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Understanding Multimedia M ultimedia is a term you hear quite often in relation to computer and software sales. The Internet, television sets, and even home automation designs spout forth acclamations of the great multi- media technologies you can own. Understanding what multimedia encompasses makes it easier to purchase the equipment you need. Understanding Multimedia Multimedia is extremely popular with more advanced sound, video, and DVD technologies on the market. In the not-too-distant past, all you needed to make a “multimedia” computer was a sound card and a CD-ROM drive. Today, the marketplace is overflowing with multi- media hardware and software. The term multimedia includes any applications with sound and video enhancements. Some applications that take advantage of multimedia features include movies, music programs, educational software, and games. In order to use and enjoy DVDs, video animations, movies, and other multimedia, you need special cards and adapters in your computer. A multimedia network is one that shares text, print, graphics, audio, digital, and full-motion data over a high-speed connection. In the home, you can create a multimedia network and share family photos, create your own music CDs, make videos of family and friends, make DVDs — and share them on the network. And your kids can play mul- timedia network games, both on the network and online. Multimedia applications use video and audio features. Because of these elements, time relationships can be a problem when the audio or video gets out of synchronization. Multimedia data must adhere strictly to the boundaries on delay and delay variation. The elements of the video sequence must be delivered across the network in strict order to avoid jerkiness and flicker, and delivery must be constant. Video streams require large bandwidth that can be sustained for a length of time. It’s important to remember that whether you’re using multimedia on a standalone computer or over a network, you need computers with enough power to supply the needs of multimedia applications. Multimedia often requires that computers use special hardware as well. In addition, multimedia causes your network traffic to increase 25 25 C H A P T E R ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ In This Chapter Understanding multimedia Looking at multimedia hardware Considering digital cameras and scanners Looking at multimedia applications Using online and multiplayer games Managing multimedia in Windows Using your TV with the Web ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦