Understanding ADC Vocabulary: Analog to Digital Converter Output Terminology

[david90]

what do you call the digital number that analog to digital converters output ?

Does it make any sense to call it "analog signal's digital representation" ? Is there a better way to call it?

 

[davenn]

what do you call the digital number that analog to digital converters output ?

Does it make any sense to call it "analog signal's digital representation" ? Is there a better way to call it?

Its called a binary output

the number of bits, from the LSB (Least Significant Bit to the MSB Most Significant Bit) that binary code has for each sample is a function of the design of the ADC chip ie. whether its a for example a 8 bit, 16 bit or say 24bit system.
the more bits the higher the resolution and the larger the input signal it can handle befor it clips. For example, an ADC with a resolution of 8 bits can encode an analog input to one in 256 different levels, since 2⁸ = 256.

Initially my digital seismograph system used 12bit resolution (4094 datapoints) and it would often clip on the large signals from the big earthquakes. I upgraded the ADC system to a 16bit one now I have 65536 datapoints.

hope that waffle helped :)

Dave

 

[sophiecentaur]

Its called a binary output


Dave

It doesn't need to be binary. The general term would be 'digital' or even 'quantised' output.

The term "representation" is a good one because it gets over the idea that it's information that's involved.

 

[jim hardy]

The term "representation" is a good one because it gets over the idea that it's information that's involved.

Indeed, while one will most often encounter a binary representation it may be in any of several formats.
Once ran across one that gave result as an ASCII character string representing the millivolts, complete with decimal point .

Never saw one that gave Roman Numerals, though.

 

[sophiecentaur]

And BCD was popular, too.
Jim - your eyes are beginning to mist over again. . . .

 

[Windadct]

Digitized Signal

 

[jim hardy]

Jim - your eyes are beginning to mist over again. . .

.

You know, they just don't make nostalgia like they used to.
old jim

 

[davenn]

Indeed, while one will most often encounter a binary representation it may be in any of several formats.
Once ran across one that gave result as an ASCII character string representing the millivolts, complete with decimal point .
...

ASCII never come across one with an ASCII output

we learn every day :)

Dave