Abstract
“Digital” has been the buzz word for the last couple of decades. The latest and greatest electronic devices have been marketed as digital and cardiology equipment has been no exception. “Analog” has the connotation of being old and outdated, while “digital” has been associated with new and advanced. What do these terms actually mean and is one really better than the other? By the end of the chapter, the reader should know what analog and digital signals are, their respective characteristics, and the advantages and disadvantages of both signal types. The reader will also understand the fundamentals of sampling, including the trade-offs of high sampling rates and high amplitude resolution, and the distortion that is possible with low sampling rates and low amplitude resolution.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Oppenhein AV, Schafer RW. Discrete-Time Signal Processing. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall; 1989.
Ziemer RE, Tranter WH, Fannin DR. Signals and Systems: Continuous and Discrete. New York, NY: Macmillan; 1993.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 Springer London
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ng, J., Goldberger, J.J. (2010). Analog and Digital Signals. In: Goldberger, J., Ng, J. (eds) Practical Signal and Image Processing in Clinical Cardiology. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84882-515-4_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84882-515-4_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-84882-514-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-84882-515-4
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)