We report on the dispersion and dissipation properties of numerical schemes aimed at solving the one-dimensional advection equation. The study is based on the consistency error, which is explicitly calculated for various standard finite-difference schemes. The oscillation and damping features of the numerical solutions are shown to be explained via a generalized Airy-like function. In the specific case of the advection of a step function, the solutions of the equivalent equations are systematically calculated and shown to recover the numerical solutions. A particular emphasis is put on one third-order accurate scheme, which involves a weak smearing of the step.