SCS404: MULTIMEDIA SYSTEMS

MULTIMEDIA DEFINITION

Introduction:

• Multimedia means that computer information can be represented through audio, video,
and animation in addition to traditional media (i.e., text, graphics, drawings, images).
• Multimedia is the field concerned with the computer-controlled integration of text,
graphics, drawings, still and moving images (Video), animation, audio, and any other
media where every type of information can be represented, stored, transmitted and
processed digitally.
• The Computer, communication and broadcasting fields widely used Multimedia.

What is a Multimedia System:

• A Multimedia System is an Application which uses a collection of multiple media

MULTIMEDIA HARDWARE

• Most of the computers now-a-days are equipped with the hardware components required
to develop/view multimedia applications.
• Multimedia related hardware includes video and audio equipment required at multimedia
production and presentation. These equipment’s can be divided into:
a. Image and video capturing equipment
b. Image and video storage equipment
c. Image and Video output equipment
d. Audio equipment
a. Image and video capturing equipment’s: Still camera, video camera, scanners and

video recorders

• Still Camera/Digital Camera - Digital camera is an input device to input images that
is then stored in digital form.
 • Digital Video Camera - Digital Video camera is an input device to input
images/video that is then stored in digital form. The normal consumer cameras use
single image sensor chip ,whose output has to be multiplexed to produce three colors
red, green, blue. The three sensor camera has a separate chip for each color. The three
sensor camera is used there are various stages of generation of the video and audio
signals (in fig)
The RGB output produces more than 400 lines per frame. The RGB system produce
three output signals: S-video, Composite video and RF output.
o S-video-high quality, used at Y/C stage, it combines luminance and
chrominance of color, resolution 400 lines per frame.
o composite video–a single signal contains the complete picture information,
while the audio is represented by a separate signal. resolution 200 lines per
frame.
o RF output- lowest quality ,not used for multimedia, combines both audio and
video signals.
• Scanner - Scanner is an input device, which works more like a photocopy machine. It
is used when some information is available on a paper and it is to be transferred to the
hard disc of the computer for further manipulation. Scanner captures images from the
source which are then converted into the digital form that can be stored on the disc.
These images can be edited before they are printed.
• Video Tape/Cassette Recorders (VTR ,VCR) is a tape recorder designed to record
and play back video and audio material on magnetic tape. They were used in
television studios, serving as a replacement for motion picture film stock and making
recording for television applications cheaper and quicker. the machines which play
them are called video cassette recorders. Formet of video BETA,VHS, VIDEO, PAL,
SECAM, NTSC.
b. Image, audio and video storage equipment: Storage Devices, laser discs, video tapes,
optical discs
• Memory and Storage Devices - we need memory for storing various files, audio and
video clips, edited images.
 o Primary Memory- Primary memory holds only those data and instructions on
which computer is currently working. It has limited capacity and data gets lost
when power is switched off. The data and instructions required to be
processed earlier reside in main memory. It is divided into two subcategories
RAM and ROM
• Flash Memory- Cache memory is a very high speed semiconductor memory, which
can speed up CPU. It acts as a buffer between the CPU and main memory. It is used
to hold those parts of data and program which are most frequently used by CPU.
• Secondary Memory: This type of memory is also known as external memory or non
volatile. It is slower than main memory. These are used for storing Data/Information
permanently. CPU directly does not access these memories; instead they are accessed
via input-output routines. Contents of secondary memories are first transferred to
main memory and then CPU can access it. For example, laser discs, video tapes,
optical discs(CD-ROM, DVD), etc.
• Laser Discs, Laser Disc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical
disc storage medium,
• Optical Discs An optical disc is an electronic data storage medium that can be written
to and read from using a low-powered laser beam. Originally developed in the late
1960s, the first optical disc, created by James T. Russell, stored data as micron-wide
dots of light and dark.
CD-ROM Standards: CD-I(CD Interactive), CD DA(CD Digital Audio),CD-ROM
XA(CD-ROM Extended Architecture),CD-MO(magneto Optic),CD-WO(CD Write
Once),CD-R(CD-Recordable),CD-Bridge, photo CD, video CD.
c. Image and Video Output Equipment: Interactive display devices, projectors, printers
• TV,Monitors - Monitor commonly called as Visual Display Unit (VDU) is the main
output device. There are two kinds of viewing screen used for monitors:
o Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT) Monitor- In the CRT, display is made up of small
picture elements called pixels for short.The screen can be divided into a series
of character boxes
o Flat-Panel Display Monitor- The flat-panel display refers to a class of video
devices that have reduced volume, weight and power requirement compared
 to the CRT. You can hang them on walls or wear them on your wrists. Current
uses for flat-panel displays include calculators, video games, monitors, laptop
computer, graphics display. The flat-panel displays are divided into two
categories:
✓ Emissive Displays- The emissive displays are devices that convert
electrical energy into light. Examples are plasma panel and LED
(Light Emitting Diodes).
✓ Non-Emissive Displays- The Non-emissive displays use optical
effects to convert sunlight or light from other source some into
graphics patterns. Example is LCD (Liquid Crystal Device)
• Screen Image Projector - Screen image projector or simply projector is an output
device used to project information from a computer on a large screen so that a group
of people can see it simultaneously. A presenter first makes a PowerPoint presentation
on the computer. Now a screen image projector is plugged to a computer system and
presenter can make a presentation to a group of people by projecting the information
on a large screen. Projector makes the presentation more understandable
• Printers - Printer is the most important output device, which is used to print
information on paper.
o Dot Matrix Printer- In the market, one of the most popular printers is Dot
Matrix Printer because of their ease of printing features and economical price.
Each character printed is in form of pattern of Dot's and head consists of a
Matrix of Pins of size (5*7, 7*9, 9*7 or 9*9) which comes out to form a
character that is why it is called Dot Matrix Printer.
o Daisy Wheel- Head is lying on a wheel and Pins corresponding to characters
are like petals of Daisy (flower name) that is why it is called Daisy Wheel
Printer. These printers are generally used for word-processing in offices which
require a few letters to be send here and there with very nice quality
representation.
o Line Printers- Line printers are printers, which print one line at a time.
o Laser Printers- These are non-impact page printers. They use laser lights to
produce the dots needed to form the characters to be printed on a page.
 o Inkjet Printers- Inkjet printers are non-impact character printers based on a
relatively new technology. They print characters by spraying small drops of
ink onto paper. Inkjet printers produce high quality output with presentable
features. They make less noise because no hammering is done and these have
many styles of printing modes available. Colour printing is also possible.
Some models of Inkjet printers can produce multiple copies of printing also.
d. Audio equipment : Microphone, Audio Tape Recorder, Head Phone, Speakers
• Microphone- Microphone is an input device to input sound that is then stored in
digital form. The microphone is used for various applications like adding sound to a
multimedia presentation or for mixing music
• Headphones (or head-phones in the early days of telephony and radio) traditionally
refer to a pair of small loudspeaker drivers worn on or around the head over a user's
ears. They are electroacoustic transducers, which convert an electrical signal to a
corresponding sound.
• Speaker and Sound Card - Speaker is an output device to produce sound which is
stored in digital form. The speaker is used for various applications like adding sound
to multimedia presentation or for movies displays etc. Computers need both a sound
card and speakers to hear audio, such as music, speech and sound effects. Most
motherboards provide an on-board sound card. This built-in sound card is fine for the
most purposes. The basic functions of a sound card are that it converts digital sound
signals to analog for speakers making it louder or softer.

MULTIMEDIA SOFTWARE

• Multimedia software tells the hardware to display the color blue, play the sound of
cymbals crashing etc.
• To produce these media elements(movies, sound, text, animation, graphics etc.) there are
various software available in the market such as Paint Brush, Photo Finish, Animator,
Photo Shop, 3D Studio, Corel Draw, Sound Blaster, IMAGINET, Apple Hyper Card,
Photo Magic, Picture Publisher.
a. Multimedia Software Categories
• Device Driver Software- These software’s are used to install and configure the
multimedia peripherals.
o Media Players- Media players are applications that can play one or more kind
of multimedia file format.
o Media Conversion Tools- These tools are used for encoding / decoding
multimedia contexts and for converting one file format to another.
o Multimedia Editing Tools- These tools are used for creating and editing
digital multimedia data.
o Multimedia Authoring Tools- These tools are used for combing different
kinds of media formats and deliver them as multimedia contents.
• Graphic and Image Editing Software
Some of us may already be familiar with a certain image editing software if we have
edited our own digital photo albums before. With graphics software programs we now
can manipulate our digital images through resizing, cropping, enhancing, or transforming
them. Examples of the more popular commercial ones are Adobe Photoshop, Paint Shop
Pro, Visualizer, Photo Studio, and Corel Photo-Paint. Adobe Photoshop is claimed by
Adobe Systems as the industry standard for graphics professionals.
The following list indicates what image editing tools such as Photoshop can do:
o Merge images;
o Alter image size;
o Crop image;
o Adjust colors;
o Remove unwanted elements;
o Orientate image (change direction);
o Sharpen and soften image;
o Contrast change and brighten image;
o Add text onto image.
b. Audio and Sound Editing Software
In the 90s the only popular audio wave file editor was the Sound Designer. Today, the
most popular audio editing programs are Sony Sound Forge, Audacity and Adobe
Audition. Sony Sound Forge (known formerly as Sonic Foundry Sound Forge) is a digital
 audio editing software for the professional as well as amateur or nonTOPIC professional
user. Sound Forge lets us create a stunning audio clip with various sound effects such as
fading, echo, etc. from raw audio files.
c. Video Editing Software
• Digital video brings the power to our multimedia presentation or project. With video
editing software, we can create our own original and unique movies for our personal or
business purposes. Examples of video editor software that we may choose from are Avid's
Media Composer and Xpress Pro, Apple's Final Cut Pro and Adobe's Premiere.
• Creating a video is always a complex, expensive and time-consuming task.However with
user friendly video editing software, we can become a semi-pro film producer. We can
fully utilize the software re-arranging or modifying segments of our raw video to form
another piece of video.
• To use a video editing tool such as Adobe Premier we first arrange our video clips (or
„footages‰) on a timeline. Then we can apply the built-in special effects for our movie
production. However we have to be careful because video editing involves dual tracks of
audio and video. Therefore we need to make sure that the audio and video are
synchronised.For the final package we can opt to distribute it using a CD-ROM or DVD.
If we wish to distribute it online we can use streaming technology or the program
QuickTime.
d. Animation Authoring software
As more and more Flash movies are created, delivered, and viewed by over millions of
Internet users. We can use Flash to create simple animation, advertisements, or even
online banners for our personal homepage or web log (blog). We can even embed or
integrate flash video into our web pages.
Various Flash file formats include standalone Flash Player (in .SWF or .EXE format) or
flash video (.FLV). Adobe Flash has the capability to create online content such as web
applications, games and movies.
Recent development shows that TV animation production studios such as Warner Bros.
and Cartoon Network have started to produce industry-standardanimation using Flash as
well.
MULTIMEDIA APPLICATION

Multimedia applications can be subdivided into different categories, each making particular
demands for support on the operating system or runtime environment. Three application
categories:

• Information Systems. The main purpose of such systems is to provide information for
one or several users. The requested information is typically stored in databases or media
archives. Examples are electronic publishing, online galleries or weather information
systems.
• Remote Representation. By means of a remote representation system a user can take
part in or monitor events at a remote location. Important examples are distance
conferencing or lecturing, virtual reality, or remote robotic agents.
• Entertainment. This major application area of multimedia technology is strongly
oriented towards audio and video data. Example entertainment applications are digital
television, video on demand, distributed games or interactive television.

User interaction possibilities are a more technical classification are into two

• Interactive Services. Interactive services permit the user to select the transmitted
information. These services can be be further subdivided into:
o Conversational Services. Services with real-time demands and no relevant
buffering, like video conferencing or video surveillance.
o Messaging Services. Services with temporary storing, like multimedia mail.
o Retrieval Services. Information services interactively presenting previously
stored information from a database or media collection, for example tele
shopping or hospital information systems.
• Distribution Services. Distribution services transmit information from a central
source to a potentially unknown set of receivers. There are two subcategories that
differ in the control possibilities granted the users:
o Services without User Control. Services characterised by having one central
sender that broadcasts information to all participating users, for example
digital television broadcasting.
o Services with User Control. Services allowing the user to choose from the
distributed information.