ELIF: How are audio and video stored on CDs and tapes?
In: Technology
Audio is the most straightforward to explain: The microphone picks up sound in waves which can be “described” digitally. The computer or recording device takes in the sound wave and produces a corresponding output of 1s and 0s.
Those specifically arranged 1s and 0s are sent to the CD burner (for example) which uses a laser to either activate or not activate individual spots on the CD which correlate to whether that spot should receive a 1 or a 0.
So now you have a CD with a grid, more or less, of tiny spots, some “on” and some “off”
When you place that CD into a CD player, the player reads which bits of the CD are on or off, turns that back into 1s and 0s which it can then turn back into information that it can send to speakers to produce the same sound waves that were recorded originally.
Things get a little different for video/tape. I’ll leave that for someone else as I cannot confidently explain it in a way that would be appropriate for this sub.
Latest Answers