YOUR NOTES

IGCSE Computer Science CIE

1. Data Representation

CONTENTS
1.1 Number
Systems
Computers &
Binary Number
Systems
Converting Between Binary & Denary
Converting Between Hexadecimal & Binary
Converting Between Hexadecimal & Denary
Hexadecimal
Binary
Addition
Binary Shifts
Two's Complement
1.2 Text, Sound and
Images Character Sets
Representing Sound
Representing Images
1.3 Data Storage and
Compression Data Storage
Compression
 1.1 Number Systems YOUR NOTES

Computers & Binary

Why Computers Use Binary

All data needs to be converted to binary to be processed by a
computer Binary is a numbering system that uses only 0s (o )
and 1s (on)
A computer uses binary data for all of its operations
The 0’s and 1’s are called bits. “Bits” is short for binary digits
A bit is the smallest unit of data a computer can use (a single 0 or 1)
Bits can be grouped to form larger units of data, such as bytes, kilobytes, etc.
By using binary, computers can process and store data using electronic switches that
can be either on or o
Millions or billions of switches fit onto a microchip
Any form of data, including text, images, and sound, needs to be converted to
binary before it can be processed by a computer
This conversion process involves assigning a binary code to each character, pixel, or
sample in the data
The resulting binary code can then be processed using logic gates and stored in registers

Logic Gates
Logic gates are electronic devices that perform logical operations on binary data
The most common types of logic gates are AND, OR, and NOT gates, which can be
combined to perform more complex operations

AND and OR gates both have 2 inputs (A and B) whereas a NOT gate only has 1
input (A) X is the output from the logic gate
Logic gates are used to process binary data by applying Boolean logic to the input
values and producing a binary output
Registers are temporary storage areas in a computer's CPU (central processing unit)
that hold binary data during processing
Registers are used to store data that needs to be accessed quickly, such as variables
in a program or data being manipulated by logic gates
The size of a register determines the maximum amount of binary data that can be
stored in it at one time
 Number Systems YOUR NOTES

The Denary, Binary & Hexadecimal Number Systems

In Computer Science there are 3 numbering systems used to represent
data: Denary
Binary
Hexadecimal
The denary number system, also known as the decimal system, is a base-10
numbering system that uses 10 digits: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9
Denary numbers can be used to represent any quantity, including whole numbers,
fractions, and decimals
Each digit in a denary number represents a power of 10, with the rightmost digit
representing 100, the next representing 101, and so on
It is necessary to convert data from one number system to another eg. denary to
binary or denary to hexadecimal
It is much easier to do conversions with a table:
The number 3268 (three thousand two hundred and sixty-eight) can be
represented in the following table:
(3 x 1000) + (2 x 100) + (6 x 10) + (8 x 1) = 3268

The Binary Number System

The binary number system is a base-2 numbering system that uses only two digits: 0
and 1 Each digit in a binary number represents a power of 2, with the rightmost digit
representing
20, the next representing 21, and so on.
Eg: the number 12 represented in binary is 1100:

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 We know this as (1 x 8) + (1 x 4) + (0 x 2) + 0 x 1) =12 YOUR NOTES

The Hexadecimal Number System:

The hexadecimal number system is a base-16 numbering system that uses 16 digits:
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, and F where 10 is represented by A, 11 by
B and so on up to 15 represented by F
Each digit in a hexadecimal number represents a power of 16, with the rightmost digit
representing 160, the next representing 161, and so on
E.g. the number 146 represented in hexadecimal is 92

(0 x 4096) + (0 x 256) + (9 x 16) + (2 x 1) = 146

Exam Tip
You need to be able to make conversions in both directions, e.g. denary to
binary or binary to denary. Make sure you write the table the correct way round
(with 1 in the right hand column) & use the correct number of bits in your
answer (the question should tell you but use multiples of 4 bits if you’re not
sure)

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 Converting Between Binary & Denary YOUR NOTES

Converting Between Binary & Denary

Converting Denary to Binary Walkthrough:
Write down the powers of 2 in binary from right to left, starting with 2^0 (1), 2^1
(2), 2^2 (4), 2^3 (8), and so on, until you reach 128 (as answers must be given in
8 bits)

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1

Starting from the leftmost column, write a 1 if the corresponding power of 2 is less
than or equal to the number you’re converting, 171 in this example, otherwise write a
0.

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1

Check your working by adding together all column headings with a 1 underneath
(128+32+8+2+1=171)
Read the binary digits from left to right to get the binary equivalent of
171. 10101011

Converting Binary to Denary Walkthrough:

Write down the powers of 2 in decimal from right to left, starting with 2^0 (1),
2^1 (2), 2^2 (4), 2^3 (8), and so on, until you reach 128 (as answers must be
given in 8 bits)

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

Starting from the leftmost column, write the binary digit in the column if it is a 1 write
1, and write 0 if it is a 0.

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0

Add up the values in each column where the binary digit is

1. 64 + 32 + 4 + 2 = 102

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 Converting Between Hexadecimal & Binary YOUR NOTES

Converting Between Hexadecimal & Binary

Converting Binary to Hexadecimal Walkthrough:
Group the binary digits into groups of 4, starting from the rightmost digit. If there are
not enough digits to make a group of 4, add leading zeros as needed.
0110 1110
Add column headings to work out the value of each nibble
8 4 2 1 8 4 2 1

0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0

4+2 = 6 8+4+2=14 = E in hex

Replace each group of 4 bits with its corresponding hexadecimal
value: 0110 1110
6 E
Write down the resulting hexadecimal values to get the final
answer: 6E

Converting Hexadecimal to Binary Walkthrough:

To convert a Hex number like A2 into binary write each hex digit in 4−bit
binary A=10

8 4 2 1 8 4 2 1

1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0

The binary representation is the numbers altogether: 10100010

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 Converting Between Hexadecimal & Denary YOUR NOTES

Converting Between Hexadecimal & Denary

Converting Denary to Hexadecimal Walkthrough:
Divide the decimal number (in this example 57) by 16 and write down the answer
including the remainder:
57 ÷ 16 = 3 remainder 9
If the remainder is above 9, replace this with the corresponding
letter Repeat steps 1 and 2 until the number you’re dividing is
zero:
3 ÷ 16 = 0 remainder 3
Write the hexadecimal values from step 3 to step 1 in reverse order:
39
Alternatively, you can turn your denary number into binary, and then turn the binary
number into hexadecimal

Converting Hexadecimal to Denary Walkthrough:

Write down the place value of each digit in the number, starting from the right and
increasing by a power of 16:

161 160

16 1
If the hex digit is a letter, convert it to its denary equivalent (Using the following table
to help you):

Hexadecimal Decimal

A 10

B 11

C 12

D 13

E 14

F 15

The hexadecimal value of the leftmost digit is E, which has a decimal value of 14. The
hexadecimal value of the rightmost digit is 5, which has a decimal value of 5.
Multiply each decimal value by its corresponding place value, and sum the products:
16a 1

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 E 5 YOUR NOTES

(14 x 16) + (5 x 1) = 224 + 5 = 229

Therefore, the denary equivalent of E5 is 229.
Alternatively, you can turn your hexadecimal number into binary, and then turn the
binary number into denary

Exam Tip
When doing conversions don’t remove any 0s on the right hand side of your
answer as this will cost you marks. E.g. B0 isn’t the same as B, just like 30 isn’t
the same as 3.

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 Hexadecimal YOUR NOTES

Hexadecimal
Hexadecimal numbers are often used as a beneficial method of data
representation in computer science
It takes fewer digits to represent a given value in hexadecimal than in
binary One hexadecimal digit can represent four bits of binary data
It is beneficial to use hexadecimal over binary because:
The more bits there are in a binary number, the harder it is to read
Numbers with more bits are more prone to errors when being copied

Worked Example
The following binary number has 24 bits: 101110110011101011101010. Write
the number in hexadecimal and explain why it is better to write the number in
hexadecimal rather than in binary.
This number can be represented with only 6 digits in hexadecimal: B [1
mark] B [1 mark] 3 [1 mark] A [1 mark] D [1 mark] 2 [1 mark] .
This number is:
Much shorter and a more e cient way of representing numbers [1
mark] Easier to spot any errors in [1 mark]

Uses of Hexadecimal in Computers:

Using hexadecimal allows computer scientists to represent large amounts of binary
data in a more manageable and readable format
There are many uses of hexadecimal in computers:
Memory addresses and other hardware related
values Representation of colour values
Error
messages
Memory dump
Debugging
IP addresses
ASCII / Unicode
Assembly
language URLs
Representation of colour values in HTML/CSS and in computer graphics: eg. RGB
(red- green-blue) colour values can be represented in a compact and readable
format. E.g. #FF0000
Error messages & debugging: eg. 0×80070643 to give technicians/developers
information about what the error is in relation to
Memory dump: this is a record of what happened in the computer's memory at the
time of an error. These are often di cult to read because they contain a lot of
technical information, but computers can use hexadecimal values in memory
dumps to identify specific memory locations and values.
Eg. A video game on a computer crashes and a memory dump is created. A
technician analyses the memory dump and looks for hexadecimal values to
identify the cause of
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 the crash. They might look for specific memory addresses and values that relate YOUR NOTES
to the game being played or the graphics card in the computer.
IP addresses:
Hexadecimal values can be used to represent each set of numbers in an IP
address Each set of numbers can be converted into a two-digit hexadecimal
value, giving a
total of eight digits in the IP address
Eg. the IP address "192.168.0.1" could be represented in hexadecimal as
"C0A80001" The hexadecimal values can make IP addresses easier to work
with in some cases,
such as when configuring network devices or writing scripts that interact with IP
addresses, however, they are not commonly used in everyday applications
or browsing the internet
ASCII / Unicode: eg. The letter "A" is represented in ASCII as the decimal value 65,
which is equivalent to the binary value 01000001. This binary value can also be
represented in hexadecimal as the value 41
Assembly language:
Hexadecimal values are used in assembly language to represent the binary code
for the instructions and data
Each instruction or data value is represented by a specific sequence of
hexadecimal digits, which can make it easier for programmers to read and
understand the code
Eg. "MOV AX, 5" instruction is represented by the hexadecimal value "B805",
which tells the computer to move the value 5 into register AX
URLs:
To encode a space in a URL using hexadecimal, the space character is replaced by
a percent sign ("%") followed by the hexadecimal value of the space
character. In ASCII, the space character has a decimal value of 32, which can
be represented in hexadecimal as "20".
So, to encode the URL "my website.com/page one" using hexadecimal, it
would look like this: my%20website.com/page%20one

Exam Tip
When a question is asked which asks you to name a certain number of uses
of hexadecimal, ensure you write the number asked for and no more. E.g. name
3 uses of hexadecimal - if you write more than 3, the last ones will be
ignored by the examiner, even if they’re correct

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 Binary Addition YOUR NOTES

Binary Addition
Adding binary numbers follows a similar process to adding denary numbers

The binary adding rules

are: 0+0=0
0+1=1
1+1=10 (The 1 is carried into the next column on the left)
1+1+1=11 (The 1 is carried into the next column on the left)

Adding binary steps:

Step 1:
Start by writing the two binary numbers you want to add underneath each other, with
the least significant bit (LSB) on the right.

Step 2:
Begin by adding the LSBs together. If the sum is less than or equal to 1, write it down
in the sum column. If the sum is 2 or greater, write the remainder of the sum (i.e., the
sum minus 2) in the sum column and carry over the quotient (i.e., 1) to the next
column

Step 3:
Repeat this process for the next column to the left, adding the two bits and any
carryover from the previous column. Again, if the sum is less than or equal to 1, write
it down in the sum column; if the sum is 2 or greater, write the remainder of the sum in
the sum column and carry over the quotient to the next column.

Step 4:
Continue this process for each subsequent column until you have added all the bits.

Step 5:
If the sum of the last two bits produces a carryover, add an additional bit to the left of
the sum to represent the carryover.

Step 6:
Check the sum to make sure it fits within 8 bits. If it doesn't, you will need to use more
bits to represent the sum.

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Adding binary walkthrough: YOUR NOTES

In this example, we start by adding the two LSBs: 0 + 0 = 0, which we write down in
the sum column. We then move to the next column to the left and add the two bits
and the carryover from the previous column: 1 + 1 + 0 = 10. We write down the
remainder of the sum (i.e., 0) in the sum column and carry over the quotient (i.e., 1) to the
next column. We repeat this process for the next two columns, and end up with the sum
101110000.

Overflow
An overflow error occurs when the result of a binary addition exceeds the maximum
value that can be represented. In the case of 8−bits, the maximum value is 255
Overflow occurs when the addition of two numbers results in a carry bit that
cannot be accommodated
To avoid overflow errors, it's important to check the result of binary addition to ensure
that it doesn't exceed the maximum value that can be represented
Overflow errors can also occur in other operations besides addition, such as
multiplication or division

Exam Tip
You can convert your binary numbers to denary, then perform the
calculation and then convert them back to check you’ve got the right answer.
Label this as checking to make sure that the examiner knows this is a check
and not part of your working out

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 Binary Shifts YOUR NOTES

Binary Shifts
A binary shift is the term used for multiplying or dividing in binary
A binary shift moves all the bits in a binary number a certain number of positions to
the left or right
When performing a logical binary shift to the left, the bits shifted from the end of the
register are lost, and zeros are shifted in at the opposite end
When performing a logical binary shift to the right, the bits shifted from the beginning
of the register are lost, and zeros are shifted in at the opposite end
When performing a logical binary shift, the positive binary integer is multiplied or
divided according to the shift performed. A shift to the left is equivalent to
multiplication by a power of 2, while a shift to the right is equivalent to division by
a power of 2
When performing a logical binary shift, the most significant bit(s) or least significant
bit(s) are lost, depending on the direction of the shift

Binary shift walkthrough:

E.g. shifting the binary number 11001100 to the left by two positions gives
00110000. The two bits shifted from the end are lost, and two zeros are shifted in
at the opposite end
E.g. shifting the binary number 11001100 to the right by two positions gives
00110011. The two bits shifted from the beginning are lost, and two zeros are shifted
in at the opposite end
E.g. shifting 11001100 to the left by two positions, is multiplying it by 2^2, or 4. The
result is 00110000, which is equal to 4 times the original value
Shifting the binary number 11001100 to the right by two positions, is dividing it by
2^2, or 4. The result is 00110011, which is equal to the original value divided by 4

Exam Tip
Make sure you’ve got the same number of bits in your answer as there were
in the question. Check your answer by converting the binary number to
denary, working out your answer and converting it back again. Make sure to
label this checking so the examiner knows it isn’t part of your working out

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 Two's Complement YOUR NOTES

Two's Complement
Two's complement is a method of representing signed integers in binary form, where
the leftmost bit represents the sign (0 for positive and 1 for negative)
To convert a positive number to a two's complement 8−bit integer, first represent
the number in binary form with leading zeros until it is 8 bits long. If the number is
positive, the leftmost bit should be 0
To convert a negative number to a two's complement 8−bit integer, first invert all the
bits in the binary representation of the positive equivalent of the number (i.e., flip
all the 1's to 0's and all the 0's to 1's). Then, add 1 to the result to obtain the
two's complement representation

Two's complement walkthrough:

The binary number 00101011 represents the positive integer 43 in 8−bit binary form
E.g. to represent the negative integer -43 in two's complement 8−bit form, start
by representing the positive equivalent of 43 in binary form: 00101011. Then invert all
the bits to get 11010100, and add 1 to get 11010101

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1.2 Text, Sound and Images YOUR NOTES

Character Sets

Character Sets
Text is a collection of characters that can be represented in binary, which is the
language that computers use to process information
To represent text in binary, a computer uses a character set, which is a
collection of characters and the corresponding binary codes that
represent them One of the most commonly used character sets is the
American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII), which assigns
a unique 7−bit binary code to each character, including uppercase and
lowercase letters, digits, punctuation marks, and control characters
E.g. The ASCII code for the uppercase letter 'A' is 01000001, while the code for the
character '?' is 00111111
ASCII has limitations in terms of the number of characters it can represent, and it does
not support characters from languages other than English
To address these limitations, Unicode was developed as a character encoding
standard that allows for a greater range of characters and symbols than ASCII,
including di erent languages and emojis
Unicode uses a variable-length encoding scheme that assigns a unique code to
each character, which can be represented in binary form using multiple bytes
E.g. The Unicode code for the heart symbol is U+2665, which can be represented in
binary form as 11100110 10011000 10100101
As Unicode requires more bits per character than ASCII, it can result in larger file sizes
and slower processing times when working with text-based data

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Representing Sound YOUR NOTES

Representing Sound
Sound is a type of analog signal that is captured and converted into digital form
to be processed by a computer.
To convert sound into digital form, a process called sampling is used. This involves
taking measurements of the sound wave at regular intervals and converting
these measurements into binary data
The quality of the digital sound depends on the sample rate, which is the
number of samples taken per second. A higher sample rate results in a more
accurate representation of the original sound wave, but also increases the file
size of the digital sound
E.g. A typical CD-quality digital sound has a sample rate of 44.1 kHz, which means
that 44,100 samples are taken per second
The sample resolution is another factor that a ects the quality of the digital sound.
This refers to the number of bits per sample, which determines the level of detail
and accuracy of each sample
A higher sample resolution results in a more accurate representation of the
sound wave, but also increases the file size of the digital sound
E.g. A CD-quality digital sound typically has a sample resolution of 16 bits, which
means that each sample is represented by a 16−bit binary number
It's important to choose the appropriate sample rate and resolution based on the
specific requirements of the digital sound application. E.g. A high-quality music
recording may require a higher sample rate and resolution than a voice recording for
a podcast
MIDI
Musical Instrument Digital Interface (file)
Stores a set of instructions (for how the sound should be
played) It does not store the actual sounds
Data in the file has been recorded using digital instruments
Specifies the note to be played
Specifies when each note plays and stops playing
Specifies the duration of the note
Specifies the volume of the note
Specifies the tempo
Specifies the type of instrument
Individual notes can be edited

MP3 is a format for digital audio

MP3 MP3 is an actual recording of the
sound MP3 is a (lossy) compression
format It is recorded using a
microphone

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Representing Images YOUR NOTES

Representing Images
A bitmap image is made up of a series of pixels, which are small dots of colour
that are arranged in a grid. Each pixel can be represented by a binary code, which is
processed by a computer
The resolution of an image refers to the number of pixels in the image. A higher
resolution image has more pixels and is, therefore, sharper and more detailed but also
requires more storage space
The colour depth of an image refers to the number of bits used to represent each
colour. A higher colour depth means that more colours can be represented,
resulting in a more realistic image but also requires more storage space
E.g. an 8−bit colour depth allows for 256 di erent colours to be represented
(28=256), while a 24−bit colour depth allows for over 16 million di erent colours to
be represented
(224=16,777,216)
The file size of an image increases as the resolution and colour depth increase.
This is because more pixels and colours require more binary data to represent
them The quality of an image also increases as the resolution and colour
depth increase. However, it's important to balance the desired quality with
the practical limitations of storage space

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 1.3 Data Storage and Compression YOUR NOTES

Data Storage

Data Storage
Data storage is measured in a variety of units, each representing a di erent size of
storage capacity. The smallest unit of measurement is the bit, which represents a single
binary digit (either 0 or 1)
A nibble is a group of 4 bits, while a byte is a group of 8 bits
Kibibyte (KiB), mebibyte (MiB), gibibyte (GiB), tebibyte (TiB), pebibyte (PiB),
and exbibyte (EiB) are all larger units of measurement
Specifically, 1 KiB is equal to 2^10 bytes, 1 MiB is equal to 2^20 bytes, 1 GiB is
equal to 2^30 bytes, 1 TiB is equal to 2^40 bytes, 1 PiB is equal to 2^50 bytes,
and 1 EiB is equal to 2^60 bytes
To calculate the file size of an image file:
Determine the resolution of the image in pixels (width x height)
Determine the colour depth in bits (e.g. 8 bits for 256 colours)
Multiply the number of pixels by the colour depth to get the total number of
bits Divide the total number of bits by 8 to get the file size in bytes
If necessary, convert to larger units like kibibytes, mebibytes, etc

Worked Example
Calculating image file size
walkthrough:
An image measures 100 by 80 pixels and has 128 colours (so this must use 7
bits) 100 x 80 x 7 = 56000 bits ÷ 8 = 7000 bytes ÷ 1024 = 6.84
To calculate the file size of a sound file:
kibibytes
Determine the sample rate in Hz (e.g. 44,100
Hz) Determine the sample resolution in bits (e.g.
16 bits) Determine the length of the track in
seconds
Multiply the sample rate by the sample resolution to get the number of bits per
second Multiply the number of bits per second by the length of the track to get the
total number of bits
Divide the total number of bits by 8 to get the file size in
bytes If necessary, convert to larger units like kibibytes,
mebibytes, etc

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 YOUR NOTES
Worked Example
Calculating sound file size walkthrough:
A sound clip uses 48KHz sample rate, 24 bit resolution and is 30 seconds
long. 48000 x 24 = 1152000 bits per second x 30 = 34560000 bits
for the whole clip
34560000 ÷ 8 = 4320000 bytes ÷ 1024 = 4218.75 kibibytes ÷ 1024 =
4.12
mebibytes

Exam Tip
Remember to always use the units specified in the question when giving the
final answer.

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Compression YOUR NOTES

Compression
Lossless Compression:
A compression algorithm is used to reduces the file size without permanently
removing any data
Repeated patterns in the file are identified and indexed
Techniques like run-length encoding (RLE) and Hu man
encoding are used RLE replaces sequences of repeated
characters with a code that represents the character
and the number of times it is repeated
Hu man encoding replaces frequently used characters with
shorter codes and less frequently used characters with
longer codes

Lossy Compression:
Lossy compression reduces the file size by permanently
removing some data from the file
This method is often used for images and audio files where
minor details or data can be removed without significantly
impacting the quality
Techniques like downsampling, reducing resolution or
colour depth, and reducing the sample rate or resolution
are used for lossy compression
The amount of data removed depends on the level of
compression selected and can impact the quality of the
final file

Overall:
Compression is necessary to reduce the size of large files
for storage, transmission, and faster processing
The choice between lossy and lossless compression
methods depends on the type of file and its intended use
Lossy compression is generally used for media files where
minor data loss is acceptable while lossless compression is
used for text, code, and archival purposes

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