Why are digital signals considered to be less susceptible to distortion compared to analog signals?

Digital signals are considered less susceptible to distortion largely because they can be easily reconstructed from noise. This ability stems from the nature of digital signals, which represent information in discrete values (typically as binary 0s and 1s). When noise is introduced into a digital signal, the process of distinguishing between these two states can help recover the original signal with high integrity, as there are clear boundaries and defined values.

In practice, even if a digital signal experiences degradation or interference, sophisticated error detection and correction algorithms can be employed to identify and fix imperfections. For instance, techniques like Forward Error Correction (FEC) can help the receiver decode the signal accurately despite the presence of noise, allowing the integrity of the data to remain intact.

Contrasting this with analog signals, which vary continuously and are prone to gradual degradation, minor distortions can significantly impact their fidelity. Analog signals do not have discrete levels to fall back on, making it difficult to recover them once distorted. Thus, the way digital signals are constructed allows for more robust error resistance and correction, emphasizing their advantages over analog technology in terms of noise immunity.