Many of the world's radio stations broadcast in a variety of analog and digital formats. This page will list and compare them in chart form.
Table
edit| System | Type | Modulation | Data rate | Sidebands? | Ch. Bandwidth (KHz) | Radio spectrum | Sound Codec | Digital subchannels | SFN | Metadata/RDS/RBDS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AM radio | Analog radio | Amplitude Modulation | N/A | ? | 18–20 kHz | 148.5-283.5 kHz (Longwave) 510–1610 kHz (Europe) 510–1710 kHz (USA and Canada) |
N/A | N/A | No | None |
| Motorola C-QUAM | Analog radio (AM stereo) | QAM | N/A | ? | 18–20 kHz | 510–1610 kHz (Europe 510–1710 kHz (USA and Canada) |
N/A | N/A | No | None |
| DAB | Digital radio | OFDM (DQPSK) | around 1000 kbit/s (4 channels up to 256 kbit/s) | ? | 1500 kHz | VHF-High/174-240 MHz, L-band/1452-1492 MHz |
MPEG-Layer 2 | Yes, typically 4-6 "stations" per channel | Yes | Yes |
| DAB+ | Digital radio | OFDM (DQPSK) | up to 256 kbit/s | ? | 1500 kHz | VHF-High/174-240 MHz, L-band/1452-1492 MHz |
HE-AAC | No | Yes | Yes |
| Digital Radio Mondiale | Digital radio | COFDM (QAM) | up to 72 kbit/s | ? | 4.5–5 kHz (hybrid mode), 9–10 kHz, 18-20 kHz |
510-1610 kHz (Europe), 510–1710 kHz (USA and Canada), SW, LW |
MPEG-4 HE-AAC/CELP/HVXC | Yes, via IBOC | No? | Yes |
| FM radio | Analog radio | Frequency Modulation | N/A | ? | 200 kHz | 87.5-108 MHz, 76-90 MHz (Japan), 65.8-74 MHz (USSR) |
N/A | N/A | None | Yes (depending on station) |
| HD Radio | Hybrid/Digital radio | COFDM-HDC (SBR) | up to 60 kbit/s on AM, up to 300 kbit/s on FM |
? | 20–30 kHz on AM band ±5 kHz (on adjacent channel), up to 400 kHz on FM band (2 full FM channels) |
510–1710 kHz, 87.5-108 MHz |
HDC | up to 7 (3 full-power, 4 low-power) subchannels (FM) | No? | Yes |