Multimedia Systems: Chapter 1 Intro

Multimedia Systems Introduction

• Multimedia allows people to see, touch, hear, and read content.
• Multimedia can be found on websites, radio, television, video games, phone applications, retail environments, movie theaters, and ATMs.
• Multimedia applications are available in education, business, creative industries, entertainment, IT, and research
• Multimedia distributes and presents information using computers.
• Chapter 1 aims to define multimedia and its elements including the necessity of interactivity.
• Chapter 1 aims to explain the relationship between multimedia and hypermedia
• Chapter 1 aims to list the characteristics of a multimedia system
• Chapter 1 aims to describe challenges for multimedia systems

What is Multimedia?

• The word "multimedia" is derived from "multi" (multiple/many) and "media," referring to multiple sources of information.
• Media refers to different data types, including text, images, graphics, speech, audio, and video.
• Multimedia describes multiple media forms and content represented as digital signals.
• The term means the combination of more than one medium
• It's a field concerned with the computer controlled integration of data types such as text, graphics, drawings, still and moving images (video), animation

Key Aspects of Multimedia

• Multimedia refers to the storage, transmission, interchange, presentation, and perception of different information types like text, graphics, voice, audio, and video.
• It is the computerized presentation of information incorporating text, graphics, audio, video, and animation
• General Definition: multimedia integrates text, graphics, drawings, still/moving images, animation, and similar media.
• The content is delivered through electronic or digitally manipulated means
• Multimedia data can be represented, stored, transmitted and processed.

Multimedia in Today's Digital World

• Digital devices record, play, display, and provide content
• These devices include: smartphones, tablets, laptops, PCs, smart TVs and games consoles
• Multimedia is accessible on servers and datacenters and can be distributed via wired and wireless networks, tapes, hard disks and flash disks

Multimedia System Characteristics

• A multimedia system can process multimedia information and is characterized by generation, storage and manipulation of data
• These systems must be computer controlled, integrated, and digitally represented.
• The interface for the final presentation of media is usually interactive

Hardware and Software

• Hardware and software required includes: capture devices, storage devices, communication networks, computer systems and display devices
• Capture devices are video cameras, video recorders, audio microphones, mice, keyboards, graphics tablets, 3D input devices, tactile sensors, VR devices, digitizing hard wares
• Storage devices are hard disks, CD-ROMS, DVD ROMS, cloud storage, etc.
• Communication networks are local networks, intranets, internet, multimedia, etc.
• Computer systems include desktops, workstations, MPEG/video hard wares
• Display devices include speakers, HDTVs, SVGA displays, high resolution monitors and smart phones

Multimedia Systems Components

• Multimedia systems have three logical parts: content creation, compression and storage, and distribution.
• Content creation captures different media types in a digital format, including digital cameras, video cameras, sound recording devices, scanners, and 3D graphics.
• Individual media elements combine through software (S/W) and hardware (H/W) elements to create coherent presentations
• Compression uses compression technologies to compress video, audio and graphics, using hardware and software elements (media encoders and storage devices).
• Media distribution occurs across both low and high bandwidth networks
• Distribution methods use cellular, wireless, cable, DSL and satellite networks, following standard protocols to collate and send information reliably.
• Common end receivers include computers, televisions, cell phones, and game consoles.

History of Multimedia

• 1826: Camera that produces natural image
• 1839: Camera for commercial use with wet copper plates with silver
• 1870s: Commercial camera that uses dry plates
• 1877: Phonograph and recording of sound
• 1887: Motion picture camera
• 1895: First wireless radio transmission
• 1884: Tv system that is electromechanical
• 1907: Cathode ray tube(CRT)
• 1967: Architecture Machine Group at MIT
• 1969: Early hypertext editor called FRESS
• 1982: First Compact Disc(CD)
• 1991: MPEG-1
• 1991: Personal digital assistant(PDA)
• 1992: JPEG
• 1995: JAVA language
• 1996: First Digital versatile disc(DVD)
• 1998: First Handheld mp3 player.

Types of media

• Human perceive information through perception media.
• Auditory media transmits sounds, music and voice
• Visual media transmits images, text, and moving pictures
• Discrete (or Static) media is information that can be processed independently of time
• Discrete media examples are text, image, graphics which do not change over time.
• Continuous (or Dynamic) media require time to pass in order for the presentation
• Continuous media are audio, video and animation
• Linear multimedia progresses through a set sequence
• Powerpoint is an example of linear multimedia.
• Nonlinear multimedia allows users to navigate content
• E.g. Hypertext is a form of nonlinear media

Multimedia Data Types

• Multimedia data includes various formats:
  • Text: ASCII/Unicode, HTML, Postscript, PDF
  • Audio: Sound, music, speech, structured audio (e.g., MIDI)
  • Still Image: Facsimile, photo, scanned image
  • Video: Movie, a sequence of pictures
  • Graphics: Computer-produced image
• Animation: A sequence of graphics images

Hypertext vs. Hypermedia

• Hypertext: text with links to other texts, acting as a button.
• Hypermedia: nonlinear graphics, audio, video, unformatted text, hyperlinks to other texts
• Hypermedia creates a structure for users when accessing different media for manipulation, and data encapsulation
• Interactive multimedia is controlled by the user and involves hypermedia in the form of clickable text, graphics, or animation
• The World Wide Web (WWW) is an example of hypermedia
• Multimedia authoring, computer games and virtual reality are also examples of hypermedia

Multimedia and the World Wide Web (WWW)

• Multimedia is closely linked to the WWW, a global hypermedia system on the Internet.
• Without networks, multimedia is limited to local machine display
• The WWW delivers rich content to a large audience.
• The WWW enables: a large amount of accessible information, the capacity to post such information and accessible navigation
• Technology standards of the WWW are maintained and developed by the World Wide Web Consortium
• Internet Engineering Task Force standardizes other technologies
• W3C's three goals for the WWW are:
  • Universal access to web resources.
  • Effective navigation.
  • Responsible use of posted material.

Application of Multimedia

• The help of web technologies supports different applications of multimedia
• Education: hypermedia courseware, e-learning, online tutorials, Video calling ect
• Business: multimedia, shopping,, advertising, video-on-demand etc
• Digital and virtual libraries
• Entertainment: Games and interactive movies
• Advertisements and interactive television
• Scientific research and virtual worlds
• Engineering: Computer-aided design
• Medicine: Virtual surgery
• Mathematics and art

Multimedia Technologies

• Digital video editing and production systems
• TV broadcasts
• Virtual reality
• Distributed lectures for higher education
• Tele-medicine
• WWW(World Wide Web)
• Online reference works
• Electronic newspapers/Magazines
• Groupware for collaborating on projects and information sharing.

Challenges of Multimedia Computing

• Need processing power for large data processing and real-time delivery of media
• Memory space requirements: Multimedia data need a lot of space to store
• Data transmission bandwidth for distributed networks
• Multimedia needs very high bandwidth to transmit
• Faster network (up to 25Mbs per video stream) with very high bandwidth to transmit
• Algorithms must be more efficient because multimedia is more complex
• Analyzing, indexing, and organizing information in audio, image and video is more complex than organizing text.
• Synchronization of media e.g. Movie (video) and sound, must have relationship
• There arises the issue of synchronization.
• Analog data must convert to digital data.
• Converting data must be compressed

Software and Hardware Needs

• Better CPU, graphics card, video card, and sound card

Software Tools Available

• Music sequencing and notation
• Digital audio
• Graphics and image editing
• Video editing
• Animation
• Multimedia authoring