
What is Digitization?
The process of transforming information into a digital (i.e. computer-readable) format is known as digitization. The end result is a representation of an object, image, sound, document, or signal (typically an analog signal) generated by generating a series of numbers describing a discrete set of points or samples.
The end product is known as digital representation or, more precisely, a digital image for the object and digital form for the signal.
Understanding Digitization
In modern practice, digitized data takes the form of binary numbers, which facilitates processing by digital computers and other operations; however, digitizing simply refers to “the conversion of analog source material into a numerical format”; the decimal or any other number system can be used instead.Because it “allows information of all kinds in all forms to be conveyed with the same efficiency and also intermingled,” digitization is critical to data processing, storage, and transmission. Though analog data is normally more stable, digital data has the potential to be more easily shared and accessed, and, in theory, can be transmitted indefinitely without generation loss if transferred to new, stable formats as needed. This potential has resulted in institutional digitization efforts aimed at improving access, as well as the rapid expansion of the digital preservation profession.
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