AHMEDABAD INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
IGCSE-I
CHAPTER-1 NOTES
Conversions
Binary to Decimal
1. By Simple addition method
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
1024 512 256 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
2. By Multiplication by 2 method
101= ( 1*22+0*21+1*20 )= 5
Decimal to Binary
1. Division by 2 method note down remainders down to up
2. Subtraction method-- e.g-56
64 32 16 8 4 2 1
1 1 1 0 0 0
1. Find the nearest smallest/equal number in the power of 2 table grid that your
denary number fits into.
2. Put a 1 in that column, subtract that denary number from the total and write down
the 1 again in the next nearest smallest number.
3. Keep doing until the value 0 is reached
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AHMEDABAD INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
IGCSE-I
CHAPTER-1 NOTES
Hex to Binary
Method of splitting each Hex to 4 bits and then convert it to Denary.
Hex: F1
Binary of F= 1111 and 1= 0001
Hex (F1) = Bin(11110001)
BINARY to HEX
Method of splitting four Bit to 1 Hex
Binary: 111100000111
Split into 4 bits
1111 0000 0111
15=F 0 7
Ans: F07
Denary to Hex
Divide method of successive subtraction method
ANS : 8463 = 210F
Hex to Denary
Multiplication method of successive addition.
61E=6*162+1*161 + E*160
=1536+16+14
=1566
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AHMEDABAD INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
IGCSE-I
CHAPTER-1 NOTES
Hexadecimal can be used in-
• colour codes // colour in HTML/CSS
• error messages
• locations in memory
• memory dump // debugging
• IP(v6) address
• ASCII // Unicode
• assembly language
• URL.
MAC address-
• Media Access Control (address)
• Used to identify a device
• It is a unique (address)
• It is a static address // It does not change
• It is set by the manufacturer
• The first part is the manufacturer ID/number/identifies the manufacturer
• The second part is the serial number/ID
INTERNET PROTOCOL(IP) ADDRESSES
● An IP address is a unique address that identifies a device on the internet or a local
network.
● IP stands for "Internet Protocol," which is the set of rules governing the format of
data sent via the internet or local network.
● An IPv4 address is a 32-bit number broken down into 4 bit chunks, represent by a
hexadecimal number (My School IP address of server is : [Link])
● An IPv4 is being recently improved on to IPv6 address is a 128-bit number broken
down into 16 bit chunks, represent by a hexadecimal number
Binary is used to store data in a computer system because-
● Computer consist of transistors / logic circuits
• ... that can only store/process data in two states / as high-low / on-off / 1 and 0
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AHMEDABAD INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
IGCSE-I
CHAPTER-1 NOTES
Binary addition
Binary addition Carry Sum Binary addition Carry Sum
0+0 0 0 0+0+0 0 0
0+1 0 1 0+0+1 0 1
1+1 0 1 0+1+0 0 1
1+1 1 0 0+1+1 1 0
1+0+0 0 1
1+0+1 1 0
1+1+0 1 0
1+1+1 1 1
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AHMEDABAD INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
IGCSE-I
CHAPTER-1 NOTES
2’s complement to represent negative number
1. Positive denary numbers into 8-bit binary numbers in the two’s complement
format.
E.g 39 ; As 39 is a positive number, it can be written as normal as we had learnt
earlier. The 8th bit will be 0 for a positive number.
-128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1
2. Negative denary numbers into 8-bit binary numbers in the two’s complement
format.
a. -39
(Method -1)
As we know that -39 can also be written as (-128+89 = -39), So we
can place 1 at the 8th Bit and place the binary value for 89.
-128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1
(Method -2)
Write Positive Binary 39
0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1
Invert 0 to 1 and 1 to
1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0
Add 1 to the above Binary number
1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0
+ 1
1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1
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AHMEDABAD INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
IGCSE-I
CHAPTER-1 NOTES
Binary shift
1 a. Write down the denary value of the following binary number.
0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 ANS: 104
b. Shift the binary number three places to the right and comment on your result
0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
The result should have been 104 × 23 should by 832,
The left-most 3-bit has been lost. In our 8-bit register the result is 64 which is clearly
incorrect. This error is because we have exceeded the maximum number of left shifts
possible using this register.
2. [Link] down the denary value of the following binary number.
0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 ANS: 15
b..Shift the binary number four places to the left and comment on your result.
1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
The result should have been 15 × 24 should by 240, The result is correct as it has not
exceeded maximum shift.
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AHMEDABAD INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
IGCSE-I
CHAPTER-1 NOTES
ASCII Code system-
ASCII normally uses 8 bits (1 byte) to store each character. However, the 8th bit is used
as a check digit, meaning that only 7 bits are available to store each character. This gives
ASCII the ability to store a total of 2^7 = 128 different values.
As you can see, a = 97, b = 98, c = 99. This means that if we are told what value a
character is we can easily work out the value of subsequent or prior characters. Similarly
A will be 65.
Difference between ASCII and Unicode system-
ASCII is a subset of Unicode and represents a limited range of characters primarily used in
the English language. In contrast, Unicode is a more comprehensive encoding scheme that
can represent characters from multiple languages and scripts, including mathematical
symbols and other specialized characters.
*** In ASCII codes, the 6th bit changes from 1 to 0 when comparing the lowercase and
uppercase of a character.
Fig 1.6-- ASCII uses 1 byte to represent a character,whereas Unicode will support up to 4
bytes per character.
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AHMEDABAD INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
IGCSE-I
CHAPTER-1 NOTES
SOUND
Each Sound wave has a
● Amplitude
● Frequency
● Wavelength
The amplitude (height) of the sound wave represents volume/loudness .
The higher the amplitude, the higher the volume/loudness of the sound.
The frequency of the wave refers to how many waves occur within a specified
period of time.
A high frequency/pitch wave will show waves that are close together and
produces a higher sound that can be heard by the human ear.
Sampling Sound
Sampling is a method of converting an analogue audio signal into a digital signal. While
sampling a sound wave, the computer takes measurements of this sound wave at a
regular interval called sampling interval. Each measurement is then saved as a number in
binary format.
Sampling Interval
The quality and file size of the sound files are linked to the size of the sampling interval
(in milliseconds).
A small sampling interval results in a better quality sound file and increases the size of
the audio file.
Sample Rate
To describe the quality of a sound file we often use the term sample rate as opposed to
the sampling interval.
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The sample rate (in Hz) is the number of samples in one second.
Sample Rate = 1 / Sampling Interval
A small sampling interval results in a high sample rate which results in a better quality
sound file and increases the size of the audio file.
Bit Depth/Sampling Resolution
Bit depth is the number of bits available for each sample. The higher the bit depth, the
higher the quality of the audio. Bit depth is usually 16 bits on a CD and 24 bits on a DVD.
Bit Rate
The bit rate of a file tells us how many bits of data are processed every second. Bit rates
are usually measured in kilobits per second (kbps). The higher the bit depth, the higher
the quality of the audio.
The number of samples per second is known as the sample
Keyword recap
Amplitude The height of the wave, representing the volume.
Frequency The number of waves in a particular time period.
Pitch A high pitch creates a high sound, a low pitch creates a
low sound.
Sample rate The number of times the wave has been sampled per
second.
Sample resolution The number of bits used to record each sample.
Hertz The measurement of the sample rate.
Images
Color Depth
The number of bits used to represent each color is called color depth.
Image Resolution
Number of pixels that make up an [Link] resolution have (low clarity/loss of quality)
,decrease in file size.
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AHMEDABAD INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
IGCSE-I
CHAPTER-1 NOTES
Data Storage and file compression
Measurement of data storage(pg 32)
8 bits=1 byte
4 bit= 1 nibble
Calculation of file size(pg 33)
1. File size of an image =Image resolution(in pixel) x colour depth(in bits)
2. Size of mono sound file=sample rate(in Hz) x sample resolution (in bits) x length of
sample (in seconds)
3. Size of file for recording=sample rate(in Hz) x sample resolution(in bits) x length of
sample(in seconds)
Data Compression
Benefit of compressing the program files.
● File size is reduced
○ so it uses less storage space
○ so faster transmission
○ o quicker to download
Lossy- file compression - file compression algorithm eliminates unnecessary data from
the [Link] file cannot be reconstructed once it has been compressed. So, no major
loss- image file -may reduce resolution wise/bit/color depth, sound file- may reduce
sampling rate/resolution. They are smaller than lossless which helps in storage/data
transfer rate. E.g- MP3,MP4,JPEG
Lossy compression reduces the size of the sound file.
1. A compression algorithm is used
2. Discards any unnecessary sounds…..
a. using perceptual musical shaping
b. such as removing background noise / sounds humans can’t hear // or other
suitable example
3. Reduces sample size / resolution // by example
4. Reduces sample rate // by example
5. Sound is clipped
6. The data is permanently removed
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Lossy compression reduces the size of the video file.
• Use compression algorithm
• This would remove all the unnecessary data from the file // removes detail/sound that
the human eye/ear may not see/hear
• Reduce colour palette…..
so each pixel requires fewer bits
• Reduce resolution
• Only store what changes between frames // temporal redundancy
Lossless/Reversible- file compression -.Original file can be reconstructed once it has
been compressed. This is designed so that none of the original detail from the file is lost.
E.g- important files .
E.g- RLE-Run Length encoding--- is effective where a long run of repeated units/bits
happens.
1st value - count of identical character items.
2nd value- ASCII code of a character/RGB values in Hex code
Lossless compression reduces the size of a sound file by-
● Uses a compression algorithm
• Does not permanently remove any data
• Repeated patterns of notes are identified ...
• ... and are grouped, with an index
NOTE: Other possible methods of lossless compression of sound can be credited
Lossless compression reduces the file size of the photos by-
- A compression algorithm is used
− No data is removed in the compression process
− An index/dictionary of pixels is created
− The number of times a pixel is repeated in a row is stored
Advantage using lossy rather than lossless to compress the sound file.
● The file size will be smaller than lossless
• Requires less storage space
• Requires less time to transmit
Disadvantage of using lossy rather than lossless to compress the sound file.
• The quality of the sound will be reduced
• The original file cannot be restored
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