02 — Information and Representation Free Online FlashCards

What is a bit?

A bit is a binary digit with one of two values: 0 or 1.

Convert 1011₂ to decimal.

1011₂ equals 11₁₀ because 8 + 0 + 2 + 1 = 11.

How many patterns can n bits represent?

A sequence of n bits can represent up to 2ⁿ different patterns.

What is a byte, and how many patterns can it represent?

A byte is normally 8 bits, so it has 2⁸ = 256 possible patterns.

What values can an 8-bit unsigned integer represent?

An 8-bit unsigned integer ranges from 0 through 255, using the formula 0 through 2⁸ − 1.

What is the range of an 8-bit two's-complement integer?

An 8-bit two's-complement integer usually ranges from −128 through 127.

Why can floating-point calculations produce rounding errors?

Floating-point representation stores a sign, significant digits, and a scale or exponent. It provides a large range but may not represent every real number exactly.

How do ASCII and Unicode differ?

ASCII assigns numerical codes to common English characters, while Unicode is designed to represent characters from many modern and historical writing systems.

What does UTF-8 do?

UTF-8 maps Unicode code points to sequences of one to four bytes. ASCII characters use one byte and remain ASCII-compatible.

How does a raster image represent a picture?

A raster image represents a picture as a rectangular grid of pixels, with each pixel storing numerical brightness and color information.

Estimate the uncompressed size of a 1,000 × 1,000 image at 24 bits per pixel.

The estimate is 1,000 × 1,000 × 24 ÷ 8 = 3,000,000 bytes before compression and file overhead.

Why can vector graphics scale more cleanly than raster images?

Vector graphics describe shapes with mathematical lines, curves, and regions, so they can often be enlarged without the same loss of sharpness as raster images.