Computers have seeped into almost every realm of our lives. Right from homes to large corporations and governments, everyone is riding on the digital highway. Simply put, every bit of information in any form now is being digitalized. For instance, movies and home-videos made on traditional films now are being transformed into digital format using various techniques.
Preventing Data Corruption While Conversion
To start with, a digital data is nothing but storage of data in the form of 0’s and 1’s, that is understood by various digital computing machines. The process adopted for digitalization may vary, but the final format is a string of 0’s and 1’s. As large amounts of data is being digitalized, there always are chances that the data is not converted properly. The data on films is of the analog format. If the conversion is done incorrectly, there always is a chance that some sort of electronic disturbance or noise affects the final quality of the digital conversion. This can happen due to –
• Wireless devices like cell phones emit strong signals. If the data conversion is taking place in presence of such equipment, there are chances that the signals emitted by the device create interference and mar the quality of the film being converted.
• Televisions, radios and many other electronic equipment create interference or noise.
• Background noise from the surrounding environment can also affect the conversion process.
• While the data conversion is taking place, if data carrying cables are placed too close to each other, there is a slight chance that the actual transfer will suffer from some sort of interference and affect the final quality of the conversion.
Advantages of Digital Data Storage
Digital data storage is extremely reliable and is not susceptible to dangers such as physical damage or corruption. For instance, a minor noise or interference can be overlooked if the data is stored digitally. That does not happen with analog data storage. A couple of missing frames on a film might ruin the entire reel. Moreover, external factors like fungal infection, damage due to extreme heat, humidity also need to be considered. In case of digital conversion and storage, these factors barely make a difference. You can make multiple copies of the digital films with the click of a button, store it locally, on optical devices such as DVDs, online; the options are aplenty.
The biggest advantage however is the ease of access. For instance, consider a normal 8 mm film and its copy which is digitalized. For accessing the content on the 8 mm film, you will need a projector, a projection screen and a darkened room. In contrast, you can watch the digital copy on any digital device with playback facilities which include a smartphone, a tablet PC, laptop, computer or even a portable gaming device.
