Over the past few years, technology has evolved significantly and because of the development in technology, a lot of things have changed. Earlier, cell phones used to be bulky and now, cell phones of negligible weights are available in the market. Now, cell phones have a number of features and high-quality camera, music player, radio, GPS system are some of the common features.
The technology for ringtones has also evolved greatly over the past few years and as a result, different types have been developed. The different types distinguish each other on the basis of the number of musical notes played at a time and the quality of the ringtone. New cell phones support all the types of the ringtones whereas old cell phones support one or two types of ringtones. Also, an individual cannot play a one which is not compatible with the cell phone and so, an individual should carefully check the supported types of ringtones while purchasing a cell phone.
Monophonic: Monophonic are the ringtones which play only one musical note at any given time. They were introduced before polyphonic and truetone ringtones and they represent the first generation of ringtones. Truetone ringtones are used to play complete songs whenever someone calls the cell phone subscriber whereas monophonic ringtones are used to play tone based versions of songs.
It is possible to personalize and modify monophonic tones in such a way that a particular ringtone is played for a particular caller. You can use this feature to set specifictone for specific users. As an example, you may use a happy monophonic tone for your best friend or a romantic tone for your life partner. You need to change the tone settings of the cell phone in order to use this feature.
Polyphonic: Polyphonic are the ringtones which play more than one musical note at any given time. Polyphonic ringtones were the first to follow the monophonic ringtones and they are more complex than monophonic ringtones as more musical notes are played at the same time. They are used for creating complex sounds as they give close approximation of harmony and instrumental melody. Polyphonic ringtones are more popular than monophonic ringtones as they sound more like the songs they are mimicking.
Also, the polyphonic tones are available in different styles and heavy metal, pop, country music are some of the popular styles. Most of the new cell phones support polyphonic tones and this is the reason why a number of polyphonic ringtones are easily available. It is possible to use some song writer to create new songs which can be used as polyphonic ringtones. It is also possible to add some variations to the songs and the ringtones so as to generate new tones.
Truetone: Truetone represents the latest evolution of ringtones and they have become very popular among cell phone users. A truetone is also known as a mastertone or a realtone. A truetone is an audio recording in a common format such as AAC, MP3, or WMA. Usually, truetone ringtones are created for using popular songs as ringtones.
A number of truetone tones are easily available and they are used by cell phone users to express themselves. New cell phones allow users to set different MP3 ringtones for different people. Truetone ringtones have replaced polyphonic tones to large extent as truetone tones are of better quality and are available at affordable prices.