Acronym for Pulse Code Modulation, a digital audio encoding method. Can also stand for Phase Change Material or other technical terms depending on context.
Formed from the initial letters of 'Pulse Code Modulation,' a term coined in the 1930s-1940s during the development of digital communication systems. The concept combines 'pulse' (discrete signals) with 'code' (symbolic representation) and 'modulation' (signal modification).
PCM is the invisible foundation of our digital world - every song you stream, every phone call you make, every video you watch uses PCM to convert analog sound waves into the ones and zeros computers understand. Invented in 1937, PCM technology enables your smartphone to capture, process, and reproduce sound with quality that would have seemed magical to previous generations.
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