A digital sensor is an electronic or electrochemical sensor, where data is digitally converted and transmitted. Sensors are often used for analytical measurements, e.g. the measurement of chemical and physical properties of liquids. Examples of measured parameters are pH value, conductivity, oxygen, redox potentials. Such measurements are used in the industrialized world and give vital input for process control.
Analog sensors were used in the past, but digital sensors have come to dominate in the age of microprocessors. The differences between the two types, and the reasons for the development of digital sensors are discussed: