bit depth

Part of the TechTarget Network of Enterprise IT Web Sites
Home Look It Up ITKnowledge Exchange Fast References Products White Papers Blogs

Search our IT-specific encyclopedia for:
 
OR Jump to a topic:
 
Advanced Search
Browse alphabetically:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
All Categories Multimedia & Graphics

bit depth

In digital audio , bit depth describes the potential accuracy of a particular piece of hardware or software that processes audio data. In general, the more bits that are available, the more accurate the resulting output from the data being processed.

Bit depth is frequently encountered in specifications for analog-to-digital converters ( ADC s) and digital-to-analog converters ( DAC s), when reading about software plug-in , and when recording audio using a professional medium such as a digital audio workstation or a Digital Audio Tape machine.

Bit depth is the number of bit s you have in which to describe something. Each additional bit in a binary number doubles the number of possibilities. By the time you have a 16-bit sequence, there are 65,536 possible levels. Add one more bit, and you double the possible accuracy (to 131,072 levels). When you have a 24-bit process or piece of 24-bit hardware, there are 16,777,216 available levels of audio.





Last updated on: Apr 05, 2005

>  Enterprise Software related Research & News
>  White Papers for the Retail Industry

Are you a Know-IT-All?
LILO is a boot loader for Linux. What does LILO stand for?
Answer

Get the Word of the Day
Follow us on Twitter

WORD OF THE DAY...
flip flops
LEARN MORE ABOUT...
mainframes
USA Contributors
Worldwide Contributors
Awards and Recognition
Our 60+ tech-specific sites
WhatIs.com RSS Feeds
Home Look It Up ITKnowledge Exchange Fast References Products White Papers Blogs
About Us   |   Contact Us   |   For Advertisers   |   For Business Partners   |   Reprints   |   RSS   |   Awards
TechTarget provides enterprise IT professionals with the information they need to perform their jobs - from developing strategy, to making cost-effective IT purchase decisions and managing their organizations' IT projects - with its network of technology-specific Web sites, events and magazines.

TechTarget Corporate Web Site  |  Media Kits  |  Reprints  |  Site Map




All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2008, TechTarget | Read our Privacy Policy
  TechTarget - The IT Media ROI Experts