a) A digital audio coding system originally developed by the BBC for point-to-point links. A later development, NICAM 728 is used in several European countries to provide stereo digital audio to home television receivers. b) A digital two-channel audio transmission with sub-code selection of bi-lingual operation. Stereo digital signals with specifications approaching those of compact disc are possible. NICAM uses a 14-bit sample at a 32 kHz sampling rate which produces a data stream of 728 kbits/sec.