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Encoding Data

Encoding converts data into different forms for storage and transmission, including encoding images, audio, video, and text characters into binary formats using codecs. Common audio formats are WAV, MP3, and AIFF while video uses MPEG, with codecs allowing compression and decompression during playback or streaming.

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4 views

Encoding Data

Encoding converts data into different forms for storage and transmission, including encoding images, audio, video, and text characters into binary formats using codecs. Common audio formats are WAV, MP3, and AIFF while video uses MPEG, with codecs allowing compression and decompression during playback or streaming.

Uploaded by

jesu
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Encoding data

Encoding is the process of converting data from one form to another. While "encoding" can be
used as a verb, it is often used as a noun, and refers to a specific type of encoded data. There are
several types of encoding, including;

 Image encoding
 Audio encoding
 Video encoding, and
 Character encoding

Media files are often encoded to save disk space. By encoding digital audio, video, and image
files, they can be saved in a more efficient, compressed format. Encoded media files are typically
similar in quality to their original uncompressed counterparts, but have much smaller file sizes.
For example, a WAVE (.WAV) audio file that is converted to an MP3 (.MP3) file may be 1/10 the
size of the original WAVE file. Similarly, an MPEG (.MPG) compressed video file may only require
a fraction of the disk space as the original digital video (.DV) file.

Character encoding is another type of encoding that encodes characters as bytes. Since
computers only recognize binary data, text must be represented in a binary form. This is
accomplished by converting each character (which includes letters, numbers, symbols, and
spaces) into a binary code. Common types of text encoding include ASCII and Unicode. Whenever
data is encoded, it can only be read by a program that supports the correct type of encoding.

For audio and video files, this is often accomplished by a codec, which decodes the data in real-
time.

Codec
The name "codec" is short for "coder-decoder", which is pretty much what a codec does. Most
audio and video formats use some sort of compression so that they don't take up a ridiculous
amount of disk space. Audio and video files are compressed with a certain codec when they are
saved and then decompressed by the codec when they are played back. Common codecs
include MPEG and AVI for video files and WAV and AIFF for audio files. Codecs can also be used
to compress streaming media (live audio and video) which makes it possible to broadcast a live
audio or video clip over a broadband Internet connection.

.WAV files

Standard digital audio file format used for storing waveform data; allows audio recordings to be
saved with different sampling rates and bitrates; often saved in a 44.1 KHz, 16-bit, stereo format,
which is the standard format used for CD audio.

.MP3 files

Compressed audio format developed by the Moving Picture Experts Group; uses "Layer 3" audio
compression; commonly used to store music files and audiobooks on a hard drive; may provide
near-CD quality sound (stereo, 16-bit) in a file roughly 1/10 the size of a .WAV or .AIF file.

The quality of an MP3 file depends largely on the bit rate used for compression. Common bit rates
are 128, 160, 192, and 256 kbps. Higher bit rates result in higher quality files that also require
more disk space.

.MPEG

Common digital video format standardized by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG);
typically incorporates MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 audio and video compression; often used for creating
movies that are distributed on the Internet.

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