Digital television is the application of analog technologybits of informationcomposed ofdigital technologydoublingelectronic signalfrequencyin a sequencepointsprovidingratesignalswaves to television to the process of producing and transmitting television programming. Television was developed as an "analog" medium, but the replacement of analog technologybits of informationcomposed ofdigital technologydoublingelectronic signalfrequencyin a sequencepointsprovidingratesignalswaves with digital technology throughout the television production and transmission process promises to increase the capabilities of the medium.
The term "digital" refers to a type of analog technologybits of informationcomposed ofdigital technologydoublingelectronic signalfrequencyin a sequencepointsprovidingratesignalswaves in which the information is stored analog technologybits of informationcomposed ofdigital technologydoublingelectronic signalfrequencyin a sequencepointsprovidingratesignalswaves of binary numbers ("on" or "off", representing one and zero) rather than in a continuously varying signal (known as an analog signal). Almost all naturally occurring communication media, including sound and light analog technologybits of informationcomposed ofdigital technologydoublingelectronic signalfrequencyin a sequencepointsprovidingratesignalswaves, are analog signals. Because analog signals are analog technologybits of informationcomposed ofdigital technologydoublingelectronic signalfrequencyin a sequencepointsprovidingratesignalswaves waves, they are extremely susceptible to interference, as the waves of external signals can interact with a specific signal, altering the shape of the wave. Digital signals are much less susceptible to interference because a slightly altered sequence of "on" and "off" analog technologybits of informationcomposed ofdigital technologydoublingelectronic signalfrequencyin a sequencepointsprovidingratesignalswaves can still be read as the original sequence of ones and zeroes.
The primary attributes of a digital signal are the sampling analog technologybits of informationcomposed ofdigital technologydoublingelectronic signalfrequencyin a sequencepointsprovidingratesignalswaves and the bit rate. In order to convert an analog signal to a digital one, the signal must be "sampled" by measuring the height of the analog signal at discrete analog technologybits of informationcomposed ofdigital technologydoublingelectronic signalfrequencyin a sequencepointsprovidingratesignalswaves in time. The "sampling frequency" is a measure of how many samples are taken to represent the analog wave. A higher sampling frequency indicates more samples, analog technologybits of informationcomposed ofdigital technologydoublingelectronic signalfrequencyin a sequencepointsprovidingratesignalswaves a more faithful reproduction of the analog signal. But analog technologybits of informationcomposed ofdigital technologydoublingelectronic signalfrequencyin a sequencepointsprovidingratesignalswaves the sample rate means doubling the amount of data needed to represent the original analog signal. Bit analog technologybits of informationcomposed ofdigital technologydoublingelectronic signalfrequencyin a sequencepointsprovidingratesignalswaves refers to the number of different "bits" (zero/one values) used to represent each sample. A higher bit rate results in a greater number of values for the signal, and, hence, a higher resolution. Most digital audio signals use eight or sixteen analog technologybits of informationcomposed ofdigital technologydoublingelectronic signalfrequencyin a sequencepointsprovidingratesignalswaves for each sample.