/shifting the binary number either to the left or to the right.
As bits are shifted/moved, any empty positions of bits are replaced with a zero.

Throughout this section, as per syllabus requirement, we will only use 8-bit registers.

Logical Left Shift:

Each shift left is equivalent to multiplying the binary number by 2.

Logical Right Shift:

Each shift right is equivalent to dividing the binary number by 2.

Multiple Logical Shifts & Limit:

Multiple right & left shifts can be performed on the same 8-bit binary integer.
However, there is clearly a limit to the number of shifts that can be carried out if the binary
number is stored in an 8-bit register.
Eventually after a number of shifts the register would only contain zeroes.

For Example:

If we shift 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 (denary 112) five places left in an 8-bit register:

Each shift left is equivalent to multiplying the binary number by 2.

Five shifts left would be equivalent to multiplying the binary number by 25 = 32
So, 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 (denary 112) would be multiplied by 25 / 32.

The register would end up with 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 if we shift five places left.

This makes it seem as denary 112 x 32 (25) = 0! which is illogical because register contains 0
values and multiplication of 112 x 32 (25) cannot be equal to 0.

This results in the generation of an error message.

47
Most Significant & Least Significant Bit:

The left-most bit is referred to as the Most Significant Bit.

The right-most bit is referred to as the Least Significant Bit.

Process of Logical Left Shift:

The bits shifted from the left end of the register are lost and zeros are shifted in at the
opposite right end of the register.
The positive binary integer is multiplied by 2 according to the left shift performed.
In this case, the most significant bit(s) are lost.

Process of Logical Right Shift:

The bits shifted from the right end of the register are lost and zeros are shifted in at the
opposite left end of the register.
The positive binary integer is divided by 2 according to the right shift performed.
In this case, the least significant bit(s) are lost.

48
Examples of Logical Left Shift:

(i) Performing a single logical left shift (1 time):

The original binary number 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 is shifted one place to the left.

The denary number 21 is 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 in binary that is put into an 8-bit register:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1

A logical left shift is performed on the register.

As a result, the left-most bit (most significant bit) is lost following a logical left shift:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
Left-most bit
is lost 0 0 1 0 1 0 1

This means that the left-most bit ‘0’ is lost & the remaining original 7 bits of binary number
0 0 1 0 1 0 1 are moved 1 place to the left:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 0 1 0 1 0 1

The remaining 7 bits are moved 1 place to left each

This results in an empty right-most bit (least significant bit) position:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1 Right-most bit

position is
0 0 1 0 1 0 1
empty

This empty right-most bit position is filled with a ‘0’:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1 Right-most bit

position is
0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0
filled with 0

49
 Therefore, left-most bit is lost, and right-most bit position is now filled with a ‘0’ following
the logical left shift. This binary number is obtained:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0

The value of the binary bits is now denary number 21 x 21 = 42

Therefore, the positive binary integer is multiplied by 2 as a result of the logical left shift
performed.

You can now double check your answer by:

Calculating the denary value of new binary number 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 that is 32 + 8 + 2 = 42.

The answer of original denary value 21 x 21 (according to one left shift) = 42

Hence this confirms that the logical left shift is performed correctly.

(ii) Performing a double logical left shift (2 times):

The original binary number 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 is shifted two places to the left.

The denary number 21 is 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 in binary. Putting this into an 8-bit register:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1

Double logical left shift is performed on the register.

As a result, the two left-most bits (most significant bits) are lost following the shift:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
Left-most bits
are lost 0 1 0 1 0 1

This means that the left-most bits ‘0’ & ‘0’ are lost & the remaining original 6 bits of binary
number 0 1 0 1 0 1 are moved 1 place to the left each:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 1 0 1 0 1

The remaining 6 bits are moved 1 place to left each

50
 This results in two empty right-most bits (least significant bits) position:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1 Right-most bits

position is
0 1 0 1 0 1
empty

These empty right-most bits positions are filled with ‘0’’s both:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1 Right-most bits

position is
0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0
filled with 0’s

Therefore, two left-most bits are lost, and two right-most bits position is now filled with ‘0’s
following the double logical left shift. This binary number is obtained:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0

The value of the binary bits is now denary number 21 x 22 = 84

Therefore, the positive binary integer is multiplied by 22 as a result of the double logical left
shift performed.

You can now double check your answer by:

Calculating the denary value of new binary number 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 that is 64 + 16 + 4 = 84.

The answer of original denary value 21 x 22 (according to two left shifts) = 84

Hence this confirms that the double logical left shift is performed correctly.

51
(iii) Performing a triple logical left shift (3 times):

The original binary number 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 is shifted three places to the left.

The denary number 21 is 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 in binary. Putting this into an 8-bit register:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1

Triple logical left shift is performed on the register.

As a result, the three left-most bits (most significant bits) are lost following the shift:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
Left-most bits
are lost 1 0 1 0 1

This means that the left-most bits ‘0’, ‘0’ & ‘0’ are lost & the remaining original 5 bits of
binary number 1 0 1 0 1 are moved 1 place to the left each:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 0 1 0 1

The remaining 5 bits are moved 1 place to left each

This results in three empty right-most bits (least significant bits) position:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1 Right-most bits

position is
1 0 1 0 1
empty

These empty right-most bits positions are filled with ‘0’s:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1 Right-most bits

position is
1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0
filled with 0’s

52
 Therefore, three left-most bits are lost, and three right-most bits position is now filled with
‘0’s following the triple logical left shift. This binary number is obtained:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0

The value of the binary bits is now denary number 21 x 23 = 168

Therefore, the positive binary integer is multiplied by 23 as a result of the triple logical left
shift performed.

You can now double check your answer by:

Calculating the denary value of new binary number 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 that is 128 + 32 + 8 =

168.
The answer of original denary value 21 x 23 (according to three left shifts) = 168

Hence this confirms that the triple logical left shift is performed correctly.

(iv) Performing a tetra logical left shift (4 times):

The original binary number 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 is shifted four places to the left.

The denary number 21 is 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 in binary. Putting this into an 8-bit register:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1

Tetra logical left shift is performed on the register.

As a result, the four left-most bits (most significant bits) are lost following the shift:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
Left-most bits
are lost 1 0 1 0 1

This means that the left-most bits ‘0’, ‘0’, ‘0’ & ’1’ are lost & the remaining original 4 bits of
binary number 0 1 0 1 are moved 1 place to the left each.

This loss of left-most 1-bit following a shift operation causes an error.

The loss of left-most 0-bits does not cause an error but as soon as a left-most 1-bit is lost, an
error occurs.

53
 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 1 0 1

The remaining 4 bits are moved 1 place to left each

This results in four empty right-most bits (least significant bits) position:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1 Right-most bits

position is
0 1 0 1
empty

These empty right-most bits positions are filled with ‘0’s:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1 Right-most bits

position is
0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
filled with 0’s

Therefore, four left-most bits are lost, and four right-most bits position is now filled with ‘0’s
following the tetra logical left shift. This binary number is obtained:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0

The value of the binary bits is now denary number 21 x 24 = 336

Therefore, the positive binary integer is multiplied by 24 as a result of the tetra logical left
shift performed.
However, this is incorrect and an error has occurred.

You can now double check the error by:

Calculating the denary value of new binary number 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 that is 64 + 16 = 80.

The answer of original denary value 21 x 24 (according to four left shifts) = 336

Hence this confirms that the tetra logical left shift has caused an error.

This error is because we have exceeded the maximum number of left shifts possible using
this 8-bit register.

54
Error in Logical Left Shift:

The logical left shifts can be performed as many times as it does not cause loss of left-most
1-bit in the shift operation.
The loss of left-most 1-bit following a shift operation causes an error.
Therefore, shifting process can continue (error-free) as long as only left-most 0-bits are
being lost.

So, the loss of left-most 0-bits does not cause an error but as soon as a left-most 1-bit is
lost, an error occurs.

Examples of Errors in Logical Left Shift:

1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

This binary number can be shifted left 7 times because there are 7 left-most 0-bits in this
number.

2) 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1

This binary number can be shifted left 6 times because there are 6 left-most 0-bits in this
number.

3) 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1

This binary number can be shifted left 5 times because there are 5 left-most 0-bits in this
number.

55
4) 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1

This binary number can be shifted left 4 times because there are 4 left-most 0-bits in this
number.

5) 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1

This binary number can be shifted left 3 times because there are 3 left-most 0-bits in this
number.

6) 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1

This binary number can be shifted left 2 times because there are 2 left-most 0-bits in this
number.

7) 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

This binary number can be shifted left 1 time because there is 1 left-most 0-bit in this
number.

8) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

This binary number cannot be shifted left even once because there is 0 left-most 0-bit in
this number.

56
Examples of Logical Right Shift:

(i) Performing a single logical right shift (1 time):

The original binary number 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 is shifted one place to the right.

The denary number 200 is 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 in binary that is put into an 8-bit register:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0

A logical right shift is performed on the register.

As a result, the right-most bit (least significant bit) is lost following a logical right shift:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
Right-most
1 1 0 0 1 0 0 bit is lost

This means that the right-most bit ‘0’ is lost & the remaining original 7 bits of binary
number 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 are moved 1 place to the right:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 1 0 0 1 0 0

The remaining 7 bits are moved 1 place to right each

This results in an empty left-most bit (most significant bit) position:

Left-most bit 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

position is
1 1 0 0 1 0 0
empty

This empty left-most bit position is filled with a ‘0’:

Left-most bit 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

position is
0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0
filled with 0

57
 Therefore, right-most bit is lost, and left-most bit position is now filled with a ‘0’ following
the logical right shift. This binary number is obtained:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0

The value of the binary bits is now denary number 200 ÷ 21 = 100
Therefore, the positive binary integer is divided by 2 as a result of the logical right shift
performed.

You can now double check your answer by:

Calculating denary value of new binary number 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 that is 64 + 32 + 4 = 100.

The answer of original denary value 200 ÷ 21 (according to one right shift) = 100

Hence this confirms that the logical right shift is performed correctly.

(ii) Performing a double logical right shift (2 times):

The original binary number 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 is shifted two places to the right.

The denary number 200 is 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 in binary. Putting this into an 8-bit register:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0

Double logical right shift is performed on the register.

As a result, the two right-most bits (least significant bits) are lost following the shift:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
Right-most
1 1 0 0 1 0 bits are lost

This means that the right-most bits ‘0’ & ‘0’ are lost & the remaining original 6 bits of binary
number 1 1 0 0 1 0 are moved 1 place to the right each:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 1 0 0 1 0

The remaining 6 bits are moved 1 place to right each

58
 This results in two empty left-most bits (most significant bits) position:

Left-most bits 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

position is
empty 1 1 0 0 1 0

These empty left-most bits positions are filled with ‘0’’s both:

Left-most bits 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

position is
0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0
filled with 0’s

Therefore, two right-most bits are lost, and two left-most bits position is now filled with ‘0’s
following the double logical right shift. This binary number is obtained:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0

The value of the binary bits is now denary number 200 ÷ 22 = 50

Therefore, the positive binary integer is divided by 22 as a result of the double logical right
shift performed.

You can now double check your answer by:

Calculating denary value of new binary number 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 that is 32 + 16 + 2 = 50.

The answer of original denary value 200 ÷ 22 (according to two right shifts) = 50

Hence this confirms that the double logical right shift is performed correctly.

59
(iii) Performing a triple logical right shift (3 times):

The original binary number 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 is shifted three places to the right.

The denary number 200 is 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 in binary. Putting this into an 8-bit register:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0

Triple logical right shift is performed on the register.

As a result, the three right-most bits (least significant bits) are lost following the shift:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
Right-most
1 1 0 0 1 bits are lost

This means that the right-most bits ‘0’, ‘0’ & ‘0’ are lost & the remaining original 5 bits of
binary number 1 1 0 0 1 are moved 1 place to the right each:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 1 0 0 1

The remaining 5 bits are moved 1 place to right each

This results in three empty left-most bits (most significant bits) position:

Left-most bits 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

position is
empty 1 1 0 0 1

These empty left-most bits positions are filled with ‘0’’s:

Left-most bits 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

position is
0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1
filled with 0’s

60
 Therefore, three right-most bits are lost, and three left-most bits position is now filled with
‘0’s following the triple logical right shift. This binary number is obtained:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1

The value of the binary bits is now denary number 200 ÷ 23 = 25

Therefore, the positive binary integer is divided by 23 as a result of the triple logical right
shift performed.

You can now double check your answer by:

Calculating denary value of new binary number 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 that is 16 + 8 + 1 = 25.

The answer of original denary value 200 ÷ 23 (according to three right shifts) = 25

Hence this confirms that the triple logical right shift is performed correctly.

(iii) Performing a tetra logical right shift (4 times):

The original binary number 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 is shifted four places to the right.

The denary number 200 is 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 in binary. Putting this into an 8-bit register:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0

Tetra logical right shift is performed on the register.

As a result, the four right-most bits (least significant bits) are lost following the shift:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
Right-most
1 1 0 0 1 bits are lost

This means that the right-most bits ‘0’, ‘0’, ‘0’ & ‘1’ are lost & the remaining original 4 bits of
binary number 1 1 0 0 are moved 1 place to the right each.

This loss of right-most 1-bit following a shift operation causes an error.

The loss of right-most 0-bits does not cause an error but as soon as a right-most 1-bit is lost,
an error occurs.

61
 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 1 0 0

The remaining 4 bits are moved 1 place to right each

This results in four empty left-most bits (most significant bits) position:

Left-most bits 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

position is
empty 1 1 0 0

These empty left-most bits positions are filled with ‘0’’s:

Left-most bits 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

position is
0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0
filled with 0’s

Therefore, four right-most bits are lost, and four left-most bits position is now filled with ‘0’s
following the tetra logical right shift. This binary number is obtained:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0

The value of the binary bits is now denary number 200 ÷ 24 = 12.5
Therefore, the positive binary integer is divided by 24 as a result of the tetra logical right
shift performed.
However, this is incorrect and an error has occurred.

You can now double check the error by:

Calculating denary value of new binary number 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 that is 8 + 4 = 12.

The answer of original denary value 200 ÷ 24 (according to four right shifts) = 12.5

Hence this confirms that the tetra logical right shift has caused an error.

This error is because we have exceeded the maximum number of right shifts possible using
this 8-bit register.

62
Error in Logical Right Shift:

The logical right shifts can be performed as many times as it does not cause loss of right-
most 1-bit in the shift operation.
The loss of right-most 1-bit following a shift operation causes an error.
Therefore, shifting process can continue (error-free) as long as only right-most 0-bits are
being lost.

So, the loss of right-most 0-bits does not cause an error but as soon as a right-most 1-bit is
lost, an error occurs.

Examples of Errors in Logical Right Shift:

1) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

This binary number can be shifted right 7 times because there are 7 right-most 0-bits in this
number.

2) 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

This binary number can be shifted right 6 times because there are 6 right-most 0-bits in this
number.

3) 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0

This binary number can be shifted right 5 times because there are 5 right-most 0-bits in this
number.

63
4) 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0

This binary number can be shifted right 4 times because there are 4 right-most 0-bits in this
number.

5) 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0

This binary number can be shifted right 3 times because there are 3 right-most 0-bits in this
number.

6) 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0

This binary number can be shifted right 2 times because there are 2 right-most 0-bits in this
number.

7) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0

This binary number can be shifted right 1 time because there is 1 right-most 0-bit in this
number.

8) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

This binary number cannot be shifted right even once because there is 0 right-most 0-bit in
this number.

64
Exam Style Questions:

Question 1:

Answer:

Question 2:

65
Answer:

Question 3:

66
Answer:

67
Question 4:

Answer:

68
Question 5:

Answer:

69
1.1.6 Two’s Complement (binary numbers):

NOTE: Two’s Complement is a newly added topic in the Computer Science (2210)
syllabus for the session 2023–2025.

According to the new syllabus, we will look at the method of using two’s complement to represent
positive and negative 8-bit binary integers.

This section will also discuss method of:

Converting a positive binary or denary integer to a two’s complement 8-bit integer and vice
versa.
Converting a negative binary or denary integer to a two’s complement 8-bit integer and
vice versa.

Up until now, we have assumed all binary numbers are positive integers. To allow the possibility of
representing negative integers we make use of two’s complement method.

Throughout this section, as per syllabus requirement, we will only use 8-bit registers.

In the two’s complement, the left-most bit is changed to a negative value in the binary
headings.

In case of an 8-bit binary number, the left-most bit value 128 is changed to negative –128
whilst all the other binary headings remain same as shown below:

–128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

The 27 in the 8-bit register which is +128 (positive) is changed to –128 (negative).

Unsigned 8-Bit Binary Integer (normal integer):

In an unsigned 8-bit binary integer, left-most bit heading = 128

The range of possible numbers = 0 (00000000) to 255 (11111111)
The smallest/lowest denary value that an 8-bit unsigned integer can represent = 0
The largest/highest denary value that an 8-bit unsigned integer can represent = 255
The number of different values that an 8-bit unsigned binary integer can represent = 256

70
Signed 8-Bit Binary Integer/8-Bit Two’s Complement Integer:

In an 8-bit two’s complement integer, left-most bit heading = –128

The range of possible numbers = –128 (10000000) to +127 (01111111)
The smallest/lowest denary value an 8-bit two’s complement integer can represent = –128
The largest/highest denary value an 8-bit two’s complement integer can represent = +127
The number of different values that an 8-bit two’s complement integer can represent = 256

Basics of Two’s Complement Method:

When applying two’s complement to a binary number:

The left-most bit always determines the sign of the binary number.
The 1-value in the left-most bit indicates a negative number.
The 0-value in the left-most bit indicates a positive number.

Example:

The binary number 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 contains 0-value in the left most-bit indicating a positive
number.

–128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1

32 + 16 + 2 + 1 = 51 denary (positive)

The binary number 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 contains 1-value in the left most-bit indicating a negative
number.

–128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1

(–128) + (64 + 8 + 4 + 2 + 1) = (–128) + (79)

–128 + 79 = –49 denary (negative)

71
Using Two’s Complement to represent/write positive 8-bit binary integers:

Steps:

It is very simple and straightforward:

1) Since the left-most bit determines the sign of the binary number; the 0-value in the left-
most bit indicates a positive number.
2) Write a ‘0’ in the left-most bit under the heading of –128.
3) Fill the rest of columns by writing ‘1’s in appropriate places according to the binary number
you want to represent.

Examples:

1) The binary number 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 contains 0-value in the left most-bit indicating a positive
number.

–128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1

This is a positive binary number because the left-most bit contains a ‘0’.

2) The binary number 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 contains 0-value in the left most-bit indicating a positive
number.

–128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1

This is also a positive binary number because the left-most bit contains a ‘0’.

3) The binary number 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 contains 0-value in the left most-bit indicating a positive
number.

–128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

This is also a positive binary number because the left-most bit contains a ‘0’.

72
Converting a positive denary integer to a two’s complement 8-bit integer:

Steps:

1) Since the left-most bit determines the sign of the binary number; the 0-value in the left-
most bit indicates a positive number.
2) Write a ‘0’ in the left-most bit under the heading of –128.
3) Fill the rest of columns by writing ‘1’s in appropriate places so that when the values of
headings with ‘1’s are added, the total is equal to the denary number you want to represent.

Example:

1) Converting 38 to 8-bit binary number using two’s complement format:

Since the denary number 38 is positive, we will write a ‘0’ in the left-most bit under the heading of
–128. Then we will write ‘1’s in appropriate places so when they are added, the total is equal to 38.

–128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0

32 + 4 + 2 = 38 denary (positive)

2) Converting 125 to 8-bit binary number using two’s complement format:

Since the denary number 125 is positive, we will write a ‘0’ in the left-most bit under the heading
of –128. Then we will write ‘1’s in appropriate places so when they are added, total is equal to 125.

–128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 1 1 1 1 1 0 1

64 + 32 + 16 + 8 + 4 + 1 = 125 denary (positive)

73
Converting a positive two’s complement 8-bit integer to a positive denary integer:

Steps:

1) Since the left-most bit determines the sign of the binary number; the 0-value in the left-
most bit indicates a positive number.
2) Simply add all the heading values filled with ‘1’s to obtain the positive denary integer.

Example:

1) Converting 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 in two’s complement binary number to denary:

Since the left-most bit contains a ‘0’, this two’s complement binary number is positive. We will
simply add all the heading values which contains ‘1’s to obtain the positive denary integer.

–128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0

64 + 32 + 8 + 4 + 2 = 110 denary (positive)

2) Converting 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 in two’s complement binary number to denary:

Since the left-most bit contains a ‘0’, this two’s complement binary number is positive. We will
simply add all the heading values which contains ‘1’s to obtain the positive denary integer.

–128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1

32 + 16 + 8 + 4 + 2 + 1 = 63 denary (positive)

74
Using Two’s Complement to represent/write negative 8-bit binary integers:

Steps:

1) Since the left-most bit determines the sign of the binary number; the 1-value in the left-
most bit indicates a positive number.
2) Write a ‘1’ in the left-most bit under the heading of –128.
3) Fill the rest of columns by writing ‘1’s in appropriate places according to the binary number
you want to represent.

NOTE: A two’s complement number with a 1-value in the –128 column must represent a
negative binary number.

Examples:

1) The binary number 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 contains 1-value in the left most-bit indicating a negative
number.

–128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1

This is a negative binary number because the left-most bit contains a ‘1’.

2) The binary number 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 contains 1-value in the left most-bit indicating a negative
number.

–128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1

This is also a negative binary number because the left-most bit contains a ‘1’.

3) The binary number 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 contains 1-value in the left most-bit indicating a negative
number.

–128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

This is also a negative binary number because the left-most bit contains a ‘1’.

75
Converting a negative two’s complement 8-bit integer to a negative denary integer:

Steps:

1) Since the left-most bit determines the sign of the binary number; the 1-value in the left-
most bit indicates a negative number.
2) Simply add all the heading values filled with ‘1’s to obtain the negative denary integer.

Example:

1) Converting 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 in two’s complement binary number to denary:

Since the left-most bit contains a ‘1’, this two’s complement binary number is negative. We will
simply add all the heading values which contain ‘1’s to obtain the negative denary integer.

–128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1

–128 + 16 + 2 + 1 = –109 denary (negative)

2) Converting 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 in two’s complement binary number to denary:

Since the left-most bit contains a ‘1’, this two’s complement binary number is negative. We will
simply add all the heading values which contain ‘1’s to obtain the negative denary integer.

–128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0

–128 + 64 + 32 + 4 = –28 denary (negative)

3) Converting 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 in two’s complement binary number to denary:

Since the left-most bit contains a ‘1’, this two’s complement binary number is negative. We will
simply add all the heading values which contain ‘1’s to obtain the negative denary integer.

–128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1

–128 + 64 + 32 + 16 + 4 + 1 = –11 denary (negative)

76
Converting a negative denary integer to a two’s complement 8-bit integer:

Method 1:

1) Since the left-most bit determines the sign of the binary number; the 1-value in the left-
most bit indicates a negative number.
2) Write a ‘1’ in the left-most bit under the heading of –128.
3) Use the mathematical formulas:

– 128 + X = – Denary Number (negative)

X = + 128 – Denary Number (negative)

4) Fill the rest of columns by writing ‘1’s in appropriate places so that when the values of
headings with ‘1’s are added (excluding ‘1’ in the left-most bit), the total is equal to the
value of X.
5) When you add all the values of headings with ‘1’s (including ‘1’ in the left-most bit), the
total is equal to the negative denary integer

Example:

1) Converting –67 to 8-bit binary number using two’s complement format (Method 1):

Since the denary number –67 is negative, we will write a ‘1’ in the left-most bit under the heading
of –128. Apply the formulas:

–128 + X = – Denary Number

–128 + X = – 67
X = 128 – 67
X = 61

How can 61 be achieved? By adding:

32 + 16 + 8 + 4 + 1 = 61

Therefore, we will write ‘1’s in appropriate places so when they are added, the total is equal to 61.

–128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 1 1 1 1 0 1

32 + 16 + 8 + 4 + 1 = 61

77
Now for the final step, we will simply write a ‘1’ in the left-most bit:

–128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1

–128 + 32 + 16 + 8 + 4 + 1 = –67 denary (negative)

2) Converting –79 to 8-bit binary number using two’s complement format (Method 1):

Since the denary number –79 is negative, we will write a ‘1’ in the left-most bit under the heading
of –128. Apply the formulas:

–128 + X = – Denary Number

–128 + X = – 79
X = 128 – 79
X = 49

How can 49 be achieved? By adding:

32 + 16 + 1 = 49

Therefore, we will write ‘1’s in appropriate places so when they are added, the total is equal to 49.

–128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 1 1 0 0 0 1

32 + 16 + 1 = 49

Now for the final step, we will simply write a ‘1’ in the left-most bit:

–128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1

–128 + 32 + 16 + 1 = –79 denary (negative)

78
Method 2:

1) First, we will convert the given denary number to a positive binary value.
2) We will then invert each binary value, which means swap the 1s with 0s & swap the 0s with
1s for each bit.
3) Then we will add 1 to that binary number we inverted (addition of binary numbers concept).
4) This will give us the negative binary (two’s complement) integer of the negative denary
integer.
5) When you add all the values of headings with ‘1’s, the total is equal to the negative denary
integer.

Example:

1) Converting –67 to 8-bit binary number using two’s complement format (Method 2):

We will convert –67 to a positive binary value which would be +67 by writing ‘1’s in appropriate
places so that when you add all the values of headings with ‘1’s, the total is equal to 67:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1

64 + 2 + 1 = 67

Inverting each binary value by swapping the 1s with 0s & swapping the 0s with 1s, we get:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0

Adding ‘1’ to the inverted binary number:

c8 c7 c6 c5 c4 c3 c2 c1

1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0
+ 1

 carry values

1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1  sum values

79
This gives us the final answer of the conversion of negative denary integer to a two’s
complement 8-bit integer:

–128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1

–128 + 32 + 16 + 8 + 4 + 1 = –67 denary (negative)

2) Converting –79 to 8-bit binary number using two’s complement format (Method 2):

We will convert –79 to a positive binary value which would be +79 by writing ‘1’s in appropriate
places so that when you add all the values of headings with ‘1’s, the total is equal to 79:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1

64 + 8 + 4 + 2 + 1 = 79

Inverting each binary value by swapping the 1s with 0s & swapping the 0s with 1s, we get:

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0

Adding ‘1’ to the inverted binary number:

c8 c7 c6 c5 c4 c3 c2 c1

1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
+ 1

 carry values

1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1  sum values

80
This gives us the final answer of the conversion of negative denary integer to a two’s
complement 8-bit integer:

–128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1

–128 + 32 + 16 + 1 = –79 denary (negative)

81
Exam Style Questions:

Question 1:

Answer:

Question 2:

Answer:

82
Question 3:

Answer:

Question 4:

Answer:

83
Question 5:

Answer:

Question 6:

Answer:

84
Question 7:

Answer:

Question 8:

85
Answer:

Question 9:

Answer:

Question 10:

Answer:

86
 1 Data Representation

1.2 | Text, Sound & Images

NOTE: Text, Sound & Images are newly added topics in the Computer Science (2210)
syllabus for the session 2023–2025.

1.2.1 Representation of Text & Use of Character Sets:

The text is converted to binary to be processed by a computer.
A character set is used to represent characters in a computer. The two main character sets
used are American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) and Unicode.

Character Set:
These are all the characters and symbols that can be represented/used by a computer
system.
Each character and symbol have a unique number/binary number/hexadecimal number.

Examples of Character Sets:

1. ASCII
2. Extended ASCII
3. Unicode

1) ASCII & Extended ASCII Character Set:

ASCII only allows 128 characters to be represented (256 characters if extended ASCII).
It uses values 0 to 127 (or 0 to 255 if extended form).
ASCII is used for English only and many characters used in other languages cannot be
represented.
ASCII is not standardized.
ASCII uses 7 bits per character whereas extended ASCII uses 8 bits or one byte per
character.
In extended ASCII, the characters from 128 to 255 may be coded differently in different
systems.

87
How one character is represented in a character set such as ASCII:

Each character is represented by a unique denary, hexadecimal or a binary number.

How the computer uses ASCII codes to represent characters:

Each character has a unique character code.

The binary value for each character in the string is stored in sequence.
ASCII codes may be 7 or 8 bits long (8 bits long if extended ASCII).

How a word such as ‘HOUSE’ is represented by the ASCII character set:

Each character has its own unique code.

Each character in the word is replaced by its code.
The codes are stored in the order in the word.

Number of characters that can be represented by the ASCII character set:

Standard ASCII character set has 7 bits.

128 characters // 27 characters (0 to 127 in denary OR 00 to 7F in hexadecimal) can be
represented using standard ASCII.

Number of characters that can be represented by the extended ASCII character set:

Extended ASCII character set has 8 bits.

256 characters // 28 characters (0 to 255 in denary OR 0 to FF in hexadecimal) can be
represented using extended ASCII.

2) Unicode Character Set:

Unicode can represent more characters than ASCII/Extended ASCII and has greater range of
characters.
Unicode represents the most written languages in the world.
Unicode is standardized.
Unicode requires more bits per character than ASCII and it uses up to 32 bits or 4 bytes per
character.
Unicode is designed to be a superset of ASCII and so most characters of other languages
can be represented.
The text stored using Unicode character set takes up more storage space than ASCII
because each character is encoded using more bits (16, 24 or up to 32 bits).

88
Number of characters that can be represented by the Unicode character set:

Unicode can represent more characters than ASCII & Extended ASCII both.
It has 16 bits, 24 bits or 32 bits.
It allows for a greater range of characters and symbols than ASCII, including different
languages and emojis.
Unicode represents most written language in the world while ASCII is used for English only.

One disadvantage of using the Unicode character set, instead of the ASCII character set, is
that the text stored takes up more storage space.

Why does it take up more storage space?

Each character is encoded using more bits.

Comparisons between Character Sets:

Differences between the ASCII and Unicode character sets:

1. Unicode has greater range of characters than ASCII.

2. Unicode represents most written languages in the world while ASCII is used for English only.
3. ASCII uses 7 or 8 bits or one byte whereas Unicode uses up to 4 bytes per character.
4. Unicode is standardized while ASCII is not.

Disadvantages of using ASCII code:

1. It only allows 128/256 characters to be represented.

2. It uses values 0 to 127 (or 255 if extended form).
3. Many characters used in other languages cannot be represented.
4. In extended ASCII the characters from 128 to 255 may be coded differently in different
systems.

How Unicode is designed to overcome the disadvantages of ASCII:

1. It uses 16, 24 or 32 bits / two, three or four bytes.

2. Unicode is designed to be a superset of ASCII.
3. It is designed so that most characters of other languages can be represented.

Key differences between all character sets:

1. ASCII has 7 bits whereas Unicode has 16 bits.

2. Extended ASCII has 8 bits whereas Unicode has 16 bits.
3. ASCII has 7 bits whereas extended ASCII has 8 bits.
4. Unicode can represent more characters than ASCII/Extended ASCII.
5. Extended ASCII can represent more characters than ASCII.

89
Calculation Based Questions:
Q1. The Unicode character code for ‘G’ is 0047 in hexadecimal. State, in hexadecimal, the
Unicode character code for ‘D’.

Answer: 0044

Working:

We will write the alphabets in reverse order from ‘G’ to ‘D’ and keep subtracting 1 from the
value 0047 every time we move 1 letter towards ‘D’ as we’re going backwards in alphabets.
D → E → F → G, so reversing it we get:
G→F→E→D

Letter Unicode character code

G 0047

F 0046

E 0045

D 0044

Q2. The table shows the ASCII denary values for five characters.

Character Unicode character code

a 97

b 98

c 99

d 100

e 101

Complete the table by writing ASCII denary value for character ‘t’ and its hexadecimal equivalent.

Character t

ASCII denary value

Hexadecimal value

90
Answer:

Character t

ASCII denary value 116

Hexadecimal value 74

Working:

We will write the alphabets in increasing order from ‘e’ to ‘t’ and keep adding 1 in the value
101 every time we move 1 letter towards ‘t’ as we’re going forward in alphabets.
e→f→g→h→i→j→k→l→m→n→o→p→q→r→s→t

Character ASCII denary value

e 101

f 102

g 103

h 104

i 105

j 106

k 107

l 108

m 109

n 110

o 111

p 112

q 113

r 114

s 115

t 116

91
For the hexadecimal part, we will simply convert (116)10 denary to hexadecimal:

Place hexadecimal digits in appropriate positions (under appropriate powers of 16) so that the
total equates to 116:

256 16 1

0 7 4

(0 x 256) + (7 x 16) + (4 x 1) = 0 + 112 + 4 = 116

Hence the hexadecimal number is (74)16

Q3. The following tables show part of the ASCII code character set.

Character Denary value Character Denary value

A 65 a 97

B 66 b 98

C 67 c 99

D 68 d 100

E 69 e 101

Convert the following string into ASCII codes: ‘Bed’

Answer: 66 101 100

Working:

The denary value for capital letter ‘B’ = 66.

The denary value for small letter ‘e’ = 101
The denary value for small letter ‘d’ = 100

Therefore, writing it together: 66 101 100 (Bed)

92
Exam Style Questions:

Question 1:

Answer:

93
Question 2:

Answer:

94
Question 3:

Answer:

95
Question 4:

Answer:

96
Question 5:

Answer:

97
Question 6:

Answer:

98
1.2.2 Representation of Sound:
The sounds waves are analogue in nature and computers cannot work with analogue data.
The sound wave is sampled for sound to be converted to binary, which is processed by a
computer.

The following table shows key terms related to sound along with their definitions:

Term Definition

Sampling It is the amplitude of analogue sound wave measured at regular/set time intervals.

Sampling
It is the number of samples taken in a second.
Rate

Sampling
It is the number of bits used to store/represent each sample.
Resolution

Sampling:
It is the amplitude/height of analogue sound wave measured at set/regular time intervals.

How an analogue sound wave is sampled to convert it into digital format:

The amplitude/height of analogue sound wave is measured at set/regular time intervals.

The value of the measured sample is then stored/recorded as a binary number.

How the sound is encoded into a digital form:

The amplitude/height of analogue sound wave is measured at set/regular time intervals

(sound wave is sampled).
The value of the measured sample is then stored as a unique binary number.
The whole sound is encoded as a sequence of binary numbers which are stored in a
sequence for each sample.

How sampling is used to record the sound clips:

It measures the amplitude/height of analogue sound wave at set/regular time intervals.

It is used to get an approximation of the sound wave and then encoding it as a sequence of
binary numbers // converting it to a digital signal.
Increasing the sampling rate will improve the accuracy of the recording.

99
Sampling Rate:
It is the number of samples taken per second (1Hz means ‘one sample per second’).
It is the number of times that the amplitude/height of analogue sound wave is measured
per second.

Factors affecting sampling rate:

1. Increasing the sampling rate results in more accurate digital representation of sound.
2. Increasing the sampling rate will result in smaller quantization error.
3. Increasing the sampling rate will result in larger file size.

Effects of changing the sampling rate from 44.1 kHz to 22.05 kHz:

A fewer samples will be taken per second.

The file size will decrease.
There will be larger gaps/spaces between samples which will result in greater quantization
error.
The sound accuracy will reduce (will not be as close to original sound).

Why sound is closer to the original when a higher sample rate is used:

There are smaller time gaps between the samples

It makes the digital sound wave more accurate
There is a smaller quantization error.

Why the sound file size increases when a higher sample rate is used:

There are more samples being taken per second.

This results in more bits being stored altogether.

A voice is recorded twice. Each recording is the same length and has the same sampling
resolution.

The first recording has a sampling rate of 44 100 Hz. The second recording has a sampling
rate of 21 000 Hz.

How different sampling rates of 44 100 Hz and 21 000 Hz will affect the recording and the
sound file:

The sampling resolution of 44 100 Hz takes more samples per second, so the file size will be
larger whereas the sampling resolution of 21 000 Hz takes fewer samples per second, so the
file size will be smaller.
At a resolution of 44 100 Hz, the sound recording is a more accurate representation of the
voice whereas at the resolution of 21 000 Hz, the sound recording is a less accurate
representation of the voice.

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A sound file is being downloaded from a web server. A choice of a sampling rate of 44.1 kHz
or 98 kHz is given before downloading the sound file.

Differences between the two sounds files stored on the server:

98 kHz has a larger file size because it is recording more samples per second meaning more
binary values being stored per second.
Therefore, it will take more time to download.
98 kHz sound will be closer to the original because the samples will be closer together due
to smaller quantization error.

Sampling Resolution:
It is the number of bits used to store each sample or bits available to encode/represent
each sample.
It is sometimes referred to as bit depth.
It is usually 8-bit, 16-bit, 24-bit or 32-bit.

Factors affecting sampling resolution:

1. A larger sampling resolution means there is a greater range of values available to store each
sample // more bits per sample.
2. A larger sampling resolution will improve the accuracy of the sound // more accurate
representation of sound.
3. A larger sampling resolution will decrease the distortion of the sound.
4. Increased sampling resolution means a smaller quantization error.
5. A larger sampling resolution will result in a larger file size.

How different sampling resolutions affect the sound file and the sound it represents:

The sampling resolution is the number of bits used to store each sample.
Increasing the sampling resolution means a larger file size whereas decreasing the sampling
resolution means a smaller file size.
Increasing the sampling resolution gives a more accurate representation of analogue sound
whereas decreasing the sampling resolution gives a less accurate representation of the
analogue sound.
Increasing the sampling resolution means a greater range of values can be stored whereas
decreasing the sampling resolution gives a smaller range of values that can be stored.
Increasing the sampling resolution reduces the quantization errors whereas decreasing the
sampling resolution causes greater quantization errors.

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Benefits of using a larger/higher sampling resolution:

1. It allows for larger dynamic ranges as dynamic range is approximately six times the bit
depth.
2. It allows more accurate representation/crisper sound quality.
3. It decreases the distortion of sound.

Drawbacks of using a larger/higher sampling resolution:

1. A larger sampling resolution will result in a larger file size.

2. The larger file will take longer to transmit/download music files.
3. It requires greater processing power.

Sampling Rate & Sampling Resolution:

The accuracy of the recording and the file size increases as the sample rate and sample
resolution increase.

How the sampling rate and sampling resolution affect the file size of the soundtrack:

Increasing the sampling rate means more samples per second hence more bits per second
and a larger file size whereas decreasing the sampling rate means fewer samples per second
hence fewer bits per second and a smaller file size.
A higher sampling resolution means more bits per sample and a larger file size whereas a
lower sampling resolution means fewer bits per sample and a smaller file size.

What is meant by a sampling rate of 88.2 kHz:

The sound wave is sampled 88 200 times per second OR 88 200 samples/measurements are
taken per second.

What is meant by a sampling resolution of 32 bits:

Each sample is stored as a 32-bit binary number OR 32 bits are used to store each sample.

Compact Discs (CDs) have a 16-bit sampling resolution and a 44.1 kHz sample rate – that is
44 100 samples every second.

Why 16-bit sampling is used in an audio compact disc (CD):

It is used to ensure that bit depth/sampling resolution is sufficient for good quality sound.
Using a higher bit depth/sampling resolution would mean bigger files, hence less music
content on each CD.
It can represent a dynamic range of about 90 dB which is basically the maximum dynamic
range of human hearing.
It is done for the purpose of compromising between quality and reasonable file size.

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1.2.3 Representation of Images:
An image is a series of pixels that are converted to binary, which is processed by a
computer.

How a digital image file is stored by a computer:

The image is made of pixels (picture elements).

The image has a set number of pixels wide by pixels high.
Each pixel stores one color.
Each color has a unique binary value (color code).
The color/binary value of each pixel is stored in sequence.
File contains metadata to identify how the file should be displayed.
The metadata can be the color depth/resolution.

The following table shows key terms related to images along with their definitions:

Term Definition

Pixels It is the smallest picture element which can be drawn.

Color Depth It is the number of bits used to represent each color.

Image
It is the number of pixels in the image.
Resolution

Bitmap Image:
It is an image made up of rows and columns of pixels (picture elements).
Each pixel has one color, and the color of each pixel is stored as a unique binary number.
A bitmap image is stored in a computer as a series of binary numbers.
A bitmap file has a file header.

How the images are encoded into a digital form:

The images are stored as bitmaps.

Each image is made up of pixels (picture elements).
Each pixel has one color, and the color of each pixel has a unique binary number.
The binary numbers are stored in a sequence for each image.

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Image File Header:

It stores data about the file contents/image/metadata (i.e., image size, number of colors
etc.)

Examples of File Header Contents:

1. File size.
2. Dimensions of the image in pixels // image resolution.
3. Color depth (bits per pixel, 1, 4, 8, 16, 24 or 32).
4. Type of compression used, if any.

Color Depth:
It is the number of bits used to represent each color.
An 8-bit color depth means that each pixel can be one of 256 colors (because 28 = 256).
However, modern computers have a 24-bit color depth, which means over 16 million
different colors can be represented.

Factors affecting color depth:

1. Increasing the color depth means there are more bits per pixel to represent each color.
2. It results in more accurate digital representation of image.
3. Increasing the color depth will result in better image quality.
4. Increasing the color depth will result in larger file size because more bits per pixel are used.

How changing the color depth of an image affects its file size:

Increasing the color depth results in increased file size because more bits per pixel and
hence more data is stored.
Whereas decreasing the color depth results in smaller file size because fewer bits per pixel
and hence less data is stored.

How different color depths affect the image file and the image it represents:

The color depth is the number of bits used to represent each color.
Increasing the color depth means a larger file size whereas decreasing the color depth
means a smaller file size.
Increasing the color depth gives a better quality of image whereas decreasing the color
depth gives a poorer quality of the image.
Increasing the color depth means a greater range of values can be stored whereas
decreasing the color depth gives a smaller range of values that can be stored.

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Number of bits required to store each pixel for a black and white image (2-color image):

A black and white image only requires 1 bit per pixel (21 = 2)
This means that each pixel can be one of two colors, corresponding to either 1 or 0 binary
value.

Number of bits required to store each pixel for a 4-color image:

A four-color image requires 2 bits per pixel (22 = 4).

This means that each pixel can be one of four colors, corresponding to 00, 01, 10 or 11
binary values.

Number of bits required to store each pixel for an 8-color image:

An eight-color image requires 3 bits per pixel (23 = 8).

This means that each pixel can be one of eight colors, corresponding to 000, 001, 010, 001,
100, 101, 110 or 111 binary values.

Number of bits required to store each pixel for a 256-color image:

8 bits are needed, and each color is represented by one of 256 values.
Values 0 to 255 / 0000 0000 to 1111 1111.
256 = 28

A picture has been drawn and is saved as monochrome bitmap image. How many pixels are
stored in one byte:

8 pixels are stored in 1 byte because each pixel requires 1 bit.

A picture is drawn and is saved as a 16-color bitmap image. How many bits are used to
encode the data for one pixel:

16 colors mean 24 = 16.

Therefore, 4 bits are used to encode data for one pixel.

Image Resolution:
It is the number of pixels in an image (per inch or per centimeter) OR it is the number of
pixels wide by the number of pixels high in an image.
For example, an image could contain 4096 x 3072 pixels (12 582 912 pixels in total).
This value determines the amount of detail an image has.

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Factors affecting image resolution:

1. A larger image resolution means there is a greater range of pixels to represent each image.
2. A larger image resolution will improve the quality of the image. // more accurate
representation of image.
3. A larger image resolution will decrease the pixelation of the image.
4. A larger image resolution will result in a larger file size.

How a computer can store this black and white bitmap image:

Each pixel in the image requires only one bit (as there are only two colors (21 = 2).
The black color is represented by binary value 1 and white by 0 (or vice versa).
The bits are stored for each pixel in sequence e.g. 11111 01010 01010 01010 01010.

Color Depth & Image Resolution:

The file size and quality of the image increases as the resolution and color depth increase.

How the resolution and color depth affect the file size of the image:

Increasing the resolution and color depth means more pixels per centimeter and more bits
per color and a larger file size.
Decreasing the resolution and color depth means fewer pixels per centimeter and fewer bits
per color and a smaller file size.

Drawback of High-Resolution Images:

1. As the number of pixels used to represent each image is increased, the size of the file will
also increase.
2. Larger image size means it takes longer to upload, download, or transfer images.

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 1 Data Representation

1.3 | Data Storage & File Compression

1.3.1 Measurement of Data Storage:

A binary digit is referred to as a bit which is either 1 or 0.
1 byte is 8 bits.
The byte is the smallest unit of memory in a computer. Some computers use larger bytes,
but they are always multiples of 8 (e.g. 16-bit and 32-bit systems).
A 4-bit number is called a nibble which is half a byte.

A single letter or character would use one byte of memory (8 bits); two characters would use two
bytes (16 bits).

The memory size system of numbering below is inaccurate as it is based on SI (base 10) system of
units where 1 kilo is equal to 1000. It only refers to some storage devices but is technically
inaccurate. However, it is included here for completeness:

Name of memory size Equivalent denary value

1 nibble 4 bits Amount of

previous
1 byte 8 bits denomination

1 kilobyte (1 KB) 1 000 bytes

1 megabyte (1 MB) 1 000 000 bytes 1024 KB

1 gigabyte (1 GB) 1 000 000 000 bytes 1024 MB

1 terabyte (1 TB) 1 000 000 000 000 bytes 1024 GB

1 petabyte (1 PB) 1 000 000 000 000 000 bytes 1024 TB

1 exabyte (1 EB) 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 bytes 1024 PB

This system is no longer a part of the new syllabus and so it will not be used in this course.
However, you fill find some past paper questions related to this system as it was previously a part
of the syllabus.

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Since the memory size is actually measured in terms of powers of 2, a memory size system has
been adopted by the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) that is based on the binary
system given below:

Name of memory size Number of bytes Equivalent denary value

1 nibble 22 4 bits Amount of

previous
1 byte 23 8 bits denomination

1 kibibyte (1 KiB) 210 1 024 bytes

1 mebibyte (1 MiB) 220 1 048 576 bytes 1024 KiB

1 gibibyte (1 GiB) 230 1 073 741 824 bytes 1024 MiB

1 tebibyte (1 TiB) 240 1 099 511 627 776 bytes 1024 GiB

1 pebibyte (1 PiB) 250 1 125 899 906 842 624 bytes 1024 TiB

1 exbibyte (1 EiB) 260 1 152 921 504 606 846 976 bytes 1024 PiB

You can either memorize it by increasing the powers of 2, or simply by remembering that 1
kibibyte is 1024 bytes, so accordingly 1 mebibyte would be 1024 x 1 KiB (1024), and so 1 gibibyte
would be 1024 x 1 MiB (1024 x 1024) and so on.

This system is accurate, and all memories should be measured using the IEC system and
therefore, only the IEC system is covered in the syllabus.

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Example Questions:

Question 1: Give the number of bytes in a kibibyte.

1 024 bytes // 210

Question 2: Give the number of bytes in a mebibyte.

1 048 576 bytes // 1024 * 1024 // 220

Question 3: Give the number of bytes in a gibibyte.

1 073 741 824 bytes // 1024 * 1024 * 1024 // 230

Question 4: Give the number of bytes in a tebibyte.

1 099 511 627 776 bytes // 1024 * 1024 * 1024 * 1024 // 240

Question 5: State the difference between a kibibyte and a kilobyte.

Kibibyte is 1024 bytes while kilobyte is 1000 bytes.

Kibibyte has a denary prefix while kilobyte has the binary prefix.

Question 6: State the difference between a mebibyte and a megabyte.

One mebibyte is 1024 kibibytes and one megabyte is 1000 kilobytes.

Question 7: State the difference between a gibibyte and a gigabyte.

One gibibyte is 1024 mebibyte and one gigabyte is 1000 megabytes.

Question 8: State the difference between a tebibyte and a terabyte.

One tebibyte is 1024 gibibytes and one terabyte is 1000 gigabytes.

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1.3.2 Calculation of File Size:
In this section we will look at the calculation of the file size of an image file and a sound file, using
the information given. The information given may include:

For image file:

1. image resolution
2. color depth

For sound file:

1. sound sample rate

2. resolution
3. length of track.

The size of an image file is calculated using the formula:

image resolution (in pixels) x color depth (in bits)

The size of a mono sound file is calculated using the formula:

sample rate (in Hz) x sample resolution (in bits) x length of sample (in seconds)

The size of a stereo sound file is calculated using the formula:

2 x [sample rate (in Hz) x sample resolution (in bits) x length of sample (in seconds)]

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Calculations Based Examples:

1) A camera detector has an array of 2048 by 2048 pixels and uses a color depth of 16. Find
the size of an image taken by this camera in MiB.

We will apply the formula = image resolution (in pixels) x color depth (in bits) to obtain the
answer in bits. Then we will convert bits to byte and then bytes to mebibyte (MiB) using following
information:

1 byte = 8 bits
1 KiB = 1024 bytes
1 MiB = 1024 KiB

Hence, 1 MiB can be taken as 1024 KiB where 1 KiB = 1024 bytes so (1 MiB = 1024 x 1024).

1. First calculate the image resolution by multiplying the number of pixels in vertical and
horizontal directions to find the total number of pixels:
2048 x 2048 = 4 194 304 pixels
2. Then multiply the number of pixels (image resolution) by color depth 16 given in bits:
4 194 304 x 16 = 67 108 864 bits
3. Then divide number of bits by 8 to find the number of bytes in the file:
67 108 864 / 8 = 8 388 608 bytes
4. Finally divide number of bytes by (1024 x 1024) to convert it to MiB (mebibytes):
8 388 608 / (1024 x 1024) = 8 MiB

2) A photograph is 1024 x 1080 pixels and uses a color depth of 32 bits. How many
photographs of this size would fit onto a memory stick of 64 GiB?

We will apply the formula = image resolution (in pixels) x color depth (in bits) to obtain the
answer in bits. Then we will convert bits to byte and then divide the bytes by 64 gibibyte (GiB) to
find out number of photographs that can fit onto a memory stick using following information:

1 byte = 8 bits
1 KiB = 1024 bytes
1 MiB = 1024 KiB
1 GiB = 1024 MiB

Hence, 1 GiB can be taken as 1024 MiB where 1 MiB = 1024 KiB and 1 KiB = 1024 bytes so
1 GiB = 1024 x 1024 x 1024.

Therefore 64 GiB = 64 x 1024 x 1024 x 1024 bytes

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 1. First calculate the image resolution by multiplying the number of pixels in vertical and
horizontal directions to find the total number of pixels:
1024 x 1080 = 1 105 920 pixels
2. Then multiply the number of pixels (image resolution) by color depth 32 given in bits:
1 105 920 x 32 = 35 389 440 bits
3. Then divide number of bits by 8 to find the number of bytes in the file:
35 389 440 / 8 = 4 423 680 bytes
4. Then calculate the number of bytes in memory stick of 64 GiB (gibibytes):
64 GiB = 64 x 1024 x 1024 x 1024 bytes = 68 719 476 736 bytes
5. Then divide the memory stick size by the files size to find out how many photographs
would fit onto a memory stick of 64 GiB:
68 719 476 736 bytes / 4 423 680 bytes = 15 534 photographs

3) An audio CD has a sample rate of 44 100 and a sample resolution of 16 bits. The music
being sampled uses two channels to allow for stereo recording. Calculate the file size for a
60-minute recording in MiB.

We will apply the formula = 2 x [sample rate (in Hz) x sample resolution (in bits) x length of
sample (in seconds)] to obtain the answer in bits. Then we will convert bits to byte and then
bytes to mebibyte (MiB) using following information:
1 byte = 8 bits
1 KiB = 1024 bytes
1 MiB = 1024 KiB

Hence, 1 MiB can be taken as 1024 KiB where 1 KiB = 1024 bytes so (1 MiB = 1024 x 1024).

1. First calculate the number of seconds in 60 minutes by multiplying 60 with 60 to find out
the length of sample in seconds:
60 x 60 = 3600 seconds
2. Then multiply the sample rate 44 100 in Hz, sample resolution 16 in bits, and length of
sample 3600 in seconds:
44 100 x 16 x 3600 = 2 540 160 000 bits
3. Then multiply the number of bits with 2 since the recording is stereo and uses two
channels
2 540 160 000 x 2 = 5 080 320 000 bits
4. Then divide number of bits by 8 to find the number of bytes in the file:
5 080 320 000 / 8 = 635 040 000 bytes
5. Finally divide number of bytes by (1024 x 1024) to convert it to MiB (mebibytes):
635 040 000 / (1024 x 1024) = 605 MiB

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Calculations Based Questions:
Q1. Kamil wants to store a 16-bit color image file. The image size is 1000 pixels.
Calculate the size of the file. Give your answer in bytes. Show your working.

image resolution (in pixels) = 1000

color depth (in bits) = 16

image resolution (in pixels) x color depth (in bits)

1000 x 16 = 16 000 bits

16 000 / 8 = 2000 bytes

Answer = 2000 bytes

Q2. Marley needs to store ten 8-bit color images in a file for his project. Each image is 500
pixels wide and 300 pixels high.
Calculate the total tile size in mebibytes (MiB) for all Marley's images. Show all your
working.

image resolution (in pixels) = 500 x 300

color depth (in bits) = 8
total number of images = 10

image resolution (in pixels) x color depth (in bits) x total number of images

500 x 300 = 150 000 pixels

150 000 x 8 = 1 200 000 bits
1 200 000 x 10 images = 12 000 000 bits
12 000 000 / 8 = 1 500 000 bytes
1 500 000/(1024 x 1024) = 1.43 MiB

Answer = 1.43 MiB

Q3. Each image taken requires 1 MiB of storage. If the camera captures an image every 5
seconds over a 24-hour period, how much storage is required?
Give your answer in gibibytes and show all your working.

24 hours x 60 minutes x 60 seconds = 86 400 seconds

86 400 / 5 seconds = 17 280 images in 24 hours
1 image = 1 MiB therefore 17 280 images = 17 280 MiB
17 280 MiB / 1024 = 16.9 (16.875) GiB

Answer = 16.9 GiB

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Q4. A security system records video footage. One minute of video requires 180 MiB of
storage. The recording system can store several hours of video footage.
Calculate how much storage would be needed for 2 hours of video footage. Show your
working and give the answer in gibibytes (GiB).

2 hours x 60 minutes = 120 minutes

1 minute of video = 180 MiB therefore 120 minutes of video = 120 x 180 MiB
120 MiB x 180 MiB = 21 600 MiB of video footage stored in 2 hours
21 600 MiB / 1024 = 21.1 GiB

Answer = 21.1 GiB

Q5. A computer has 2048 MiB of RAM.

How many GiB of RAM does the computer have?

2048 MiB / 1024 = 2 GiB

Answer = 2 GiB

Q6. The current status of the engine is sent to a computer in the aero plane. Each piece of
data collected is 8 bytes in size. Data collection occurs every 30 seconds. Calculate the
number of kibibytes that would be needed to store the data collected during a 10-hour
flight. Show your working.

Step by step (i) data collection and (ii) working:

(i) One piece of data = 8 bytes (ii) Data collected in 1 hour = 3600/30 = 120 times
Data collected = every 30 seconds Data collected in 10 hour = 120 x 10 = 1200 times
Time of flight = 10 hour One piece of data = 8 bytes
Seconds in 1 hour = 3600 1200 pieces of data = 8 x 1200 = 9600 bytes
*Answer needed in KiB* In KiB = 9600/1024 = 9.4 KiB

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1.3.3 Data Compression:
Purpose & Need of Compression:
The size of sound and image files can be very large and so compression exists to reduce the
size of the file.
It means reducing the file size by either temporarily (lossless compression) or permanently
(lossy compression) removing data.

uncompressed compressed
*compression algorithm applied*
file file
100 MB 30 MB

Why do files need to be compressed?

1. The data files are very large so it would take a long time to send the uncompressed file.
2. A higher bandwidth would be needed to transmit the uncompressed file.
3. A greater amount of storage space would be required for storing uncompressed files.

Benefits of Compression:

1. Compressing the file reduces its size and hence less storage space is required.
2. Since the file is smaller, it is downloaded, uploaded, and transmitted quicker/in shorter time.
3. It requires less bandwidth if transmitted.
4. It will require less time to transmit.

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1.3.4 Lossy & Lossless Compression:
File compression can either be lossy or lossless:

Lossy compression reduces the file size by permanently removing data, e.g. reducing
resolution or color depth, reducing sample rate or sampling resolution.
Lossless compression reduces the file size without permanent loss of data, e.g. run length
encoding (RLE)

Lossy File Compression:

Lossy compression is the removal of unnecessary bits of data.
It results in loss of detail compared to original file.
It does not allow original file to be re-created exactly.
It can compress and reduce data to about 10%.
The decompressed file is not the same as the original.
Examples of compressed formats include jpeg, mp3, mp4 etc.

Use of lossy compression:

1. It is used to compress music files, video files & photos.

2. It is used where the data being compressed does not need to be exactly the same as
original file.
3. It is used for files where removing certain bits doesn’t detract from the quality.

Working:

In an image, lossy compression may reduce the image resolution and/or the color depth (bit
depth).
In a sound file, lossy compression may reduce the sampling rate and/or the sampling
resolution.

The common lossy file compression algorithms are:

1. MPEG-3 (MP3) and MPEG-4 (MP4)

2. JPEG

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i) In case of sound/music/audio files:
A compression algorithm called perceptual music shaping is used.
It involves removing unnecessary sounds such as removing background noise and sounds
humans can't hear very well (e.g. if two sounds played at the same time, softer sound is
removed).
It reduces the sample rate and sample resolution.
As a result, it reduces size and permanently removes certain parts of the sound without
affecting the quality too much.
After compression, due to smaller size, the music can be streamed faster, sent quicker,
uploaded faster, and downloaded faster as well.

Lossy compression techniques that can be used to reduce the size of the sound file:

Reduce sampling rate so fewer samples taken per second means less data is being stored.
Reduce sample resolution so fewer bits are used to represent each sample, so less data is
stored.

MP3 file format reduces file size by about 90%. How the music quality is apparently
retained:

MP3 is a lossy compressed format.

It uses psycho-acoustic modeling and perceptual music shaping (compression algorithm).
It eliminates certain parts of the music without significantly degrading the listeners
experience.
It removes the sound that the human ear cannot hear.
It only keeps sounds human ear can hear better than others.
It discards softer sound if two sounds are played together.

MPEG-3 (MP3):

It is the digital recording of sound produced by a recording software or microphone.

It uses lossy file compression algorithm called perceptual music shaping which involves
removing sounds human ear can’t hear very well (e.g. if two sounds are played at the same
time, softer sound is removed).
As a result, it removes certain parts of the music without affecting the quality too much.
It is widely used when distributing sound files.

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ii) In case of video files:
It uses a compression algorithm that permanently removes all the unnecessary data from
the file such as details that the human eye cannot see or the sound that the human ear
cannot hear (perceptual music shaping).
It reduces the color depth, so each pixel requires fewer bits.
It reduces the image resolution by decreasing the number of pixels per centimeter.
It removes the repeating frames or reduces frame rate.
It reduces the sample rate and sample resolution for the sound.
As a result, the size and quality of the video is reduced but it can still be viewed.
After compression, due to smaller size, the videos can be streamed faster, sent quicker,
uploaded faster, and downloaded faster as well.

MPEG-4 (MP4):

This format allows the storage of multimedia files rather than just sound (e.g. music, videos,
photos and animation etc.).
MP4 format allows videos to be streamed over the internet without losing any real
discernable quality.
It’s a highly versatile format that can also store audio, subtitles, and still images.

iii) In case of photos:

It uses a compression algorithm that permanently removes all the unnecessary data from
the file such as details that the human eye cannot see.
It reduces the color depth, so each pixel requires fewer bits.
It reduces the image resolution by decreasing the number of pixels per centimeter.
It reduces color palette/number of colors, so fewer bits are needed to store each color.
As a result, the size of the image is reduced without real loss of quality.
After compression, due to smaller size, the photos can be sent quicker, uploaded faster and
downloaded faster as well.

Lossy compression techniques that can be used to reduce the size of the image file:

Reduce the color depth so number of bits per color are reduced and so each pixel has fewer
bits.
Reduce image resolution so fewer pixels per unit measurement which means fewer binary
numbers are stored.
Reduce color palette/number of colors so fewer colors mean fewer bits needed to store
each color.

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JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group):

It uses lossy file compression to reduce the size of photographs.

It reduces the quality of an image by decreasing number of pixels per cm (picture
resolution).
It reduces a raw bitmap image by a factor of between 5 and 15 depending on the quality of
the original image.
It relies on certain properties of human eye as the eye detects limited colors or differences
in brightness and so reduces the size without real loss of quality.

Advantages of Lossy Compression:

1. It reduces the file size more than lossless hence saves more memory.
2. Due to smaller size, file can be downloaded, uploaded or sent quicker.
3. It will require less time and less bandwidth if transmitted.

Disadvantages of Lossy Compression:

1. The quality of the image, audio or video will be reduced.

2. The original file cannot be restored.

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Lossless File Compression:
Lossless compression is designed to lose none of the original detail.
It allows original file to be re-created exactly when uncompressed.
It is based on some form of replacement, for example RLE, FLAC etc.
By example: 000-1111-222222-333 = 3–0, 4–1, 6–2, 3–3 etc.
It can compress and reduce data to about 50% maximum.

Example:

Computers can compress text by finding repeated sequences and replacing them with
shorter representations such as any numerical value or a character.

Use of lossless compression:

1. It is used in compressing text files.

2. It is used where the loss of any data would be disastrous such as spreadsheets file.
3. It is used where the data being compressed needs to be exactly the same as original file
such as program codes for computer.

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Run-Length Encoding:
It is a lossless method of data compression.
It reduces the physical size of a string of adjacent, identical characters, pixels, or bytes etc.
The repeating string (a run) is encoded into two values.
The first value represents the number of identical data items (e.g. characters) in the run (run
count).
The second value is the code of the data item (e.g. ASCII code/color code of pixel etc.) in
the run (run value).
The run value and run count combination may be preceded by a control character.
For example: 000-1111-222222-333 = 3–0, 4–1, 6–2, 3–3 etc.

i) In case of sound/music/audio files:

It will reduce the amplitude to only the range used so limited amplitudes mean fewer bits
per sample.
A compression algorithm Run-Length Encoding (RLE) is used, and no data is permanently
removed.
The binary value of repeated patterns of notes or same sounds are identified, grouped, and
replaced with a numerical value (indexed).
The value is then stored in an index/dictionary along with the number of times the
patterns/notes are repeated so the data can be restored.
It records the changes instead of the actual sounds.
The original file/data is restored when uncompressed.

ii) In case of video files:

A compression algorithm Run-Length Encoding (RLE) is used, and no data is permanently
removed.
The repeated frames/pixels in the video are identified, grouped, and replaced with a
numerical value (indexed).
The value is then stored in an index/dictionary along with the number of times
frames/pixels are repeated so the data can be restored.
It just records the changes between the frames/pixels of the actual video.
The original file/data is restored when uncompressed.

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iii) In case of text files:
A compression algorithm Run-Length Encoding (RLE) is used, and no data is permanently
removed.
The groups of repeated characters are identified and replaced with a numerical value.
The value is then stored in an index/dictionary along with the number of times the character
occurs so the data can be restored.
For example, instead of storing aaaa, it will simply store a4
The original file/data is retrieved when uncompressed.

Why run-length encoding will sometimes increase the size of a text file:

The repeated sequences of characters rarely occur in text files as most characters are used
only once in any sequence.
The character code and the fact that it is stored once will both be stored, which will use as
much if not more space.

The following text is stored as a text file:

She sells sea shells on the seashore. The shells that she sells are sea shells I am sure.

How lossless compression would compress this file.

The data is compressed using a compression algorithm (e.g. RLE).

The repeating words or sections of words are identified and replaced with a numerical
value.
The value is then stored in an index/table along with word/sections of words so the data
can be restored.
The original file/data is retrieved when uncompressed.
For example, the word “shell” repeats thrice so it can be replaced with a numerical value and
stored in an index. (e.g. shell = 7).

iv) In case of photos:

A compression algorithm Run-Length Encoding (RLE) is used, and no data is permanently
removed.
The sequences of the same color pixels in the picture are identified, grouped, and replaced
with a numerical value (indexed).
The value is then stored in an index/dictionary along with the number of identical pixels that
occurs so the data can be restored.
It just records the changes between the frames/pixels.
The original file/data is restored when uncompressed.

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Example Questions:

Question 1: How a computer can store this black and white bitmap image.

Each pixel in the image requires only one bit (as there are only two colors).
The black color is represented by binary value 1 and white by 0 (or vice versa).
The bits are stored for each pixel in sequence e.g. 11111 01010 01010 01010 01010.

How run-length encoding (RLE) will compress the image.

RLE will store the color and the number of times it occurs.
In this case, it will store black and the number of times it occurs as well as white and its
occurrence e.g. B5, W1, B1, W1, B1, and so on.

Why is it important to estimate the file size of an image?

It is important for estimating how many images can be stored.

It is important for deciding if it can be sent as an email attachment.

A digital camera takes a bitmap image. The image is 2000 pixels wide by 1000 pixels high
with a color depth of 24-bits.

A second image is taken, this time in black and white. It has the same number of pixels, but
the file size is smaller.

Why the file size is smaller:

For black and white, only 1 bit is needed to store the color of each pixel so the number of
pixels * bit depth is 2000 * 1000 * 1 (rather than 2000 * 1000 * 24).
This calculation results in a smaller figure for file size.

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Question 2: How run-length encoding (RLE) is used to store the image with the following
color codes:

3B9 1A3 3B3 1A2 3B1 1A2 EB2

1A1 3B3 1A1 3B2 1A2 3B1 1A2 3B3 1A3 3B9

Question 3: How run-length encoding (RLE) would compress this image.

RLE will look for runs of consecutive pixel of the same color.
It stores the color value once and the number of times it occurs e.g. R2 P3 G1 B1 R2 P1 G2
and so on.

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Question 4: The following diagrams show:

• the denary color code that represents each color

• the first three rows of a bitmap image

How RLE will compress the first three rows of this image:

Row 1: 153 10 255 3 153 3

Row 2: 153 9 255 6 153 1
Row 3: 153 7 255 9

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Question 5: A section of bitmap image is shown. Each color is represented by a letter, such
as B is blue.

The first row of pixels in the image is shown:

How this row of pixels can be compressed using lossless compression:

It can be compressed using run-length encoding (RLE).

It stores the color value Blue and the number of times it occurs.
For example: B10.

Advantages of Lossless Compression:

1. It reduces the file size hence saves memory.

2. The original file can be restored.
3. Due to smaller size, file can be downloaded, uploaded or sent quicker.
4. It will require less time and bandwidth if transmitted.

Disadvantages of Lossless Compression:

1. It reduces the file size lesser than lossy compression.

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Exam Style Questions:

Question 1: Nigel wants to send a large text file electronically to Mashuda. Describe how the
size of the text file can be reduced. (4)

The file can be compressed using lossless compression.

A compression algorithm is used (e.g. RLE).
The repeating words or sections of words are identified and replaced with a numerical
value.
The value is then stored in an index/table along with word/sections of words so the data
can be restored.
The original file/data is retrieved when uncompressed.
Another way of compressing the data is by converting it into either ZIP or PDF file formats.

Question 2: Two types of compression are lossy and lossless. Choose the most suitable type
of compression for the following and explain your choice. (6)

(i) Downloading the code for a computer program: (3)

Lossless compression should be used to ensure that no data is lost.

It is important the code must be exactly the same as the original file.
If it does not match the original file, it will not work.

ii) Streaming a video file: (3)

Lossy compression should be used so redundant data bits are removed.

It would make the file smaller than lossless compression and the file will also stream faster.
The quality of the video will be reduced but it can still be viewed.

Question 3: The file Michele is sending contains the source code for a large computer
program. Identify which type of compression would be most suitable for Michele to use.
Explain your choice. (4)

Lossless compression should be used so that the file can be restored to the exact
same/original state it was in before compression.
It is a computer program so no data should be lost.
If any data is lost, then it will not run correctly so lossy compression should not be used at
all.
Lossless compression will give the repeating words or sections of words a numerical value.
The value is then recorded in an index along with the words/sections of words so the data
can be restored when uncompressed.

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Question 4: Nancy wants to email the photos to Nadia.
Many of the photos are very large files, so Nancy needs to reduce their file size as much as
possible. Identity which type of compression would be most suitable for Nancy to use.
Explain your choice (4)

Lossy compression would be more suitable as it would reduce the file size more than
lossless.
It will remove all the unnecessary data from the file such as details that the human eye
cannot see (e.g. humans can only detect limited colors or differences in brightness).
The image quality will be reduced by decreasing number of pixels per centimeter (picture
resolution).
As a result, the size of the image is reduced without any real loss of quality.
Moreover, there is no requirement for the files to be exactly the same as original file so
lossless should not be used.
After compression, due to smaller size, the photos can be sent quicker, uploaded faster and
downloaded faster as well.

Question 5: David needs to send a large section of the programming code as an email
attachment. He uses lossless compression to reduce the file size.
Explain how the file size is reduced. (3)

The data is compressed using a compression algorithm (e.g. RLE).

The repeating words or sections of words are identified and replaced with a numerical
value.
The value is then stored in an index/table along with word/sections of words so the data
can be restored.
The original file/data is retrieved when uncompressed.

Question 6: Audrey wants to send a sound tile to Nico using email.

The file is too large to attach to an email so Audrey decides to compress the file.
She uses lossy compression to reduce the size of the sound film.
(a) Describe how lossy compression reduces the size of the sound file. (4)

A compression algorithm called perceptual music shaping is used.

It involves removing unnecessary sounds such as removing background noise and sounds
humans can't hear very well (e.g. if two sounds played at the same time, softer sound is
removed).
It reduces the sample size along with sample rate and the sound is clipped.
As a result, it reduces size and permanently removes certain parts of the music without
affecting the quality too much.

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(b) Nico asks Audrey why she used lossy compression rather than lossless.
(i) State one advantage Audrey could give of using lossy rather than lossless to compress the
sound file. (1)

1. The file size will be smaller than lossless.

2. The file will require less storage space.
3. It will require less time to transmit.
4. It will use less bandwidth to be transmitted.

(ii) State one disadvantage Nico could give of using lossy rather than lossless to compress
the sound file. (1)

1. The quality of the sound will be reduced.

2. The original file cannot be restored.

Question 7: Videos on the library website show customers which books the library will soon
have in stock.
The library wants the file size of a video to be as small as possible.
Identity and describe a method the library could use to reduce the file size of a video as
much as possible. (4)

Compression should be used and the best choice of compression would be lossy.
It uses a compression algorithm that removes all the unnecessary data from the file such as
details that the human eye cannot see or the sound that the human ear cannot hear.
It reduces the color palette so each pixel requires fewer bits and decreases the quality by
decreasing the number of pixels per centimeter (video resolution).
It only stores what changes between frames.
As a result, the size and quality of the video is reduced but it can still be viewed.

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Question 10:

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Question 11:

Answer:

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