Fundamentals of Data Representation

Question 1

How many characters can be represented using a byte.

Answer 1

256

Question 2

How many bits in a nibble?

Answer 2

4

Question 3

What is unicode?

Answer 3

A character set that can universally be used to encode text.
It requires much more space.

Question 4

How is a parity bit used for ASCII characters.

Answer 4

Normal ASCII characters do not make use of the most significant bit in a byte, which computers use to submit data.

For an even parity, the number of 1s being transmitted must be even, including the parity bit.
For an odd parity, the number of 1s being transmitted must be odd, including the parity bit.

Question 5

How does majority voting work?

Answer 5

Binary digits are transmitted multiple times. If they don’t all match, it is assumed the bit which occurs most frequently is the correct bit.

Question 6

How do check digits work?

Answer 6

It is added to a string of numbers, and it is calculated using the other numbers in the string. When the number is entered, an algorithm will calculate the check digit, and only if it matches, the entry will be considered valid.

Question 7

How do checksums work?

Answer 7

It is a mathematical algorithm applied to a block of data. The checksum is calculated and then transmitted along with the data. The same algorithm is applied on the other end and if the checksum matches, the data is considered to be transmitted correctly.

Question 8

How is an image stored as a bitmap?

Answer 8

Single, discrete pixels of colour.

Question 9

How is an image stored as a vector?