Chapter 3 PART 2 Data Acquisition

SITI NORMAZIAH IHSAN

Representing Digital Images

The result of sampling and quantisation is a matrix of real numbers as shown in Fig.3.3, Fig.3.4. and Fig 3.5. The values of the coordinates at the origin are (x,y) = (0,0). The next coordinate values along the first row are (x,y) = (0,1). The notation (0,1) is used to signify the 2nd sample along the 1st row.

Fig. 3.3. Coordinate convention used to represent digital images

Fig. 3.4. A digital image of size M x N

 It is advantageous to use a more traditional matrix notation to denote a digital image and its elements.

Fig. 3.5 A digital image

 The number of bits required to store a digitized image is b=MxNxk Where M & N are the number of rows and columns, respectively. The number of gray levels is an integer power of 2: L = 2k where k =1,2,24 It is common practice to refer to the image as a kbit image

 The spatial resolution of an image is the physical size of a pixel in that image; i.e., the area in the scene that is represented by a single pixel in that image. Dense sampling will produce a high resolution image in which there are many pixels, each of which represents of a small part of the scene. Coarse sampling, will produce a low resolution image in which there are a few pixels, each of which represents of a relatively large part of the scene.

Fig. 3.6 Effect of resolution on image interpretation (a) 8x8 image. (b) 32x32 image 256x256 image

Fig.3.7 Effect of quantisation on image interpretation. (a) 4 levels. (b) 16 levels. (c) 256 levels

Data Capture / Acquisition Device Analog to Digital Data Conversion Sampling & Quantization Image Data Sampling Audio Data Sampling Video Data Sampling

Audio Data Sampling

Digital audio uses pulse-code modulation and digital signals for sound reproduction. This includes analog-to-digital conversion (ADC), digital-to-analog conversion (DAC), storage, and transmission. In effect, the system commonly referred to as digital is in fact a discrete-time, discrete-level analog of a previous electrical analog. While modern systems can be quite subtle in their methods, the primary usefulness of a digital system is the ability to store, retrieve and transmit signals without any loss of quality.

Sampling Rate
When it is necessary to capture audio covering the entire 2020,000 Hz range of human hearing, such as when recording music or many types of acoustic events, audio waveforms are typically sampled at 44.1 kHz (CD), 48 kHz (professional audio), or 96 kHz. The approximately double-rate requirement is a consequence of the Nyquist theorem. There has been an industry trend towards sampling rates well beyond the basic requirements; 96 kHz and even 192 kHz are available.

 This is in contrast with laboratory experiments, which have failed to show that ultrasonic frequencies are audible to human observers; however in some cases ultrasonic sounds do interact with and modulate the audible part of the frequency spectrum (intermodulation distortion). It is noteworthy that intermodulation distortion is not present in the live audio and so it represents an artificial coloration to the live sound. One advantage of higher sampling rates is that they can relax the low-pass filter design requirements for ADCs and DACs, but with modern oversampling sigma-delta converters this advantage is less important.

Bit depth (quantization)

Audio is typically recorded at 8-, 16-, and 20-bit depth, which yield a theoretical maximum signal to quantization noise ratio (SQNR) for a pure sine wave of, approximately, 49.93 dB, 98.09 dB and 122.17 dB. Eight-bit audio is generally not used due to prominent and inherent quantization noise (low maximum SQNR), although the A-law and u-law 8-bit encodings pack more resolution into 8 bits while increase total harmonic distortion. CD quality audio is recorded at 16-bit. In practice, not many consumer stereos can produce more than about 90 dB of dynamic range, although some can exceed 100 dB.

 Thermal noise limits the true number of bits that can be used in quantization. Few analog systems have signal to noise ratios (SNR) exceeding 120 dB; consequently, few situations will require more than 20-bit quantization. For playback and not recording purposes, a proper analysis of typical programme levels throughout an audio system reveals that the capabilities of wellengineered 16-bit material far exceed those of the very best hi-fi systems, with the microphone noise and loudspeaker headroom being the real limiting factors.

Data Capture / Acquisition Device Analog to Digital Data Conversion Sampling & Quantization Image Data Sampling Audio Data Sampling Video Data Sampling

Video Data Sampling

Standard-definition television (SDTV) uses either 720 by 480 pixels (US NTSC 525-line) or 704 by 576 pixels (UK PAL 625-line) for the visible picture area. High-definition television (HDTV) is currently moving towards three standards referred to as 720p (progressive), 1080i (interlaced) and 1080p (progressive, also known as Full-HD) which all 'HDReady' sets will be able to display.

Speech Sampling
Signals intended to carry only human speech, can usually be sampled at a much lower rate. For most phonemes, almost all of the energy is contained in the 5Hz-4 kHz range, allowing a sampling rate of 8 kHz. This is the sampling rate used by nearly all telephony systems, which use the G.711 sampling and quantization specifications.