Data representation
2.3 Character sets and
images
Topic 2: Data GCSE Computing A451 Theory “Hard work pays off,
representation in computers never give up!”
Starter:
Using the ASCII table, decode the
following message…
Binary Dec ASCII
01010011
01110101
01110000
01100101
01110010
01101101
01100001
01101110
Topic 2: Data “Hard work pays off,
00100000
representation in computers never give up!”
TWWL
Explain the use of binary code
to represent characters
D C A
Communicate a Communicate a Communicate a
basic good thorough
knowledge of knowledge of knowledge of
character sets. character sets. character sets.
Write down today’s TWWL:
Starter “I am working towards a grade_____ .”
“To achieve this grade today I will need to…”
Topic 2: Data GCSE Computing A451 Theory “Hard work pays off,
representation in computers never give up!”
Learning Journey
Character sets? Converting character Representing images
sets to binary using
ASCII table.
Representing images Questions Peer-assessment
practical
Topic 2: Data GCSE Computing A451 Theory “Hard work pays off,
representation in computers never give up!”
Character sets
When you press a key on your keyboard a
code is generated that the computer can
convert into a symbol for display or printing.
Character set: The characters available to
a computer.
ASCII: 7 bit system to code the character
set of a computer. 127 possible characters…
Unicode: 32 bit system to code the
character set of a computer? Over 4 million
possible characters…
Topic 2: Data “Hard work pays off,
representation in computers never give up!”
ASCII
It is possible to sort words that use ASCII based upon their
numerical value, e.g. ‘Zebra’ would come before ‘apple.’ Why?
Sort the following words in order of their ASCII code…
Apple, Zebra, Music, trombone, Violin, ape
ASCII vs. Unicode?!
What are the differences?!
ASCII – 7bits per character – 127 possible characters,
e.g. 0110101 (7 bits)
Unicode – 32 bits per character – over 4 million possible
characters,
e.g. 10010001-00110101-01100111-00010010 (32 bits)
“The more bits available to represent each character, the
more characters you can have in a character set.”
Topic 2: Data GCSE Computing A451 Theory “Hard work pays off,
representation in computers never give up!”
‘Character set’ Questions
1. What does ASCII stand for?
2. Explain the use of binary codes to
represent characters.
3. Describe (with examples) the
relationship between the number of
bits per character in a character set
and the number of characters which
can be represented.
Topic 2: Data GCSE Computing A451 Theory “Hard work pays off,
representation in computers never give up!”
How are images represented
on a computer?
Closer look…
Pixels: The smallest element of an image. Pixels are the dots that
make the image on screen.
Resolution: Number of pixels per unit, e.g. dpi (dots per inch) or
ppi (pixels per inch).
The higher the resolution of an image, the larger the file size
because… the image contains more pixels (data).
Topic 2: Data GCSE Computing A451 Theory “Hard work pays off,
representation in computers never give up!”
How does a computer know what size,
resolution, e.t.c. an image is? Metadata…
Information about
the image data that
allows the computer
to recreate the image
from the binary data
in the file.
Must contain the
height, width &
colour-depth.
Topic 2: Data GCSE Computing A451 Theory “Hard work pays off,
representation in computers never give up!”
How are images represented
using binary code?
What do you think the 1s and 0s represent
in an image?
Topic 2: Data “Hard work pays off,
representation in computers never give up!”
Practical 1
Spreadsheet sent to school email
Topic 2: Data GCSE Computing A451 Theory “Hard work pays off,
representation in computers never give up!”
Colour depth of an image…
How does a computer know what to do with the binary numbers in
order to display the right image?
1 bit
The space invader image uses just black
1 0 and white colours and each pixel
displays 1 colour.
8 bit
The Batman image uses multiple colours
11001100 01110110
and shades. To do this each pixel needs
to display multiple colours.
If a pixel is to be able to display multiple colours then more bits
are needed to store the colours.
1 bit 21 2 colours
2 bit 22 4 colours
3bit 23 8 colours
Topic 2: Data “Hard work pays off,
representation in computers never give up!”
Practical 2
Go to http://bit.ly/TJQkGA
Have a go at
each of these
challenges.
What do you
notice about
the number
of bits and
the number
of colours?
Topic 2: Data GCSE Computing A451 Theory “Hard work pays off,
representation in computers never give up!”
Questions on the…
‘Representation of images’
1. How does the resolution of an image
affect the file size?
2. What do we mean by image size?
3. What meta-data is stored with an image
file?
4. If an image has its colour depth
decreased, what is the effect?
5. How many colours can be represented
using a 4bit colour system?
Topic 2: Data GCSE Computing A451 Theory “Hard work pays off,
representation in computers never give up!”
