Because computers use the binary system, every piece of data needs to be converted to binary code, which is a system that uses only two states: 0 and 1. This binary representation allows computers to process, store, and transmit information efficiently. Different types of data are encoded in specific binary formats—for example:
- Text: Characters are encoded using standards like ASCII or Unicode, translating each character to a unique binary number.
- Images: Pixels in images are often represented using formats like RGB, where color values are converted to binary.
- Audio: Sound waves are digitized and stored in binary as samples.
- Video: Visual information is represented in binary with various compression standards to efficiently encode frames of moving images.
Overall, regardless of the type of data, it must ultimately be represented in a binary format for processing by a computer.
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