Category Archives: Layperson

General-interest and tutorial posts suitable for the interested pedestrian.

The Scantron comparison

By Poojan Wagh | Published: September 6, 2008
I sat down to write this blog entry. Just me and my Dixon Ticonderoga #2. First thing I wrote was “Analog is like grayscale.” I immediately erased it. Even the word “grayscale” is too technical for what I want to explain. Remember Scantron? You used to have to bring a #2 pencil to take the test. You’d [...]
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A sign of things to come

By Poojan Wagh | Published: September 5, 2008
I wasn’t too happy about my previous attempt to explain the difference between Analog and Digital. I got lost in a lot of terminology (gadgets, signals, etc). In addition, I ended up approaching the distinction from an implementation perspective (how the devices work) rather than a user perspective (why things are better). So, rather than map [...]
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What to Expect from Digital TV

By Poojan Wagh | Published: August 17, 2008
There are three main differences you’ll see from digital TV: More Channels All or Nothing Reception Deeper Coverage
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The Binary Number System – Part 2: Binary Weighting

By Poojan Wagh | Published: June 30, 2008
In part 1, I illustrated how our decimal/Arabic number system is based on our ability to count up to nine with a single digit. After that, we add a digit (with a weighting of ten) and then continue to count the first digit from zero to nine again. The best way to explain how computers count [...]
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The Binary Number System – Part 1: Decimal Notation

By Poojan Wagh | Published: June 23, 2008
I’ve stated in a previous post that the digital revolution is all about measuring signals and representing them in a binary format that can then be processed with digital gadgets. A big part of this processing is the ability to represent anything in a binary format. My definition of binary is a representation which only involves [...]
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Analog vs Digital – Part 4: Comparisons

By Poojan Wagh | Published: June 16, 2008
In part 2 & part 3, I defined analog vs digital signals and gadgets. In this post, I will explain why digital gadgets have over-taken analog gadgets. The electronic industry has been and will forever be reducing cost and adding features. As a result, more complexity is being required of electronic devices while reducing the cost [...]
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Analog vs Digital – Part 3: Digital

By Poojan Wagh | Published: June 16, 2008
In part 2, I defined the analog signal and the analog gadget. In this post, I give a definition for a digital signal/gadget with examples. signal: a digital signal occurs as a sequence of values gadget: a digital gadget processes information sequentially From this definition, very few things that one encounters are intrinsically digital. Nonetheless, many analog signals [...]
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Analog vs Digital – Part 2: Analog

By Poojan Wagh | Published: June 16, 2008
In part 1, I defined the terms signal and gadget. In this post, I give a definition for an analog signal/gadget with an example. signal: an analog signal is a signal that always has a value. They key term is always. gadget: an analog gadget operates continuously on an analog signal. By this definition, everything that occurs naturally [...]
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