A cylinder, head, and sector of a hard drive. The sectors are a recording container format. The digital data on the disks may be both secondary
container file formats and raw digital data content formats such as digital audio or ASCII encoded text.
A map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically). The lines are a grid, a method for dividing and containing recorded
cartographical data. The land masses and oceans are cartographical data in a raw content (
pictorial graphical) format. The text is in an
alphanumerical symbolic raw content format.
A
recording format is a
format for
encoding data for storage on a
storage medium. The format can be container information such as
sectors on a disk, or user/audience information (
content) such as
analog stereo audio. Multiple levels of encoding may be achieved in one format. For example, a text encoded page may contain
HTML and
XML encoding, combined in a
plain text file format, using either
EBCDIC or
ASCII character encoding, on a
UDF digitally formatted disk.
In
electronic media, the primary format is the encoding that requires
hardware to interpret (decode) data; while secondary encoding is interpreted by secondary
signal processing methods, usually
computer software.
Recording container formats
A container format is a system for dividing physical storage space or virtual space for data. Data space can be divided evenly by a
system of measurement, or divided unevenly with
meta data. A grid may divide physical or virtual space with physical or virtual (dividers) borders, evenly or unevenly. Just as a physical container (such as a
file cabinet) is divided by physical borders (such as
drawers and
file folders), data space is divided by virtual borders. Meta data such as a
unit of measurement,
address, or
meta tags act as virtual borders in a container format. A template may be considered an abstract format for containing a solution as well as the content itself.
Raw content formats
A raw content format is a system of converting data to displayable
information. Raw content formats may either be recorded in secondary signal processing methods such as a software container format (e.g.
digital audio,
digital video) or recorded in the primary format. A primary raw content format may be directly
observable (e.g.
image,
sound,
motion,
smell,
sensation) or
physical data which only requires hardware to display it, such as a
phonographic
needle and
diaphragm or a
projector lamp and
magnifying glass.
Category:CommunicationCategory:Information scienceCategory:Data managementCategory:Film and video technologyCategory:Computer storageCategory:Mass mediaCategory:Articles lacking sources (Erik9bot)Category:Recording
