Benefits of DAB radio

Benefits of DAB radio

DAB or Digital Audio Broadcasting radio refers to a digital technology intended for radio broadcasts. ‘ This particular technology was part of a research project back in the 1980s and now has become a popular way of radio broadcasting especially in Europe. ‘ Current radio stations are mostly broadcast under the FM and AM bandwidths. ‘ But when it comes to DAB radio, signals are transmitted digitally from the stations to the end-receivers or radio units. ‘ Using DAB radio has the following benefits:

1. ‘ More radio channels

Digital Audio Broadcasting uses digital streaming of audio files which require only a narrow band to correspond to one broadcast frequency. ‘ This simply means that through DAB, more radio channels or stations can be accommodated for broadcasting. ‘ Although the quality of the sound stream may deteriorate by lowering the bandwidth or bit rate, the technology is still good enough to provide quality sound for so-called DAB radio stations.

2. More features

Since radio stations are broadcast digitally, they could also send out digital messages to their listeners. ‘ With this particular feature possible, radio stations can provide their fans with information regarding the music that is being played. ‘ Details like song title, artist, and news information may be given out as a form of radio text.

3. Less chance of interference

The digital technology found in DAB radio makes it difficult for pirates to interfere with the signal or sound stream. ‘ This simply results to increased security for the radio broadcast which could be configured to be accessed only in designated areas.

4. More efficient use of bandwidth

Not all radio stations require audio streaming and so may only require lower bit rates. ‘ Talk or news radio for example may be delegated to the lower bandwidths to allow for more music radio stations to use up the extra bandwidth space. ‘ This basically makes the radio broadcast more efficient in terms of bandwidth use.

The use of DAB technology has increased over the years in terms of radio broadcasts. ‘ Although many people point out that using this technology is actually costly in terms of transmission requirements, proponents believe that DAB radio is actually more efficient in the long term. It also provides more features which ultimately benefit radio fans.