Question
What are some of the differences between the Baudot digital code and ASCII?
Answer Options
- A) Baudot uses 4 data bits per character, ASCII uses 7 or 8; Baudot uses 1 character as a letters/figures shift code, ASCII has no letters/figures code
- B) Baudot uses 5 data bits per character, ASCII uses 7 or 8; Baudot uses 2 characters as letters/figures shift codes, ASCII has no letters/figures shift code
- C) Baudot uses 6 data bits per character, ASCII uses 7 or 8; Baudot has no letters/figures shift code, ASCII uses 2 letters/figures shift codes
- D) Baudot uses 7 data bits per character, ASCII uses 8; Baudot has no letters/figures shift code, ASCII uses 2 letters/figures shift codes
Correct Answer: B
Explanation
Baudot and \text{ASCII} are both character encoding standards used for data communication, but they reflect different eras of technology and complexity. Baudot (used in RTTY) is a minimal, early code, while \text{ASCII} is the modern standard.
Baudot uses only 5 data bits per character, giving it a very small character set (only 2^5 = 32 possible codes). To represent numbers and punctuation, Baudot must use 2 characters as letters/figures shift codes. \text{ASCII} uses 7 or 8 data bits per character (providing up to 256 codes) and therefore has no letters/figures shift code, allowing it to directly encode a much larger set of characters, including upper and lower case letters.
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