Multimedia Systems (ITec3121) Wollega University, Department of IT

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION TO MULTIMEDIA SYSTEMS

1.1. What is Multimedia?

It can be defined from two perspectives:

1) In terms of what multimedia is all about?

It refers to the storage, transmission, interchange, presentation and perception of different

information types (data types) such as text, graphics, voice, audio and video where:

Storage – refers to the type of physical means to store data.

 Magnetic tape
 Hard disk
 Optical disk
 DVDs
 CD-ROMs, etc.

Presentation – refers to the type of physical means to reproduce information to the user.

 Speakers
 Video windows, etc.

Representation – related to how information is described in an abstract form for use

within an electronic system. E.g. to present text to the user, the text can be coded in raster
graphics, primitive graphics, or simple ASCII characters; i.e., the same presentation,
different representation.

Perception – describes the nature of information as perceived by the user.

 Speech
 Music
 Film

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Multimedia Systems (ITec3121) Wollega University, Department of IT

2) Based on the word "Multimedia":

It is composed of two words:

Multi – multiple/many

Media – source

 Source refers to different kind of information that we use in multimedia.

This includes:

 text
 graphics
 audio
 video
 images

From this perspective, multimedia refers to:

 Multiple sources of information and it is a system which integrates all the above
types.
 Computer information that can be represented in audio, video and animated
format in addition to traditional format. The traditional formats are text and
graphics.

The general and working definition of multimedia is:

Multimedia is the field concerned with the computer controlled integration of text,
graphics, drawings, still and moving images (video), animation, and any other media
where every type of information can be represented, stored, transmitted, and processed
digitally.

What is Multimedia System?

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Multimedia Systems (ITec3121) Wollega University, Department of IT

A multimedia system is a system capable of processing multimedia data which is

characterized by the processing, storage, generation, manipulation and rendition of
multimedia information.

Characteristics of Multimedia System

A Multimedia system has four basic characteristics:

 Multimedia systems must be computer controlled.

 Multimedia systems are integrated.
 The information they handle must be represented digitally.
 The interface to the final presentation of media is usually interactive.

What is Multimedia Application?

A multimedia application is an application which uses a collection of multiple media

sources, e.g., text, graphics, images, sound/audio, animation and/or video.

The followings are list of where multimedia is applied:

 Digital video editing and production systems

 Home shopping
 Interactive movies, and TV
 Multimedia courseware
 Video conferencing
 Virtual reality(the creation of artificial environment that you can explore, e.g. 3-D
images, etc)
 Distributed lectures for higher education
 Tele-medicine
 Digital libraries
 World Wide Web
 On-line reference works e.g. encyclopedias, games, etc.
 Electronic Newspapers/Magazines
 Games
 Groupware (enabling groups of people to collaborate on projects and share
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Multimedia Systems (ITec3121) Wollega University, Department of IT

1.2. World Wide Web (WWW) and Multimedia

Multimedia is closely tied to the World Wide Web (WWW). Without networks,
multimedia is limited to simply displaying images, videos, and sounds on your local
machine. The true power of multimedia is the ability to deliver this rich content to a large
audience.

Features of Multimedia

Multimedia has three aspects:

1. Content: movie, production, etc.

2. Creative Design: creativity is important in designing the presentation.
3. Enabling Technologies: Network and software tools that allow creative designs
to be presented.
1.3. History of Multimedia System

Newspaper was perhaps the first mass communication medium, which used mostly text,
graphics, and images. In 1895, Gugliemo Marconi sent his first wireless radio
transmission at Pontecchio, Italy. A few years later (in 1901), he detected radio waves
beamed across the Atlantic. Initially invented for telegraph, radio is now a major medium
for audio broadcasting. Television was the new media for the 20th century. It brings the
video and has since changed the world of mass communications.

On computers, the following are some of the important events:

 1945 - Vannevar Bush (1890-1974) wrote about Memex. MEMEX stands for
MEMory Extension and it amounts to hypermedia system. A Memex is a device in
which an individual stores all his books, records, and communications, and which is
mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility. It is an
enlarged intimate supplement to his memory.
 1960s-Ted Nelson started Xanadu project (Xanadu – a kind of deep Hypertext).
Project Xanadu was the explicit inspiration for the World Wide Web, for Lotus
Notes and for HyperCard, as well as less-well-known systems.

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Multimedia Systems (ITec3121) Wollega University, Department of IT

 1967 - Nicholas Negroponte formed the Architecture Machine Group at MIT. A

combination lab and think tank responsible for many radically new approaches to the
human computer interface. Nicholas Negroponte is the Wiesner Professor of Media
Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
 1968 - Douglas Engelbart demonstrated NLS (Online Systems) system at SRI.
Shared-screen collaboration involving two persons at different sites communicating
over a network with audio and video interface is one of the many innovations
presented at the demonstration.
 1969 - Nelson & Van Dam hypertext editor at Brown University
 1976 - Architecture Machine Group proposal to DARPA: Multiple Media
 1985 - Negroponte, and Wiesner opened MIT Media Lab, a leading research
institution investigating digital video and multimedia
 1989 - Tim Berners-Lee proposed the World Wide Web to CERN (European
Council for Nuclear Research)
 1990 - K. Hooper Woolsey, Apple Multimedia Lab gave education to 100 people
 1991 – MPEG-1 was approved as an international standard for digital video. Its
further development led newer standards MPEG-2 and MPEG-4.
 1992- JPEG was accepted as the international standard for digital image
compression.
 1992 - The first M-Bone audio multicast on the net (MBONE- Multicast Backbone)
 1993 – U. Illinois National Center for Supercomputing Applications introduced
NCSA Mosaic (a web browser)
 1994 - Jim Clark and Marc Andersen introduced Netscape Navigator (web browser)
 1995 - Java for platform-independent application development.
 1996 – DVD video was introduced; high quality, full-length movies were distributed
on a single disk. The DVD format promised to transform the music, gaming and
computer industries.
 1998 – hand-held mp3 devices first made into the consumer market
 2000 – WWW size was estimated at over 1 billion pages

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Multimedia Systems (ITec3121) Wollega University, Department of IT

1.4. Hypermedia/Multimedia

What is Hypertext and Hypermedia?

Hypertext

 Hypertext is a text, which contains links to other texts.

 The term was invented by Ted Nelson around 1965. Hypertext is usually non-
linear (as indicated below).

Hypermedia

 Hypermedia is not constrained to be text-based. It can include other media, e.g.,

graphics, images, and especially the continuous media -- sound and video.
 Apparently, Ted Nelson was also the first to use this term.
 The World Wide Web (www) is the best example of hypermedia applications.
 Hypermedia is the application of hypertext principles to a wider variety of media,
including audio, animations, video, and images.

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Multimedia Systems (ITec3121) Wollega University, Department of IT

Examples of Hypermedia Applications:

 The World Wide Web (WWW) is the best example of hyper-media applications.
 PowerPoint
 Adobe Acrobat
 Macromedia Director

Desirable Features of Multimedia System

The following features are desirable for a multimedia system:

1. Very high processing speed (processing power): Why? Because, there are large data
to be processed. Multimedia systems deals with large data and to process data in real
time, the hardware should have high processing capacity.
2. It should support different file formats: Why? Because we deal with different data
types (media types).
3. Efficient and High Input-output: input and output to the file subsystem needs to be
efficient and fast. It has to allow for real-time recording as well as playback of data.
e.g. Direct to Disk recording systems.
4. Special Operating System: to allow access to file system and process data efficiently
and quickly. It has to support direct transfers to disk, real-time scheduling, fast
interrupt processing, I/O streaming, etc.

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Multimedia Systems (ITec3121) Wollega University, Department of IT

5. Storage and Memory: large storage units and large memory are required. Large
Caches are also required.
6. Network Support: Client-server systems common as distributed systems common.
7. Software Tools: User-friendly tools needed to handle media, design and develop

Challenges of Multimedia System

a) Synchronization issue: Since variety of media is used at the same instance, there
should be some relationship between the media, e.g. between movie (video) and
sound.
b) Data conversion: Since data is represented digitally, we have to convert analog data
into digital data.
c) Compression and decompression: Why? Because multimedia deals with large
amount of data (e.g. Movie, sound, etc) which takes a lot of storage space.
d) Render different data at same time — continuous data.

Multimedia Information Flow

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Multimedia Systems (ITec3121) Wollega University, Department of IT

CHAPTER TWO

MULTIMEDIA AUTHORING TOOLS

2.1. What is Authoring System?

Authoring is the process of creating multimedia applications.

An authoring system is a program which has pre-programmed elements for the

development of interactive multimedia presentations.

Authoring tools provide an integrated environment for binding together the different
elements of a multimedia production.

Multimedia authoring tools provide tools for making a complete multimedia presentation
where users usually have a lot of interactive controls.

Multimedia presentations can be created using:

 simple presentation packages such as PowerPoint

 powerful RAD tools such as Delphi, .Net, JBuilder;
 True authoring environments, which lie somewhere in between in terms of
technical complexity.

Authoring systems vary widely in:

 Orientation
 Capabilities, and
 Learning curve: how easy it is to learn how to use the application

Why should we use an authoring system? Because,

 Can speed up programming i.e. content development and delivery.

 Time gains i.e. accelerated prototyping.
 The content creation (graphics, text, video, audio, animation) is not affected by
choice of authoring system.

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Multimedia Systems (ITec3121) Wollega University, Department of IT

Authoring vs. Programming

There is a big distinction between authoring and programming as described in the

following table:

Characteristics of Authoring Tools

A good authoring tool should be able to:

 Integrate text, graphics, video, and audio to create a single multimedia

presentation.
 Control interactivity by the use of menus, buttons, hotspots, hot objects, etc.
 Publish as a presentation or a self-running executable on CD/DVD, Intranet, and
WWW.
 Be extended through the use of pre-built or externally supplied components, plug-
ins, etc.
 Allow to create highly efficient, integrated workflow.
 Have a large user base.
2.2. Selecting Authoring Tools

Some of the features that we have to take into consideration when selecting authoring
tools are:

1) Editing Feature – editing feature for multimedia data especially image and text are
often included in authoring tools. The more editors in your authoring system, the less
specialized editing tools you need. The editors that come with authoring tools offer
only subset of features found in dedicated in editing tool. If you need more capability,

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Multimedia Systems (ITec3121) Wollega University, Department of IT

still you have to go to dedicated editing tools (e.g. sound editing tools for sound
editing).
2) Organizing feature – the organization of media in your project involves navigation
diagrams, or flow charts, etc. Some authoring tools provide a visual flowcharting
facility. Such features help you for organizing the project. E.g. Icon Author and
Author Ware use flowcharting and navigation diagram method to organize media.
3) Programming feature – there are different types of programming approach:
3.1 Visual programming: this is programming using cues, icons, and objects. It is done
using drag and drop. To include sound in our project, we drag and drop it in stage.

Advantage: the simplest and easiest authoring process. It is particularly useful for slide
show and presentation.

3.2 Programming with scripting language: Some authoring tool provide very high level
scripting language and interpreted scripting environment. This helps for navigation
control and enabling user input.
3.3 Programming with traditional language such as Basic or C. Some authoring tools
provide traditional programming tools like program written in C. We can call these
programs to authoring tools. Some authoring tools allow calling DLL (Dynamic
Link Library).
3.4 Document development tools
4) Interactivity feature – interactivity offers to the end user of the project to control the
content and flow of information. Some of interactivity levels are:
i) Simple branching: enables the user to go to any location in the presentation using key
press, mouse click, etc.
ii) Conditional branching: branching based on if-then decisions
iii) Structured branching: support complex programming logic such as nested if-then
subroutines.
5) Performance-tuning features – accomplishing synchronization of multimedia is
sometimes difficult because performance varies with different computers. In such
cases we need to use authoring tools own scripting language to specify time and
sequence on system.

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Multimedia Systems (ITec3121) Wollega University, Department of IT

6) Playback feature – easy testing of the project. Testing enables us to debug the system
and find out how the user interacts with it. We don’t waste time in assembling and
testing the project.
7) Delivery feature – delivering our project needs building runtime version of the
project using authoring tools.
2.3. Multimedia System Requirement
A. Software Requirement
B. Hardware Requirement
A. Software Requirement

1. 3D Modeling and Animation Tools:

This software provide 3D clip art object such as people, furniture, building, car, airplane,
tree, etc. We can use these objects in our project easily.

A good 3D modeling tool should include the following features:

 Ability to drag and drop primitive shape into screen.

 Ability to create objects from scratch.
 Ability to add realistic effects such as transparency, shadowing, fog, etc.
 Multiple windows that allow user to view model in each dimension.

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Multimedia Systems (ITec3121) Wollega University, Department of IT

 Color and texture mapping.

Examples:

 3Ds Max
 Maya
 Logo motion
 Softimage
2. Text Editing and Word Processing Tools:

Word processors are used for writing letters, invoices, project content, etc. They include
features like:

 spell check
 table formatting
 thesaurus
 templates ( e.g. letters, resumes, & other common documents)

Examples:

 Microsoft Word,
 Word perfect,
 Open Office Word
 Notepad

In word processors, we can actually embed multimedia elements such as sound, image,
and video.

3. Sound Editing Tools:

They are used to edit sound (music, speech, etc). The user can see the representation of
sound in fine increment, score or wave form. User can cut, copy, and paste any portion of
the sound to edit it. We can also add other effects such as distort, echo, pitch, etc.

Examples:
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Multimedia Systems (ITec3121) Wollega University, Department of IT

 Sound Forge
 Audacity
 Cool Edit
4. Multimedia Authoring Tools:

Multimedia authoring tools provide important framework that is needed for organizing
and editing objects included in the multimedia project (e.g. graphics, animation, sound,
video, etc). They provide editing capability to limited extent.

Examples:

 Macromedia Flash
 Macromedia Director
 Macromedia Authoware
5. OCR Software:

This software convert printed document into electronically recognizable ASCII character.
It is used with scanners. Scanners convert printed document into bitmap. Then, it can
break the bitmap into pieces according to whether it contains text or graphics. This is
done by examining the texture and density of the bitmap and by detecting edges. That is,

Text area  ASCII text

Bitmap area bitmap image

To do the above process, this software uses probability and expert system.

Uses of OCR Software:

 To include printed documents into our project without typing from keyboard.
 To include documents in their original format, e.g. signatures, drawings, etc.

Examples:

 Omni Page Pro

 Perceive
 IRIS
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Multimedia Systems (ITec3121) Wollega University, Department of IT

6. Painting and Drawing Tools:

To create graphics for web and other purposes, painting and editing tools are crucial.

Painting Tools – are also called image-editing tools. They are used to edit images of
different format. They help us to retouch and enhance bitmap images. Some painting
tools allow to edit vector based graphics too.

Some of the activities of editing include:

 Blurring the picture.

 Removing part of the picture.
 Adding texts to picture.
 Merging two or more pictures together, etc.

Examples:

 Macromedia Fireworks
 Adobe Photoshop

Drawing Tools – used to create vector based graphics.

Examples:

 Macromedia Freehand
 CorelDraw
 Adobe Illustrator

Drawing and painting tools should have the following features:

 Scalable dimension for restore, stretch, and distorting images/graphics.

 Customizable pen and brush shapes and sizes.
 Multiple undo capabilities.
 Capacity to import and export files in different formats.
 Ability to create geometric shapes from circle, rectangle, line, etc.
 Zooming for magnified image editing.
 Support for third party plug-ins.

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Multimedia Systems (ITec3121) Wollega University, Department of IT

7. Video Editing

Animation and digital video movie are sequence of bitmapped graphic frames rapidly
played back. Some of the tools to edit video include:

 Adobe premier
 Adobe After Effects
 Desk share Video Edit Magic
 Video shop

These applications display time references (relationship between time & the video),
frame counts, audio, transparency level, etc.

B. Hardware Requirement

Three groups of hardware for multimedia:

1) Memory and storage devices

2) Input and output devices
3) Network devices
1) Memory and Storage Devices

Multimedia products require high storage capacity than text-based data. Huge drives are
essential for the enormous files used in multimedia and audiovisual creation.

I. RAM – is the primary requirement for multimedia system. Why? Because,

 We have to store authoring software itself. E.g. Flash takes 20MB of memory,
Photoshop 16-20MB, etc.
 Digitized audio and video is stored in memory.
 Animated files, etc.

To store this at the same time, we need large amount of memory.

II. Storage Devices – Large capacity storage devices are necessary to store multimedia
data. These are:

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Multimedia Systems (ITec3121) Wollega University, Department of IT

Floppy Disk: not sufficient to store multimedia data. Because of this, they are not used to
store multimedia data.

Hard Disk: the capacity of hard disk should be high to store large data.

CD: is important for multimedia because they are used to deliver multimedia data to
users. A wide variety of data like:

 Music(sound, & video)

 Multimedia Games
 Educational materials
 Tutorials that include multimedia
 Utility graphics, etc

DVD: have high capacity than CDs. Similarly, they are also used to distribute multimedia
data to users. Some of the characteristics of DVD:

 High storage capacity 4.7-17GB

 Use narrow tracks than CDshigh storage capacity
 High data transfer rate
2) Input-Output Devices
I. Interacting with the system:

To interact with multimedia system, we use keyboard, mouse, track ball, or touch screen,
etc.

Mouse – Multimedia project is typically designed to be used with mouse as an input

pointing device. Other devices like track ball and touch screen could be used in place of
mouse. Track ball is similar with mouse in many ways.

Wireless mouse – It is important when the presenter has to move around during
presentation.

Touch Screen – We use fingers instead of mouse to interact with touch screen
computers.

There are three technologies used in touch screens:

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Multimedia Systems (ITec3121) Wollega University, Department of IT

o Infrared light: such touch screens use invisible infrared light that are projected
across the surface of screen. A finger touching the screen interrupts the beams
generating electronic signal. Then it identifies the x-y coordinate of the screen
where the touch occurred and sends signals to the operating system for processing.
o Texture-coated: such monitors are coated with texture material that is sensitive
towards pressure. When user presses the monitor, the texture material on the
monitor extracts the x-y coordinate of the location and send signals to operating
system
o Touch mate

Application areas of touch screen: Touch screens are used to display/provide information
in public areas such as:

 Air ports
 Museums
 Transport service areas
 Hotels, etc

These touch screens are:

 user friendly
 easy to use even for non technical people
 easy to learn how to use
II. Information Entry Devices:

The purpose of these devices is to enter information to be included in our multimedia

project into our computer.

Graphical Tablets/ Digitizer – Both are used to convert points, lines, and curves from
sketch into digital format. They use a movable device called stylus.

Scanners – They enable us to use OCR software convert printed document into ASCII
file.

It also enables us to convert printed images into digital format.

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Multimedia Systems (ITec3121) Wollega University, Department of IT

Two types of scanners:

 flat bed scanners

 portable scanners

Microphones – They are important because they enable us to record speech, music, etc.
The microphone is designed to pick up and amplify incoming acoustic waves or
harmonics precisely and correctly and convert them to electrical signals. We have to
purchase a superior, high-quality microphone because our recordings will depend on its
quality.

Digital Camera and Video Camera Record (VCR) – are important to record and include
image and video in multimedia system respectively. Digital video cameras store images
as digital data, and they do not record on film. We can edit the video taken using video
camera and VCR using video editing tools.

Remark: video takes large memory space.

III. Output Devices:

Depending on the content of the project and how the information is presented, we need
different output devices. Some of the output devices are:

Speaker – If our project includes speeches that are meant to convey message to audience,
or background music, using speaker is obligatory.

Projector – It is used

 If we are presenting on meeting or group discussion.

 If we are presenting to large number of audience.

Types of projector:

 LCD projector
 CRT projector

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Multimedia Systems (ITec3121) Wollega University, Department of IT

Plotter/Printer – When the situation arises to present using papers, we use printers and/or
plotters. In such cases, print quality of the device should be taken into consideration.

 Impact printers: not good quality graphics/poor qualitynot used.

 Non-impact printers: good quality graphics.
3) Network Devices

The following network devices are required for multimedia presentation:

i) Modem: It stands for modulator demodulator, and it is used to convert digital signal
into analog signal for communication of the data over telephone line which can carry
only analog signal. At the receiving end, it does the reverse action, i.e., converts
analog to digital data.

Currently, the standard modem is called v.90 which has the speed of 56 kbps. Older
standards include v.34 which has the speed of 28 kbps.

Types of modem:

 External
 Internal

Data is transferred through modem in compressed format to save time and cost.

ii) ISDN: stands for Integrated Services Digital Network. It is circuit switched telephone
network system designed to allow digital transmission of voice and data over ordinary
telephone copper wires. This has the advantage of better quality and higher speeds
than available with analog systems.
 It has higher transmission speed, i.e., faster data transfer rate.
 They use additional hardware hence they are more expensive

Data is transferred through modem in compressed format to save time and cost.

iii) Cable modem: uses existing cables stretched for television broadcast reception. The
data transfer rate of such devices is very fast, i.e., they provide high bandwidth. They

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Multimedia Systems (ITec3121) Wollega University, Department of IT

are primarily used to deliver broadband internet access taking advantage of unused
bandwidth on a cable television network.
iv) DSL: provide digital data transmission over the telephone wires of local telephone
network. The speed of DSL is faster than using telephone line with modem. How?
They carry a digital signal over the unused frequency spectrum (analog voice
transmission uses limited range of spectrum) available on the twisted pair cables
running between the telephone company's central office and the customer premises.

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Multimedia Systems (ITec3121) Wollega University, Department of IT

CHAPTER THREE

DATA REPRESENTATIONS

3.1. Graphic/Image Data Representation

An image could be described as two-dimensional array of points where every point is

allocated its own color. Every such single point is called pixel, short form of picture
element. Image is a collection of these points that are colored in such a way that they
produce meaningful information/data.

Pixel (picture element) contains the color or hue and relative brightness of that point in
the image. The number of pixels in the image determines the resolution of the image.

 A digital image consists of many picture elements, called pixels.

 The number of pixels determines the quality of the imageimage resolution.
 Higher resolution always yields better quality.
 Bitmap resolution: most graphics applications allow creating bitmaps up to 300
dots per inch (dpi). Such high resolution is useful for print media, but on the
screen most of the information is lost since monitors usually display around 72 to
96 dpi.
 A bit-map representation stores the graphic/image data in the same manner that
the computer monitor contents are stored in video memory.
 Most graphic/image formats incorporate compression because of the large size of
the data.

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Multimedia Systems (ITec3121) Wollega University, Department of IT

Types of Images

There are two basic forms of computer graphics: bit-maps and vector graphics.

The kind we use determines the tools we choose. Bitmap formats are the ones used for
digital photographs. Vector formats are used only for line drawings.

1) Bit-map images (also called Raster Graphics)

They are formed from pixels—a matrix of dots with different colors. Bitmap images are
defined by their dimension in pixels as well as by the number of colors they represent.

For example, a 640X480 image contains 640 pixels and 480 pixels in horizontal and
vertical direction respectively. If we enlarge a small area of a bit-mapped image, we can
clearly see the pixels that are used to create it.

Types of Bitmap Images

a) Monochrome/Bit-Map Images
 Each pixel is stored as a single bit (0 or 1).
 The value of the bit indicates whether it is light or dark.
 A 640 x 480 monochrome image requires 37.5 KB of storage.

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Multimedia Systems (ITec3121) Wollega University, Department of IT

 Dithering is often used for displaying monochrome images.

Figure 2: Monochrome bit-map image

b) Gray-scale Images
 Each pixel is usually stored as a byte (value between 0 to 255)
 This value indicates the degree of brightness of that point. This brightness goes
from black to white
 A 640 x 480 grayscale image requires over 300 KB of storage.

Figure 3: Gray-scale bit-map image

c) 8-bit Color Images
 One byte for each pixel.

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Multimedia Systems (ITec3121) Wollega University, Department of IT

 Supports 256 out of the millions possible, acceptable color quality.

 Requires Color Look-Up Tables (LUTs).
 A 640 x 480 8-bit color image requires 307.2 KB of storage (the same as 8-bit
grayscale).
 Examples: GIF

Figure 4: 8-bit color image

d) 24-bit Color Images
 Each pixel is represented by three bytes (e.g., RGB).
 Supports 256 x 256 x 256 possible combined colors (16,777,216).
 A 640 x 480 24-bit color image would require 921.6 KB of storage.
 Most 24-bit images are 32-bit images.
 The extra byte of data for each pixel is used to store an alpha value representing
special effect information.
2) Vector graphics

They are really just a list of graphical objects such as lines, rectangles, ellipses, arcs, or
curves called primitives. Draw programs, also called vector graphics programs, are used
to create and edit these vector graphics. These programs store the primitives as a set of
numerical coordinates and mathematical formulas that specify their shape and position in
the image. This format is widely used by computer-aided design programs to create
detailed engineering and design drawings. It is also used in multimedia when 3D
animation is desired. Draw programs have a number of advantages over paint-type
programs.

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Advantages of vector graphics:

 Precise control over lines and colors.

 Ability to skew and rotate objects to see them from different angles or add
perspective.
 Ability to scale objects to any size to fit the available space. Vector graphics
always print at the best resolution of the printer you use, no matter what size you
make them.
 Color blends and shadings can be easily changed.
 Text can be wrapped around objects.

Image Resolution

Image resolution refers to the spacing of pixels in an image and is measured in pixels per
inch (ppi), sometimes called dots per inch (dpi). The higher the resolution, the more
pixels in the image. A printed image that has a low resolution may look pixelated or
made up of small squares, with jagged edges and without smoothness.

Image size refers to the physical dimensions of an image. Because the number of pixels
in an image is fixed, increasing the size of an image decreases its resolution and
decreasing its size increases its resolution.

3.2. Popular File Formats

Choosing the right file type for our image to save in is of vital importance. If we are, for
example, creating image for web pages, then it should load fast. So such images should
be small size. The other criteria to choose file type is taking into consideration the quality
of the image that is possible using the chosen file type. We should also be concerned
about the portability of the image.

To choose file type:

 Resulting size of the imagelarge file size or small.

 Quality of image possible by the file type.
 Portability of file across different platforms.
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 The most common formats used on internet are the GIF, JPG, and PNG.

Standard System Independent Formats:

GIF

 Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) devised CompuServe, initially for

transmitting graphical images over phone lines via modems.
 Uses the Lempel-Ziv Welch algorithm (a form of Huffman Coding), modified
slightly for image scan line packets (line grouping of pixels).
 Limited to only 8-bit (256) color images, suitable for images with few distinctive
colors (e.g., graphics drawing).
 Supports one-dimensional interlacing (downloading gradually in web browsers.
 Supports animation—multiple pictures per file (animated GIF).
 GIF format has long been the most popular on the Internet, mainly because of its
small size.
 GIFs allow single-bit transparency, which means when we are creating our image,
we can specify one color to be transparent. This allows background colors to
show through the image.

PNG

 Stands for Portable Network Graphics.

 It is intended as a replacement for GIF in the WWW and image editing tools.
 GIF uses LZW compression which is patented by Unisys. All use of GIF may
have to pay royalties to Unisys due to the patent.
 PNG uses unpatented zip technology for compression
 One version of PNG, PNG-8, is similar to the GIF format. It can be saved with a
maximum of 256 colors and supports 1-bit transparency. File sizes when saved in
a capable image editor like FireWorks will be noticeably smaller than the GIF
counterpart, as PNGs save their color data more efficiently.
 PNG-24 is another version of PNG, with 24-bit color support, allowing ranges of
colour to a high color JPG. However, PNG-24 is in no way a replacement format

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for JPG, because it is a loss-less compression format which results in large file
size.
 Provides transparency using alpha value.
 Supports interlacing.
 PNG can be animated through the MNG extension of the format, but browser
support is less for this format.

JPEG/JPG

 A standard for photographic image compression.

 Created by the Joint Photographic Experts Group.
 Intended for encoding and compression of photographs and similar images.
 Takes advantage of limitations in the human vision system to achieve high
rates of compression.
 Uses complex lossy compression which allows user to set the desired level
of quality (compression). A compression setting of about 60% will result in
the optimum balance of quality and file size.
 Though JPGs can be interlaced, they do not support animation and
transparency unlike GIF.

TIFF

 Tagged Image File Format (TIFF), stores many different types of images (e.g.,
monochrome, grayscale, 8-bit & 24-bit RGB, etc.).
 Uses tags, keywords defining the characteristics of the image that is included in
the file. For example, a picture 320 by 240 pixels would include a 'width' tag
followed by the number '320' and a 'depth' tag followed by the number '240'.
 Developed by the Aldus Corp. in the 1980’s and later supported by the Microsoft.
 TIFF is a lossless format (when not utilizing the new JPEG tag which allows for
JPEG compression).
 It does not provide any major advantages over JPEG and is not as user-
controllable.

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Multimedia Systems (ITec3121) Wollega University, Department of IT

 It does not use TIFF for web images. They produce big files, and more
importantly, most web browsers will not display TIFFs.

System Dependent Formats:

Microsoft Windows: BMP

 A system standard graphics file format for Microsoft Windows.

 Used in Many PC Graphics programs.
 It is capable of storing 24-bit bitmap images.

Macintosh: PAINT and PICT

 PAINT was originally used in MacPaint program, initially only for 1-bit
monochrome images.
 PICT is a file format that was developed by Apple Computer in 1984 as
the native format for Macintosh graphics.
 The PICT format is a meta-format that can be used for both bitmap images and
vector images though it was originally used in MacDraw (a vector based
drawing program) for storing structured graphics.
 Still an underlying Mac format (although PDF on OS X).

X-windows: XBM

 Primary graphics format for the X Window system.

 Supports 24-bit color bitmap.
 Many public domain graphic editors, e.g., xv
 Used in X Windows for storing icons, pixmaps, backdrops, etc.
3.3. Digital Audio and MIDI

What is Sound?

Sound is produced by a rapid variation in the average density or pressure of air molecules
above and below the current atmospheric pressure. We perceive sound as these pressure
fluctuations cause our eardrums to vibrate. These usually minute changes in atmospheric

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pressure are referred to as sound pressure and the fluctuations in pressure as sound
waves. Sound waves are produced by a vibrating body, be it a guitar string, loudspeaker
cone or jet engine. The vibrating sound source causes a disturbance to the surrounding air
molecules, causing them bounce off each other with a force proportional to the
disturbance. The back and forth oscillation of pressure produces a sound waves.

Source — Generates Sound

 Air Pressure changes

 Electrical —Microphone produces electric signal
 Acoustic — Direct Pressure Variations

Destination — Receives Sound

 Electrical — Loud Speaker

 Ears — Responds to pressure hear sound

Digitizing Sound

 Microphone produces analog signal

 Computers understands only discrete(digital) entities

This creates a need to convert Analog audio to Digital audio specialized hardware. This is
also known as sampling.

Common Audio Formats

There are two basic types of audio files: the traditional discrete audio file that we can
save to a hard drive or other digital storage medium, and the streaming audio file that we
listen to as it downloads in real time from a network/internet server to our computer.

1. Discrete Audio File Formats

Common discrete audio file formats include WAV, AIF, AU and MP3. A fifth format,
called MIDI is actually not a file format for storing digital audio, but a system of
instructions for creating electronic music.

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i) WAV

The WAV format is the standard audio file format for Microsoft Windows applications,
and is the default file type produced when conducting digital recording within Windows.

It supports a variety of bit resolutions, sample rates, and channels of audio. This format is
very popular upon IBM PC (clone) platforms, and is widely used as a basic format for
saving and modifying digital audio data.

ii) AIF/AIFF

The Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF) is the standard audio format employed by
computers using the Apple Macintosh operating system. Like the WAV format, it
supports a variety of bit resolutions, sample rates, and channels of audio and is widely
used in software programs used to create and modify digital audio.

iii) AU

The AU file format is a compressed audio file format developed by Sun Microsystems
and popular in the Unix world. It is also the standard audio file format for the Java
programming language. Only supports 8-bit depth thus cannot provide CD-quality sound.

iv) MP3

MP3 stands for Motion Picture Experts Group, Audio Layer 3 Compression. MP3 files
provide near-CD-quality sound but are only about 1/10th as large as a standard audio CD
file. Because MP3 files are small, they can easily be transferred across the Internet and
played on any multimedia computer with MP3 player software.

v) MIDI

MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is not a file format for storing or
transmitting recorded sounds, but rather a set of instructions used to play electronic music
on devices such as synthesizers. MIDI files are very small compared to recorded audio
file formats. However, the quality and range of MIDI tones is limited.

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Multimedia Systems (ITec3121) Wollega University, Department of IT

Definition of MIDI:

MIDI is a protocol that enables computer, synthesizers, keyboards, and other musical
device to communicate with each other. This protocol is a language that allows
interworking between instruments from different manufacturers by providing a link that
is capable of transmitting and receiving digital data. MIDI transmits only commands; it
does not transmit an audio signal.

Components of a MIDI System

a) Synthesizer:
 It is a sound generator (various pitch, loudness, tone color).
 A good (musician’s) synthesizer often has a microprocessor, keyboard, control
panels, memory, etc.
b) Sequencer:
 It can be a stand-alone unit or a software program for a personal computer. (It
used to be a storage server for MIDI data. Nowadays it is more a software music
editor on the computer.)
 It has one or more MIDI INs and MIDI OUTs.

Basic MIDI Concepts

1) Track:
 Track in sequencer is used to organize the recordings.
 Tracks can be turned on or off on recording or playing back.
2) Channel:

MIDI channels are used to separate information in a MIDI system.

 There are 16 MIDI channels in one cable.

 Channel numbers are coded into each MIDI message.
3) Timbre:
 The quality of the sound, e.g., flute sound, cello sound, etc.

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 Multitimbral – capable of playing many different sounds at the same time (e.g.,
piano, brass, drums, etc.)
4) Pitch:
 The Musical note that the instrument plays
5) Voice:
 Voice is the portion of the synthesizer that produces sound.
 Synthesizers can have many (12, 20, 24, 36, etc.) voices.
 Each voice works independently and simultaneously to produce sounds of
different timbre and pitch.
6) Patch:
 The control settings that define a particular timbre.

Hardware Aspects of MIDI

MIDI connectors:

Three 5-pin ports found on the back of every MIDI unit.

MIDI IN: the connector via which the device receives all MIDI data.

MIDI OUT: the connector through which the device transmits all the MIDI data it
generates itself.

MIDI THROUGH: the connector by which the device echoes the data receives from
MIDI IN.

MIDI Messages

MIDI messages are used by MIDI devices to communicate with each other.

MIDI messages are very low bandwidth:

 Note On Command
 Which Key is pressed
 Which MIDI Channel (what sound to play)
 3 Hexadecimal Numbers
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 Note Off Command Similar

 Other command (program change) configures sounds to be played.

Advantages of MIDI:

Because MIDI is a digital signal, it's very easy to interface electronic instruments
to computers, and then do manipulations on the MIDI data on the computer with
software. For example, software can store MIDI messages to the computer's disk
drive. Also, the software can playback MIDI messages upon all 16 channels with
the same rhythms as the human who originally caused the instrument(s) to generate those
messages.

How is MIDI file Different from a WAV or MP3 Files?

A MIDI files stores MIDI messages. These messages are commands that tell a musical
device what to do in order to make music. For example, there is a MIDI message that
tells a device to play a particular note. There is another MIDI message that tells a device
to change its current "sound" to a particular patch or instrument.

The MIDI files also stores timestamps, and other information that a sequencer needs to
play some "musical performance" by transmitting all of the MIDI messages in the file to
all MIDI devices. In other words, a MIDI file contains hundreds (to thousands) of
instructions that tell one or more sound modules (either external ones connected to your
sequencer's MIDI Out, or sound modules built into your computer's sound card) how to
reproduce every single, individual note and nuance of a musical performance.

A WAVE and MP3 files store a digital audio waveform. This data is played back by a
device with a Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) such as computer sound card's DAC.
There are no timestamps, or other information concerning musical rhythms or tempo
stored in a WAVE or MP3 files. There is only digital audio data.

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Multimedia Systems (ITec3121) Wollega University, Department of IT

CHAPTER FOUR

COLOR IN IMAGE AND VIDEO

4.1 Basics of Color (Color Science)

Light and Spectra

Visible light is an electromagnetic wave in the 400nm – 700 nm range (Blue~400nm,
Red~700nm, Green~500nm). Most light we see is not one wavelength; it’s a combination of
many wavelengths.

Figure 4.1: Light Wavelength

The profile above is called a spectrum.
The Color of Objects
Color is produced by the absorption of selected wavelengths of light by an object. Objects can be
thought of as absorbing all colors except the colors of their appearance which are reflected back.
A blue object illuminated by white light absorbs most of the wavelengths except those
corresponding to blue light. These blue wavelengths are reflected by the object.

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Figure 4.2: White light composed of all wavelengths of visible light incident on a pure blue
object. Only blue light is reflected from the surface
The Human Retina
The eye is basically just a camera. Each neuron is either a rod or a cone.
Rods: are not sensitive to color. They are sensitive only to intensity of light. They are effective in
dim light and sense differences in light intensity - the flux of incident photons. Because rods are
not sensitive to color, in dim light we perceive colored objects as shades of grey, not shades of
color.
Cones: allow us to distinguish between different colors. Three types of cones:
 Red cones: responds to red light.
 Green cones: respond to green light.
 Blue cones: responds to blue light.
5.1. Color Spaces

Color space specifies how color information is represented. It is also called color model. Any
color could be described in a three dimensional graph, called a color space.

There are different ways of representing color. Some of these are:

 RGB color space
 CMY/CMYK color space
 CIE color space

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 HSV color space

 HSL color space
 YUV color space
 YIQ color space
 YCbCr color space
A) Color Models in Images
1. RGB Color Space
RGB stands for Red, Green and Blue. RGB color space expresses/defines color as a mixture of
three primary colors: Red, Green and Blue (additive colors).
All other colors are produced by mixing these three colors. It is used self-luminous devices such
as TV, monitor, camera, and scanner.

Figure 4.3: RGB color model

o Pure black (0, 0, 0) --- absence of all three colors
o Pure white (255, 255, 255) --- presence of three colors
CRT Displays – have three phosphors (RGB) which produce a combination of wavelengths when
excited with electrons.

Figure 4.4: CRT display

2. CMY and CMYK Color Spaces
a) CMY Color Model – CMY stands for “Cyan, Magenta and Yellow”. They are the three
subtractive colors. Pure white (0, 0, 0) --- absence of all three colors (because, nothing has

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been subtracted from the white light). Pure black (255, 255, 255) --- presence of three colors
(because, all of the light has been subtracted from the white light).
CMY are used to produce all colors and they are complementary colors of RGB. They are
mostly used in printing devices and in painting.

Figure 4.5: CMY color space

b) CMYK Color Model – CMY stands for “Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black”. It is an
alternative model which is used in color printing (e.g. to produce darker black than simply
mixing CMY), where
K = min(C, M, Y),
C = C – K, M = M – K, and
Y = Y – K.
3. CIE Color Space
In 1931, the CIE (Commite Internationale de E’clairage) developed a color model basedon
human perception. They are based on the human eyes’ response to red green and blue colors. The
CIE is a device-independent color model and because of this it is used as a standard for other
colors. Device-independent means color can be reproduced faithfully on any type of device, such
as scanners, monitors, and printers.

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Figure 4.6: CIE color model

There are different versions of CIE color model. The most commonly used are:
o CIE XYZ color model
o CIE L*a*b color model
a) CIE XYZ Color Model – defines three primaries called X, Y, and Z that can be combined to
match any color humans see. This relates to color perception of human eye. The Y primary is
defined to match the luminous efficiency of human eye. X and Z are obtained based on
experiment involving human observers. The CIE chromaticity diagram shown below is a plot
of X vs. Y for all visible colors.

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Figure 4.7: CIE XYZ chromaticity diagram

 Edges represent pure colors.
 Each point on the edge denotes a pure color of a specific wavelength.
 White is at the center where all colors combine equally (X = Y = Z = 1/3).
 Every color could be assigned a particular point on the coordinate plane.
 The spectral purity of colors decreases as you move from the edges to the center of the
diagram.
 Brightness is not taken into consideration in this model.
b) CIE Lab Color Model – A refined CIE model, named CIE L*a*b is introduced in 1976. It is
an improvement of CIE XYZ color model.
L– represents Luminance.
a – ranges from green to red.
b – ranges from blue to yellow. represents chrominance
This color model is used by Photoshop.

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Figure 4.8: LAB model

4. HSV Color Space
HSV stands for Hue Saturation Value. It is also called HSB.
H – Represents color type (red, blue, yellow) and ranges from 0 to 360 degrees.
S – The vibrancy of color and ranges from 0% to 100%.
V – Shows brightness of color and ranges from 0% to 100%.

Figure 4.9: HSV color model

5. HSL Color Space
HSL stands for Hue Saturation Lightness.
H – Specifies base color.
S – Represents saturation. It goes from fully saturated color to equivalent gray.
L – Represents light intensity (luminance or luminosity).

Figure 4.10: HSL color model (a & b)

From figure b above, hue specifies the color. After specifying the color using the hue value it is
possible to specify the saturation of color.
In the HSL color wheel the saturation specifies the distance from the middle of the wheel. HSL is
drawn as a double cone or double hex cone. The two apexes of the HSL double hex cone

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correspond to black and white. The angular parameter corresponds to hue, distance from the axis
corresponds to saturation, and distance along the black white axis corresponds to lightness.

B) Color Models in Video

1. YUV Color Model
It was established in 1982 to build digital video standard. The Y component determines the
brightness of the color (referred to as luminance or luma). Chrominance is defined as the
difference between a color and a reference white at the same luminance. It can be represented by
U and V which are the components that determine the color itself (it is called Chroma).
U – the axis from blue to yellow.
V – the axis from magenta to cyan.
Y ranges from 0 to 1 (or 0 to 255 in digital formats). U and V range from -0.5 to 0.5 (or -128 to
127 in signed digital format, or 0 to 255 in unsigned form).

Figure 4.11: YUV color model

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One neat aspect of YUV is that it is possible to throw out the U and V components and get a
grey-scale image. Black and white TV receives only Y (luminanace) component ignoring the
others to make it black-white TV compatible.

Figure 4.12: YUV color cube

This image shows a slightly tilted representation of the YUV color cube, looking at the dark (Y =
0) side. When U, V and Y are zero, then, the middle part is completely black. The YUV color
space is commonly used in European television.
2. YIQ Color Model
YIQ is used in color TV broadcasting; it is downward compatible with Black and White TV. The
YIQ color space is commonly used in North American television systems. Note that if the
chrominance is ignored, the result is a "black and white" picture.
o Y (luminance) is the CIE Y primary.
o I is red-orange axis.
o Q is roughly orthogonal to I.
Eye is most sensitive to Y (luminance), next to I, next to Q. YIQ is intended to take advantage
of human color response characteristics. Eye is more sensitive to Orange-Blue range (I)
than in Purple-Green range (Q). Therefore less bandwidth is required for Q than for I.
NTSC limits I to 1.5 MHZ and Q to 0.6 MHZ. Y is assigned higher bandwidth, 4MHZ.
3. YCbCr Color Model
This color space represents each color with 3 numbers. The Y component represents the intensity
of the light (Y- Luma component). The Cb and Cr components indicate the intensities of the blue
and red components relative to the green component. This color space exploits the properties the
human eye. The eye is more sensitive to light intensity changes and less sensitive to hue changes.
It is used in MPEG and JPEG compressions.

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Multimedia Systems (ITec3121) Wollega University, Department of IT

CHAPTER FIVE

FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS IN VIDEO

Video is a series of images which are displayed on screen at fast speed to form a motion. A single
image is called frame and video is a series of frames. The rate at which these images are
presented is referred to as the frame rate. Each screen-full of video is made up of thousands of
pixels.

5.2. Types of Video

There are two types of video: a) Analog Video and b) Digital Video.

a) Analog Video

Analog technology requires information representing images and sound in the form of electric
signal between sources and destinations. Analog formats are susceptible to loss due to
transmission noise effects. Quality loss is also possible from one generation to another. This type
of loss is like photocopying, in which a copy of a copy is never as good as the original.

b) Digital Video

Digital technology is based on images represented in the form of bits. Digital video is just a
digital representation of the analogue video signal. With a digital video signal, there is no
variation in the original signal once it is captured on to computer disc. Therefore, the image does
not lose any of its original sharpness and clarity. The image is an exact copy of the original. A
computer is the most common form of digital technology.

Analog vs. Digital Video

 An analog video can be very similar to the original video copied, but it is not identical.
 Digital copies will always be identical and will not lose their sharpness and clarity over
time.

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 Digital video has the limitation of the amount of RAM available, whereas this is not a
factor with analog video.
 Digital technology allows for easy editing and enhancing of videos.
 Storage of the analog video tapes is much more cumbersome than digital video CDs.
5.2. Displaying Video

There are two ways of displaying video on screen:

i) Progressive Scanning ii) Interlaced Scanning

I) Interlaced Scanning

Interlacing is the splitting up the image into two parts and the splitted up pictures are called
fields. A field is basically a picture with every 2 nd line black/white. Interlaced scanning writes
every second line of the picture during a scan, and writes the other half during the next sweep.
During the first scan the upper field is written on screen. The first, 3rd, 5th, etc. line is written and
after writing each line the electron beam moves to the left again before writing the next line.
Here is an image that shows interlacing:

Figure 5.1: Interlaced scanning

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II) Progressive Scanning

Monitor writes a whole picture per scan. Progressive scan updates all the lines on the screen at
the same time, 60 times every second.

Figure 5.2: Progressive scanning

Here is a comparison of computer and television display.

Computer Television
 Scans 480 horizontal lines from top to  Scans 625, 525 horizontal lines
bottom
 Scan each line progressively  Scan line using interlacing system
 Scan full frame at a rate of typically 66.67  Scan 25-30 Hz for full time
Hz or higher
 Use RGB color model  Uses limited color palette and restricted
luminance (lightness or darkness)

Recording Video

CCDs (Charge Coupled Devices) are chip containing a series of tiny, light-sensitive photo sites.
CCDs can be thought of as film for electronic cameras. CCDs consist of thousands or even
millions of cells, each of which is light-sensitive and capable of producing varying amounts of
charge in response to the amount of light they receive.

Figure 5.3: CCD

5.3. Types of Color Video Signals

There are three types of video signals: Component, Composite and S-video.

1) Component Video

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Component video takes the different components of the video and breaks them into separate
signals. Each primary is sent as a separate video signal. The primaries can either be RGB or YIQ,
YUV. It supports best color reproduction. It requires more bandwidth and good synchronization
of the three components.

2) Composite Video

Color (chrominance) and luminance signals are mixed into a single carrier wave. Some
interference between the two signals is inevitable. Composite analog video has all its components
(brightness, color, synchronization information, etc.) combined into one signal. Due to the
compositing (or combining) of the video components, the quality of composite video is marginal
at best. The results are color bleeding, low clarity and high generational loss.

3) S-Video (Separated Video)

It is a compromise between component analog video and the composite video. It uses two lines,
one for luminance and another for composite chrominance signal.

5.4. Video Broadcasting Standards/ TV Standards

The most common video broadcasting standards are: PAL, SECAM, NTSC, and HDTV.

A) PAL (Phase Alternate Line) – is a TV standard originally invented by German scientists.

Scans 625 lines per frame (25 frames per second). Interlaced, each frame is divided into 2
fields (312.5 lines/field). For color representation, PAL uses YUV (YCbCr) color model. It is
used in Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and Europe. In PAL, 5.5 MHz is allocated
to Y and 1.8 MHz each to U and V. It is more stable and consistent hue (tint). It provides
clear and sharp picture having more detail.
B) SECAM (Sequential Color with Memory) – is invented by the French. Like PAL, it specifies
the same number of scan lines (625) and frames per second (25). It is used in France, Russia,
parts of Africa and Eastern Europe. It uses the same bandwidth as PAL but transmits the color
information sequentially.
C) NTSC (National Television Standards Committee) – is a black-and-white used in USA,
Canada, and Japan. 525 scan lines per frame, 30 frames per second. Interlaced, each frame is
divided into 2 fields (265.5 lines/field). 20 lines reserved for control information at the

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beginning of each field. It controls vertical retrace and sync. So a maximum of 485 lines of
visible data. Similarly, 1/6 of the raster at left is left for horizontal retrace and sync. NTSC
uses YIQ color model.

Figure 5.4: Digital video rater

D) HDTV (High Definition Television) – is broadcast of television signals with a higher

resolution than traditional formats (NTSC, SECAM, PAL) allow. It is broadcasted
digitally and used in modern plasma television. It consists of 720 – 1080 lines and higher
number of pixels (as many as 1920 pixels).
5.5. Factors of Digital Video

With digital video, four factors have to be kept in mind. These are:

a) Frame Rate – The standard for displaying any type of non-film video is 30 frames per second
(film is 24 frames per second).
b) Color Resolution – The number of colors displayed on the screen at a time.
c) Spatial Resolution – The size of picture.
d) Image Quality – The clarity and sharpness of an image.
 ¼ screen, 15 frames per second (fps), at 8 bits per pixel.
 Full screen (760 by 480), full frame rate video, at 24 bits per pixel.

Advantages of digital video:

 Single-pass, analog-type impairments are non-cumulative if the signal stays digital.

 There is a reduced sensitivity to noise and interference.
 Digital equipment efficiently and economically performs tasks that are difficult or impossible
to perform using analog technology.
 It is amenable to the application of techniques for efficient retention of essential information
such as compression.

Disadvantages of digital video:

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 Analog-type of distortions, as well unique digital distortions related to sampling and

quantizing, result in a variety of visible impairments.
 Wide bandwidth requirements for recording, distribution and transmission necessitate
sophisticated bit-rate reduction and compression schemes to achieve manageable bandwidths.
 Unlike analog signals, the digital signals do not degrade gracefully and are subjected to a cliff
effect.

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Chapter 6

Basics of Digital Audio

Digitizing Sound

 Microphone produces analog signal 

 Computer deals with digital signal 

Sampling Audio

Analog Audio

Most natural phenomena around us are continuous; they are continuous transitions between two
different states. Sound is not exception to this rule i.e. sound also constantly varies.
Continuously varying signals are represented by analog signal.

Signal is a continuous function f in the time domain. For value y=f(t), the argument t of the
function f represents time. If we graph f, it is called wave. (see the following diagram)

Fig 1 analog signal

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A wave has three characteristics:

 Amplitude 

 Frequency, and 

 Phase 

Amplitude: is the intensity of signal. This is can be determined by looking at the height of signal.
If amplitude increases, the sound becomes louder. Amplitude measures the how high or low the
voltage of the signal is at a given point of time.

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Frequency: is the number of times the wave cycle is repeated. This can be determined by
counting the number of cycles in given time interval. Frequency is related with pitchness of
the sound. Increased frequencyhigh pitch.

Phase: related to the wave’s appearance.

Fig 2 recording sound and the need for digitization

When sound is recorded using microphone, the microphone changes the sound into
analog representation of the sound. In computer, we can’t deal with analog things. This
makes it necessary to change analog audio into digital audio. How? Read the next topic.

Analog to Digital Conversion

Converting an analog audio to digital audio requires that the analog signal is sampled. Sampling
is the process of taking periodic measurements of the continuous signal. Samples are taken at
regular time interval, i.e. every T seconds. This is called sampling frequency/sampling rate.
Digitized audio is sampled audio. Many times each second, the analog signal is sampled. How
often these samples are taken is referred to as sampling rate. The amount of information stored
about each sample is referred to as sample size.
Analog signal is represented by amplitude and frequency. Converting these waves to digital
information is referred to as digitizing. The challenge is to convert the analog waves to
numbers (digital information).

Digitization means conversion to a stream of numbers, and preferably these

numbers should be integers for efficiency.

In digital form, the measure of amplitude (the 7 point scale - vertically) is represented with
binary numbers (bottom of graph). The more numbers on the scale the better the quality of
the sample, but more bits will be needed to represent that sample. The graph below only
shows 3-bits being used for each sample, but in reality either 8 or 16-bits will be used to
create all the levels of amplitude on a scale. (Music CDs use 16-bits for each sample).

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Fig 3 quantization of samples

In digital form, the measure of frequency is referred to as how often the sample is taken. In the
graph below the sample has been taken 7 times (reading across). Frequency is talked about in
terms of Kilohertz (KHz).

Hertz (Hz) = number of cycles per second

KHz = 1000Hz

MHz = 1000 KHz

Music CDs use a frequency of 44.1 KHz. A frequency of 22 KHz for example, would mean
that the sample was taken less often.
Sampling means measuring the value of the signal at a given time period. The samples are then
quantized. Quantization is rounding the value of each sample to the nearest amplitude number
in the graph. For example, if amplitude of a specific sample is 5.6, this should be rounded either
up to 6 or down to 5. This is called quantization. Quantization is assigning a value (from a set)
to a sample. The quantized values are changed to binary pattern. The binary patterns are stored
in computer.

Fig 4 digitization process (sampling, quantization, and coding)

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Fig 5 Sampling and quantization

Example:

The sampling points in the above diagram are A, B, C, D, E, F, H, and I.

The value of sample at point A falls between 2 and 3, may be 2.6. This value should be
represented by the nearest number. We will round the sample value to 3. Then this three is
converted into binary and stored inside computer.
Similarly, the values of other sampling points are:
B=1

C=3

D=1

E=3

F=1

G=2

H=3

I=1

The values of most sample points are quantized. After quantization, we convert sample values

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into binary digits.

Sample Rate

A sample is a single measurement of amplitude. The sample rate is the number of these
measurements taken every second. In order to accurately represent all of the frequencies in a
recording that fall within the range of human perception, generally accepted as 20Hz–20KHz, we
must choose a sample rate high enough to represent all of these frequencies. At first
consideration, one might choose a sample rate of 20 KHz since this is identical to the highest
frequency. This will not work, however, because every cycle of a waveform has both a positive
and negative amplitude and it is the rate of alternation between positive and negative amplitudes
that determines frequency. Therefore, we need at least two samples for every cycle resulting in a
sample rate of at least 40 KHz.

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Sampling Theorem

Sampling frequency/rate is very important in order to accurately reproduce a digital version of an

analog waveform.

Nyquist’s Theorem:

The Sampling frequency for a signal must be at least twice the highest frequency component in
the signal.

Sample rate = 2 x highest frequency

Fig 5 Sampling at signal frequency and at twice Nyquist frequency

When the sampling rate is lower than or equal to the Nyquist rate, the condition is defined as
under sampling. It is impossible to rebuild the original signal according to the sampling theorem
when such sampling rate is used.

Aliasing

What exactly happens to frequencies that lie above the Nyquist frequency? First, we’ll look at
a frequency that was sampled accurately:

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In this case, there are more than two samples for every cycle, and the measurement is a good
approximation of the original wave. we will get back the same signal we put in later on
when converting it into analog.

Remember: speakers can play only analog sound. You have to convert back digital audio
to analog when you play it.

If we undersample the signal, though, we will get a very different result:

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In this diagram, the blue wave (the one with short cycles) is the original frequency. The red wave
(the one with lower frequency) is the aliased frequency produced from an insufficient number of
samples. This frequency, which was in all likelihood a high partial in a complex timbre, has
folded over and is now below the Nyquist frequency. For example, a 11KHz frequency sampled
at 18KHz would produce an alias frequency of 7KHz. This will alter the timbre of the recording
in an unacceptable way.
Under sampling causes frequency components that are higher than half of the sampling
frequency to overlap with the lower frequency components. As a result, the higher frequency
components roll into the reconstructed signal and cause distortion of the signal. This type of
signal distortion is called aliasing.

Common Sampling Rates

8KHz: used for telephone

11.025 KHz: Speech audio

22.05 KHz: Low Grade Audio (WWW Audio, AM Radio)

44.1 KHz: CD Quality audio

Sample Resolution/Sample Size

Each sample can only be measured to a certain degree of accuracy. The accuracy is dependent on
the number of bits used to represent the amplitude, which is also known as the sample resolution.

How do we store each sample value (quantized value)?

¯ 8 Bit Value (0-255)

¯ 16 Bit Value (Integer) (0-65535)

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The amount of memory required to store t seconds long sample is as follows:

 If we use 8 bit resolution, mono recording

memory = f*t*8*1 

 If we use 8 bit resolution, stereo
recording memory = f*t*8*2 
 If we use 16 bit resolution, and mono
recording memory = f*t*16*1 

 If we use 16 bit resolution, and stereo recording 

memory =f* t*16*2 where

f is sampling frequency, and

t is time duration in seconds

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Examples:

Tolassa sampled audio for 10 seconds. How much storage space is required if

a) 22.05 KHz sampling rate is used, and 8 bit resolution with mono recording?

b) 44.1 KHz sampling rate is used, and 8 bit resolution with mono recording?

c) 44.1 KHz sampling rate is used, 16 bit resolution with stereo recording?

d) 11.025 KHz sampling rate, 16 bit resolution with stereo recording?

Solution:

a) m=22050*8*10*1

m= 1764000bits=220500bytes=220.5KB

b) m=44100*8*10*1

m= 3528000 bits=441000butes=441KB

c) m=44100*16*10*2

m= 14112000 bits= 1764000 bytes= 1764KB

d) m=11025*16*10*2

m= 3528000 bits= 441000 bytes= 441KB

Implications of Sample Rate and Bit Size

 Affects Quality of Audio 

 Affects Size of Data 

File Type 44.1 KHz 22.05 KHz 11.025 KHz

16 Bit Stereo 10.1 Mb 5.05 Mb 2.52 Mb

16 Bit Mono 5.05 Mb 2.52 Mb 1.26 Mb

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8 Bit Mono 2.52 Mb 1.26 Mb 630 Kb

Table Memory required for 1 minute of digital audio

Clipping

Both analog and digital media have an upper limit beyond which they can no longer accurately
represent amplitude. Analog clipping varies in quality depending on the medium. The upper
amplitudes are being altered, distorting the waveform and changing the timbre, but the
alterations are slightly different. Digital clipping, in contrast, is always the same. Once an
amplitude of 1111111111111111 (the maximum value in a 16 bit resolution) is reached, no
higher amplitudes can be represented. The result is not the smooth, rounded flattening of analog
clipping, but a harsh slicing of off the top of the waveform, and an unpleasant timbral result.

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An Ideal Recording

We should all strive for an ideal recording. First, don’t ignore the analog stage of the process.
Use a good microphone, careful microphone placement, high quality cables, and a reliable
analog-to-digital converter. Strive for a hot (high levels), clean signal.

Second, when you sample, try to get the maximum signal level as close to zero as possible
without clipping. That way you maximize the inherent signal-to-noise ratio of the medium.
Third, avoid conversions to analog and back if possible. You may need to convert the signal to
run it through an analog mixer or through the analog inputs of a digital effects processor. Each
time you do this, though, you add the noise in the analog signal to the subsequent digital re-
conversion.

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Chapter 7

Data Compression

Introduction

Data compression is often referred to as coding, where coding is a very general term
encompassing any special representation of data which satisfies a given need.

Definition: Data compression is the process of encoding information using fewer number of bits
so that it takes less memory area (storage) or bandwidth during transmission.

Two types of compression:

1. Lossy data compression

2. Lossless data compression

Error! Not a valid embedded object.Lossless Data Compression: in lossless data compression,
the original content of the data is not lost/changed when it is compressed (encoded).

Examples:

 RLE (Run Length Encoding)

 Dictionary Based Coding
 Arithmetic Coding

Lossy data compression: the original content of the data is lost to certain degree when
compressed. Part of the data that is not much important is discarded/lost. The loss factor
determines whether there is a loss of quality between the original image and the image after it
has been compressed and played back (decompressed). The more compression, the more likely
that quality will be affected. Even if the quality difference is not noticeable, these are considered
lossy compression methods.

Examples

 JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)

 MPEG (Moving Pictures Expert Group)
 ADPCM
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Information Theory

Information theory is defined to be the study of efficient coding and its consequences. It is the
field of study concerned about the storage and transmission of data. It is concerned with source
coding and channel coding.

Source coding: involves compression

Channel coding: how to transmit data, how to overcame noise, etc

Data compression may be viewed as a branch of information theory in which the primary
objective is to minimize the amount of data to be transmitted.

Fig Information coding and transmission

Need for Compression

With more colors, higher resolution, and faster frame rates, you produce better quality video, but
you need more computer power and more storage space for your video. Doing some simple
calculations (see below) it can be shown that with 24-bit color video, with 640 by 480
resolutions, at 30 fps, requires an astonishing 26 megabytes of data per second! Not only does
this surpass the capabilities of the many home computer systems, but also overburdens existing
storage systems.

640 horizontal resolution X 480 vertical resolution

= 307, 200 total pixels per frame

X 3 bytes per pixel

= 921, 600 total bytes per frame

X 30 frames per second

= 27, 648, 000 total bytes per second

/ 1, 048 576 to convert to megabytes

= 26.36megabytes per second!

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Variable Length Encoding

Claude Shannon and R.M. Fano created the first compression algorithm in the 1950's. This
algorithm assigns variable number of bits to letters/symbols.

Shannon-Fano Coding

Let us assume the source alphabet S={X1,X2,X3,…,Xn} and

Associated probability P={P1,P2,P3,…,Pn}

The steps to encode data using Shannon-Fano coding algorithm is as follows: Order the source
letter into a sequence according to the probability of occurrence in nonincreasing order i.e.
decreasing order.

ShannonFano(sequence s)

If s has two letters

Attach 0 to the codeword of one letter and 1 to the codeword of another;

Else if s has more than two letter

Divide s into two subsequences S1, and S2 with the minimal difference between

probabilities of each subsequence;

extend the codeword for each letter in S1 by attaching 0, and by attaching 1 to each

codeword for letters in S2;

ShannonFano(S1);

ShannonFano(S2);

Example: Suppose the following source and with related probabilities

S={A,B,C,D,E}
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P={0.35,0.17,0.17,0.16,0.15}

Message to be encoded=”ABCDE”

The probability is already arranged in non-increasing order. First we divide the message into AB
and CDE. Why? This gives the smallest difference between the total probabilities of the two
groups.

S1={A,B} P={0.35,0.17}=0.52

S2={C,D,E} P={0.17,0.17,0.16}=0.46

The difference is only 0.52-0.46=0.06. This is the smallest possible difference when we divide
the message.

Attach 0 to S1 and 1 to S2.

Subdivide S1 into sub groups.

S11={A} attach 0 to this

S12={B} attach 1 to this

Again subdivide S2 into subgroups considering the probability again.

S21={C} P={0.17}=0.17

S22={D,E} P={0.16,0.15}=0.31

Attach 0 to S21 and 1 to S22. Since S22 has more than one letter in it, we have to subdivide it.

S221={D} attach 0

S222={E} attach 1

The message is transmitted using the following code (by traversing the tree)

A=00 B=01

C=10 D=110

E=111

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Instead of transmitting ABCDE, we transmit 000110110111.

Dictionary Encoding

Dictionary coding uses groups of symbols, words, and phrases with corresponding abbreviation.
It transmits the index of the symbol/word instead of the word itself. There

are different variations of dictionary based coding:

LZ77 (printed in 1977)

LZ78 (printed in 1978)

LZSS

LZW (Lempel-Ziv-Welch)

LZW Compression

LZW compression has its roots in the work of Jacob Ziv and Abraham Lempel. In 1977, they
published a paper on "sliding-window" compression, and followed it with another paper in 1978
on "dictionary" based compression. These algorithms were named LZ77 and LZ78, respectively.
Then in 1984, Terry Welch made a modification to LZ78 whichbecame very popular and was
called LZW.

The Concept

Many files, especially text files, have certain strings that repeat very often, for example " the ".
With the spaces, the string takes 5 bytes, or 40 bits to encode. But what if we were to add the
whole string to the list of characters? Then every time we came across " the ", we could send the
code instead of 32,116,104,101,32. This would take less no of bits.

The Algorithm:

LZWEncoding()

Enter all letters to the dictionary;

Initialize string s to the first letter from the input;

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While any input is left

read symbol c;

if s+c exists in the dictionary

s = s+c;

else

output codeword(s); //codeword for s

enter s+c to dictionary;

s =c;

end loop

output codeword(s);

Example: encode the ff string “aababacbaacbaadaa”

The program reads one character at a time. If the code is in the dictionary, then it adds the
character to the current work string, and waits for the next one. This occurs on the first character
as well. If the work string is not in the dictionary, (such as when the second character comes
across), it adds the work string to the dictionary and sends over the wire the works string without
the new character. It then sets the work string to the new character.

Example: Encode the message aababacbaacbaadaaa using the above algorithm

Encoding

Create dictionary of letters found in the message

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S is initialized to the first letter of message a (s=a)

Read symbol to c, and the next symbol is a (c=a)

Check if s+c (s+c=aa) is found in the dictionary (the one created above in step 1). It is not
found. So add s+c(s+c=aa) to dictionary and output codeword for s(s=a). The code for a is 1
from the dictionary.

Then initialize s to c (s=c=a).

Check if s+c (ab) is found in the dictionary. It is not found. Then, add s+c (s+c=ab) into
dictionary and output code for c (c=b). The codeword is 2. Then initialize s to c (s=c=b).

Read the next letter to c (c=a). Check if s+c (s+c=ba) is found in the dictionary. It is not found.
Then add s+c (s+c=ba) to the dictionary. Then output the codeword for s (s=b). It is 2. Then
initialize s to c (s=c=b).
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Read the next message to c (c=a). Then check if s+c (s+c=ab) is found in the dictionary. It is
there. Then initialize s to s+c (s=s+c=ab). Read again the next letter to c (c=a). Then check if s+c
(s+c=aba) is found in the dicitionary. It is not there. Then transmit codeword for s (s=ab). The
code is 6. Initialize s to c(s=c=a).

Again read the next letter to c and continue the same way till the end of message. At last you will
have the following encoding table.

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Now instead of the original message, you transmit their indexes in the dictionary. The code for
the message is 112613791145.

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