I am a newbie to Linux Sound Programming, so few of my queries may sound
 foolish, but kindly address them.<br><br><b>I want to capture a video 
on my beagle board Xm rev C (TI DM3730). </b>So as per as the audio 
capturing is concerned, I am very much confused about the audio formats,
 like which format should I choose to get a better sound quality in the 
least possible memory requirement.<br>
<br>Since so many PCM formats such as S8, U8, S16_LE, U16_LE, A-law, 
u-law-, IMA_ADPCM, MPEG, GSM, etc are there so which format should I opt
 for.<br><br>Also<br><ol><li> What is difference between signed and 
unsigned PCM format, how does it can affect the sound quality.</li><li>If I go for MPEG format, does it mean that audio compression would 
handled at my audio port level and my DSP processor would not come into 
picture.</li><li>In reference to my above query i.e. 2, if audio 
compression is handled at audio port level, so at the time of 
audio/video sync up, how would be my processor be able to time sync both
 audio and video, since audio is not being compressed by the DSP.</li><li>If I opt for A-law or u-law, what could be benefits/disadvantages of
 using these formats. Would the audio sample be in compressed form in 
this case, if yes, how would audio/video sync up will happen in this 
case.<br></li></ol><br>If possible kindly provide me a link where I can find 
differences between these various formats, pros and cons of each of 
them.<br><br>Thanks &amp; Regards<br>Harman Kalra<br>