• Networking
  • Programming
  • DBMS
  • Operating System
  • Internet
  • Hardware
  • Software

Tech Differences

Know the Technical Differences

Difference Between Analog and Digital Signal

Analog-Signal-Vs-digital-SignalAnalog and Digital are the different forms of signals. Signals are used to carry information from one device to another. Analog signal is a continuous wave that keeps on changing over a time period. Digital signal is discrete in nature.

The fundamental difference between analog and digital signal is that analog signal is represented by the sine waves whereas, the digital signal is represented by square waves. Lets us learn some more differences between analog and digital signal with the help of comparison chart shown below.

Content: Analog Vs Digital Signal

  1. Comparison Chart
  2. Definition
  3. Key Differences
  4. Conclusion


Comparison Chart

Basis for Comparison Analog SignalDigital Signal
Basic An analog signal is a continuous wave that changes over a time period.A digital signal is a discrete wave that carries information in binary form.
RepresentationAn analog signal is represented by a sine wave.A digital signal is represented by square waves.
DescriptionAn analog signal is described by the amplitude, period or frequency, and phase.A digital signal is described by bit rate and bit intervals.
Range Analog signal has no fixed range.Digital signal has a finite numbers i.e. 0 and 1.
DistortionAn analog signal is more prone to distortion.A digital signal is less prone to distortion.
TransmitAn analog signal transmit data in the form of a wave.A digital signal carries data in the binary form i.e. 0 nad 1.
ExampleThe human voice is the best example of an analog signal. Signals used for transmission in a computer are the digital signal.

Definition of Analog Signal

Analog signal is a kind of continuous wave form that changes over time. An anlaog signal is further classified into simple and composite signals. A simple analog signal is a sine wave that cannot be decomposed further. On the other hand, a composite analog signal can be further decomposed into multiple sine waves.

An analog signal is described using amplitude, period or frequency and phase. Amplitude marks the maximum height of the signal. Frequency marks the rate at which signal is changing. Phase marks the position of the wave with respect to time zero.

Analog-SignalAn analog signal is not immune to noise hence, it faces distortion and decrease the quality of transmission. The range of value in an analog signal is not fixed.

Definition of Digital Signal

Digital signals also carry information like analog signals but is somewhat is different from analog signals. Digital signal is noncontinuous, discrete time signal. Digital signal carries information or data in the binary form i.e. a digital signal represent information in the form of bits.Digital-Signal Digital signal can be further decomposed into simple sine waves that are called harmonics. Each simple wave has different amplitude, frequency and phase. Digital signal is described with bit rate and bit interval. Bit interval describes the time require for sending a single bit. On the other hand, bit rate describes the frequency of bit interval.

A digital signal is more immune to the noise; hence, it hardly faces any distortion. Digital signals are easier to transmit and are more reliable when compared to analog signals. Digital signal has a finite range of values. The digital signal consists 0s and 1s.

Key Differences Between Analog and Digital Signal

  1. An analog signal represents a continuous wave that keeps changing over a time period. On the other hand, a digital signal represents a noncontinuous wave that carries information in a binary format and has discrete values.
  2. An analog signal is always represented by the continuous sine wave whereas, a digital signal is represented by square waves.
  3. While talking of analog signal we describe the behaviour of the wave in respect of amplitude, period or frequency, and phase of the wave. On the other hand, while talking of discrete signals we describe the behaviour of the wave in respect of bit rate and bit interval.
  4. The range of an anlaog signal is not fixed whereas the range of the digital signal is finite and which can be 0 or 1.
  5. An analog signal is more prone to distortion in response to noise, but a digital signal has immunity in response to noise hence it rarely faces any distortion.
  6. An analog signal transmits data in the form of wave whereas, a digital signal transmits the data in the binary form i.e. in the form of bits.
  7. The best example of an analog signal is a human voice, and the best example of a digital signal is the transmission of data in a computer.

Conclusion

Digital signal is nowadays replacing the analog signal, but analog signal is still best for audio transmission.

Related Differences:

  1. Difference Between Attenuation and Distortion
  2. Difference Between Stack and Queue
  3. Difference Between Data Warehouse and Data Mart
  4. Difference Between Data Mining and Data Warehousing
  5. Difference Between Analog and Digital Computer

Comments

  1. Shubham says

    December 2, 2017 at 4:13 am

    Very easy

    Reply
  2. your guy bill nye says

    May 3, 2018 at 6:04 pm

    this is awesome

    Reply
  3. Odd Number says

    May 18, 2018 at 4:16 pm

    That was a great content. Good, keep it up.

    Reply
  4. Dhanu says

    May 25, 2018 at 11:19 am

    good info

    Reply
  5. nisha says

    August 25, 2018 at 5:31 am

    Wonderful points you have mentioned here, I really liked your article, your article is very
    petrified me in the learning process and provide
    additional knowledge to me, maybe I can learn
    more from you, Thank you

    Reply
  6. Jonas Mwanapabo says

    August 30, 2018 at 6:26 pm

    Really helpful information.

    Reply
  7. Harsh Dudhatra says

    September 10, 2018 at 8:43 am

    It was really very helpful

    Reply
  8. Shubham Bhosale says

    September 18, 2018 at 12:12 pm

    Good information

    Reply
  9. Adam says

    September 24, 2018 at 4:04 pm

    This is so informative guys! Thank you

    Reply
  10. Wallace103 says

    December 19, 2018 at 4:31 pm

    it is awesome

    Reply
  11. Belbo Baigans says

    December 31, 2018 at 5:43 am

    Nice article dear

    Reply
  12. Pravin says

    February 6, 2019 at 7:02 am

    Nice….very informative article

    Reply
  13. Asmit says

    February 15, 2019 at 6:25 pm

    Nice information made easy. Hoping for more…

    Reply
  14. Bilbo Baggins says

    February 19, 2019 at 6:57 pm

    Very informative thank you, mam.

    Reply
  15. LeBronxiiii says

    March 14, 2019 at 6:25 pm

    Really nice!

    Reply
  16. Reyna says

    March 18, 2019 at 11:40 pm

    It does make sense……

    Reply
  17. hayes says

    March 25, 2019 at 4:01 pm

    This was a good article.

    Reply
  18. Caroline says

    March 26, 2019 at 7:17 pm

    Your information is accurate.

    Reply
  19. Mark says

    March 26, 2019 at 7:41 pm

    good info

    Reply
  20. jimbo says

    March 27, 2019 at 5:09 pm

    this information was absolute

    Reply
  21. Jay McKenzie says

    March 27, 2019 at 7:13 pm

    wow. this is helpful.

    Reply
  22. Jannatul Ferdows Mim says

    March 29, 2019 at 6:45 am

    OH! Really like this πŸ™‚

    Reply
  23. Jim Dougherty says

    April 10, 2019 at 6:29 am

    Very well done. The comparison between analog and digital signals was very easy to understand. Mentioning that analog was still the best method for transmitting audio means that we will be able to use radio receivers that were built decades ago well into the future.

    Reply
  24. Indi Jonk says

    April 18, 2019 at 5:43 pm

    Good article.

    Reply
  25. David says

    May 1, 2019 at 8:16 pm

    Woooow so inspired

    Reply
  26. Akash rajoria says

    May 11, 2019 at 2:13 am

    It is very simple to learn.
    And each point is easy and clear.
    described in a good way…

    Reply
  27. yeet says

    May 23, 2019 at 10:44 pm

    very useful!

    Reply
  28. Haden says

    May 29, 2019 at 3:33 pm

    Lucid content….

    Reply
  29. Uman says

    August 7, 2019 at 1:40 pm

    Awesome explanation!

    Reply
  30. Mary says

    August 23, 2019 at 7:31 pm

    I finally understand the basics.
    Thank you.

    Reply
  31. Geenesh Acharya says

    September 25, 2019 at 1:46 pm

    Awesome explanationπŸ˜πŸ˜πŸ‘ŒπŸ‘ŒπŸ‘ŒπŸ‘Œ

    Reply
  32. abdur rahman vendeveluke says

    September 25, 2019 at 2:36 pm

    great content πŸ™‚

    Reply
  33. Reyan Glioover says

    October 14, 2019 at 8:22 am

    Ooh i love this content….

    Reply
  34. tony says

    October 14, 2019 at 4:00 pm

    This was very helpful.

    Reply
  35. Damptey, Isaac says

    October 22, 2019 at 7:51 pm

    That’s really a nice content. I appreciate your efforts.

    Reply
  36. Raj says

    November 1, 2019 at 2:00 am

    Very good information.

    Reply
  37. Ankit says

    December 1, 2019 at 9:46 am

    Very helpful information

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Top 10 Differences

  • Difference Between OLTP and OLAP
  • Difference Between while and do-while Loop
  • Difference Between Guided and Unguided Media
  • Difference Between Preemptive and Non-Preemptive Scheduling in OS
  • Difference Between LAN, MAN and WAN
  • Difference Between if-else and switch
  • Difference Between dispose() and finalize() in C#
  • Difference Between for and while loop
  • Difference Between View and Materialized View
  • Difference Between Server-side Scripting and Client-side Scripting

Recent Addition

  • Difference Between VPN and DNS
  • Difference Between Maskable and Non-Maskable Interrupts
  • Difference Between System Call and System Program
  • Difference Between Artificial Neural Network and Biological Neural Network
  • Difference Between DFD and Flowchart

Categories

  • DBMS
  • Hardware
  • Internet
  • Networking
  • Operating System
  • Programming
  • Software

Copyright © 2022 Β· Tech Differences Β· Contact Us Β· About Us Β· Privacy