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Multimedia CommunicationMultimedia Communication

Standards and Delivery Methods

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Definition of MultimediaDefinition of Multimedia The interactive use of audio, still image, graphics,

animation, text and motion video.

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Industry StandardsIndustry Standards The multimedia industry is extremely competitive

and develops a variety of new hardware and software on a regular basis.

It is not uncommon for developers to create different solutions to the one problem.

Standards offer the advantage of making products readily interchangeable, increasing competition, consistent file formats and reduced training.

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What are Standards?What are Standards? A definition or format that has been approved by a

recognised standards organisation or is accepted as a de facto standard by the industry.

That which is established by authority as a rule for the design and measure of quantity, extent, value, or quality.

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Why use standards?Why use standards? Multimedia applications depend on the operating system

and hardware far more than other types of software. Without standards it would be impossible to develop

multimedia applications. The primary benefit of standards is to make hardware and

applications that run on any platform and operating system that is designed to recognise that standard.

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Standard OrganisationsStandard Organisations ANSI: American National Standards Institute. IEEE: Institute of Electrical and Electronic

Engineers. ISO: International Standards Organisation.

VESA: Video Electronics Standards Association.

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Computer ArchitectureComputer Architecture Processor: Intel Pentium, AMD and IBM. Memory: RAM, ROM and HDD. Input: Keyboard, mouse and microphone. Output: Projection device, high resolution

monitor, speakers, amplifier and printer. Control: Operating system, BIOS (Basic Input

Output System) and software to control the program.

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Architecture StandardsArchitecture Standards Standards help determine what is compatible to a

particular platform. Standards are usually driven by market leaders

and technological pioneers. Unfortunately, this does not mean that software or

hardware is optimal in terms of speed or efficiency.

However competition keeps prices down.

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Operation Systems (OS)Operation Systems (OS) A Operating System is a software program that helps the

user interact with a computer. It controls the input, output and processing activities for a computer. Boot the machine (Load the OS into PC’s memory) Controls the resources of the computer included computer

memory, file storage space and the computer processor (CPU). Provides an interface between the hardware and the user. Allows the computer to perform primitive operations on computer

hardware and provide an abstract representation of these actions to the user.

Helps all the hardware components communicate with each others. There are utility programs contained within OS that help you do

things like copy file.

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Functions of an Operating SystemFunctions of an Operating System

start up the computer

administer security

control a network

access the Web

start up the computer

administer security

control a network

access the Web

monitor performanceand provide housekeepingservices

schedule jobs and configure devices

monitor performanceand provide housekeepingservices

schedule jobs and configure devices

manage memory

manage programs

provide user interface

manage memory

manage programs

provide user interface

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Where is the Operating System Where is the Operating System located?located?

operating system resides on hard

disk in most cases

operating system resides on ROM

in handhelds

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OS InterfaceOS Interface Command Line Interfaces

You must type in what you want the computer to do, and you must type it correctly.

Graphic User Interface (GUI) A GUI let you click with the mouse to start a program

or do other computer task.

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BootingBooting Booting is a process of starting or restarting a

computer Cold Boot: Process of turning on a computer after it has

been powered off completely Warm boot: Process of restarting a computer that is

already powered on

cold bootProcess of turning on a

computer after it has been powered off completely

warm bootProcess of restarting a

computer that is already powered on

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What messages display on the What messages display on the screen when you boot up?screen when you boot up?

sound card and CD-ROM drivers loaded

Windowsmessage

devices detected and tested

total amount of memory

BIOS version and copyright notice

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Multimedia StandardsMultimedia Standards JPEG : The Joint Photographic Experts Group. MPEG : Moving Pictures Experts Group. QuickTime : Macintosh based video format. WAV : a digital sound file for windows. MIDI : Musical Instrument Digital Interface. AVI : A video file format for Windows.

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Delivery PlatformsDelivery Platforms Multimedia applications can be delivered on a

number of different platforms. The three most common methods of delivering

multimedia applications are: CD ROM. The Internet or Intranet. DVD technology.

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Internet or IntranetInternet or Intranet The Internet is a revolution in information

dissemination and communication. The Internet provides a method of distributing

multimedia applications across a variety of platforms to a large audience.

The Internet uses the HTML standard. Many companies distribute multimedia training

material internally via an Intranet.

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CD ROMCD ROM CD ROM : Compact Disk Read Only Memory. A CD is capable of storing between 500 and 680

MB of information. A CD ROM uses optical technology and lasers to

read digital information. CD’s are extremely popular, cheap to produce and

easy to distribute.

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DVDDVD DVD : Stands for Digital Video Disk or Digital

versatile Disk. DVD is the first video distribution medium

designed for digital video. The smallest configuration will store 4.7 gigabytes

of data (Approximately 7 times the capacity of a CD).

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DVDDVD Like a CD, data is recorded on the disc in a spiral

trail of tiny pits, and the discs are read using a laser beam.

Larger storage capacity is achieved by making the pits smaller and the spiral tighter, and by recording the data in as many as four layers, two on each side of the disc.

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Software DriversSoftware Drivers Software drivers are used to control specific

hardware functions. There are a variety of software drivers for video

cards, video and sound capture, scanners and miscellaneous I/O devices.

Software drivers work in conjunction with the operating system to provide a set of standardised functions. (Eg. Record audio).

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ReferencesReferences Multimedia, Technology and Applications (Ch.

3)