Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) is a digital representation of an analog signal where the magnitude of the signal is sampled regularly at uniform intervals, then quantized to a series of symbols in a digital code. It is the standard form of digital audio in computers, compact discs, digital telephony, and other digital audio applications, offering high fidelity and noise immunity.
Digital Signal Processing (DSP) involves the manipulation of signals to improve or modify their characteristics, enabling efficient data transmission, storage, and analysis. It is fundamental in various applications like audio and speech processing, telecommunications, and control systems, leveraging algorithms to perform operations such as filtering, compression, and feature extraction.