what are the specifications of different ADCs used in various applications

[guow06]

I know ADC are used in audio/video/data acquisition/cellphone/HD TV ...
but what are the specifications of different applications like sampling rate and resolution? and how are they used?

 

[crutschow]

Sampling rate is determined by the maximum signal frequency you need to digitize. It must be at least twice the highest analog frequency component to satisfy the Nyquist criteria and allow reconstruction of all the frequencies from the digitized signal.

Resolution (number of bits of each sample) determines the accuracy and dynamic range of the digitized signal. To minimize the number of bits you don't use a resolution higher than required by the application.