第18章电子信息类专业英语(第二版)课本-李白萍课件

UnitSixMultimediaPassageAWhatIsMultimedia?

PassageBCharacteristics

PassageCMultimediaUnitSixMultimediaPassageAPassageAWhatIsMultimedia?Interestinmultimediaiscurrentlypervasive—entertainmentandeducationalgroupsareexploringnewapplications,andthecomputer,telecommunications,andconsumerelectronicsindustriesareactivelydevelopingunderlyingtechnology.Asaterm,“multimedia”frequentlyusedbutrarelydefined.Amonghardwareandsoftwareengineers,attemptstoprovideameaningrangefromthewhimsical“multimediadefinition”(multimediaiswhenyouhavetoomanycables)tothoseemphasizingcommunicationorinteraction(GrimesandPotel,1991).Itisdifficulttopindowntheessenceofmultimediasincethetermappearsinnumerouscontexts,eachwithitsownnuances.Computerusershavemultimediapresentation,multimediaworkstations,andmultimediadatabases,butthepeopleinvolvedthepresentationauthors,PassageAWhatIsMultimedia?workstationsdesigners,anddatabaseresearchersviewmultimediafromdifferentperspectives.Onepointwheretheyagree,however,isontheessentialroleplayedbymultimediadata.[1]Forinstance,multimediapresentations,astheirnamesuggests,involvethepresentationofmultimediadata,multimediaworkstationsdealwiththeprocessingofmultimediadata,andmultimediadatabaseswithitsstorageandretrieval.Perhaps,then,thenotionofmultimediadataisaunifyingthreadtodigitalmultimedia.workstationsdesigners,anddaSowhatismultimediadata?Let’sfirstlookattherelatednotionofmediadata.McLuhan,inUnderstandingMedia,considersmediaas“extensionstoman”,astechnologiesandproductsgivingoursensesaccesstofurtherformsofinformation.[2]Thisverybroaddefinitionencompassestwomorespecificviews.Thefirstrelatesthetermmediatohowinformationisconveyedanddistributed;forinstance,wehaveprintandbroadcastmedia.Second,wealsousethetermmediawhendescribingthematerialsandformsofartisticexpression.Thisoccurswhenwespeakofdigitalmedia,notinthesenseofdigitalstoragemedia,butinthesenseofdigitalcounterpartstonaturalmedia.Sowhatismultimediadata?Thedistinctionbetweennaturalanddigitalmediamaynotalwaysbeclearcut,buttheideaisthatnaturalmediarelyonphysicalelements—paper,stone,inksandpaints,musicalinstruments,andthestagewhiledigitalmediarelyonthecomputer.Supposewecallartifactstheobjectsproducedinaparticularmedium;wecanthendefinemediadataasmachine-readablerepresentationsofartifacts.Forinstance,prints,paintings,musicalperformances,musicalrecordings,films,andvideoclipsareallartifacts;mediadatacorrespondingtotheseartifactsconsistofdigitalimages,digitalvideorecordings,anddigitalaudiorecordings.ThedistinctionbetweennatuWehavedescribedthreerelatedterms:media,bothnaturaldigital;artifacts,objectsproducedinmedia;andmediadata,digitalrepresentationsofartifacts.Someexamplesareshownbelow:Althoughmediadataarebitsandbytesusedbythecomputer,thisdatacanrepresentartifactsfrombothnaturalanddigitalmedia.Digitalimagesproducedbyscanningeitherphotographicprintsorhanddrawingsarerepresentationsofnaturalartifacts,whiledigitalimagesproducedbyacomputerpaintprogramarerepresentationsofdigitalartifacts.WehavedescribedthreerelaMediaArtifactsMediadataPhotographicprintsAphotograph(anaturalmedium)(anaturalartifact)AdigitalimageComputerdisplaydevicesAnimageonadisplaydevice(adigitalmedium)(adigitalartifact)AdigitalimageMediaArtifactsMediadataPhotogNowthatwehavethenotionsofmedia,mediadataandartifacts,wedefinemultimediaartifactsasthecompositionofartifactsfromvariousmedia.Differentcompositiontechniquesarepossibleandwilldependuponthemediainvolved.Compositionissometimesdividedintotwobroadcategories:spatialcomposition,forinstance,oneimagebeingjuxtaposedwithasecond,andtemporalcomposition,aswhenanaudiotrackisaddedtoavisualsequence.Inanalogywiththedefinitionofmediadata,wedefinemultimediadataasmachine-readablerepresentationsofmultimediaartifacts.Noticethattheartifactsbeingrepresentedmaybenatural,digital,oramixofbothnaturalanddigital.NowthatwehavethenotionsKEYWORDS

pervasive扩大的，渗透的whimsical古怪的，反复无常的pin钉住，扣住，抓住nuance微小的差别(色彩等)presentation赠与，图像，呈现，演示perspective透视，角度，远景 convey运输，传递，转换counterpart伙伴，副本，对应物artifact人工制品video-clip录像剪辑audiorecording唱片juxtapose并置，并列KEYWORDSNOTES[1] Onepointwheretheycanagree,however,isontheessentialroleplayedbymultimediadata.

但是有一个看法是能取得一致的，即多媒体的主要角色是由多媒体数据来扮演的。·本句主语是onepoint，where引导的定语从句用来修饰onepoint，是指可以取得一致看法的一点。

·介词短语ontheessentialrole意为：论及重要作用方面(表示条件),谓语动词为isplayed,表被动语态。NOTES[2] Mcluhan,inUnderstandingMedia,considersmediaas“extensiontoman”,astechnologiesandproductsgivingoursensesaccesstofurtherformsofinformation.

McLuhan在他的《了解多媒体》一书中，把多媒体看作是人类感官的延伸，其技术和产品为人们提供进一步接触各种形式的知觉。

·本句是简单句，McLuhan为主语，considers为谓语，media为宾语。

·第一个as

引导的短语补充说明宾语media。第二个as引导的是一个现在分词短语，分词短语的逻辑主语是technologiesandproducts, oursenses是giving的宾语。[2] Mcluhan,inUnderstandinEXERCISES1. True/False.(1) Thisexistingtraditionisbeingenlargedbyanewtypeofmultimedia.()(2) Asaterm,multimediaisfrequentlyusedbutrarelydefined.()(3)  Peopleinvolvedinpresentationauthors,multimediaworkstations,andmultimediadatabasesresearchershavethesameviewonmultimedia.()(4) Althoughmediadataarebitsandbytesusedbythecomputer,thisdatacanrepresentartifactsbothnaturalanddigitalmedia.()(5)  Inanalogwiththedefinitionofmediadata,wedefinemultimediadataasmachine-readablerepresentationsofmultimediaartifacts.()EXERCISES(6)  Noticethatartifactsbeingrepresentedmaybenatural,digital,oramixofbothnaturalanddigital.()(7)  Themultimediahardwareneededbyaparticularapplicationwilldependonthebasisofapplicationcharacteristics.()(8)  Thesimultaneouspresentationandmanipulationofmultiplemediaoftendoesnotdemandhardwareassistance.()(9) Currentmultimediaplatformsincludeordinaryworkstations,andPCs,withbuilt-insupportforseveralmedia.()(10)  Manycurrentnetworksareappropriateforthetransferofaudioandvideodata.()(11)  BISDNandATMareexamplesofrelevanttechnologiesandthebasisofinternational standardsforfuturemultimedianetworks.()(6)  Noticethatartifactsb2. Fillintheblanks.(1) Digitalmediaarereadilycombinedandprocessed,andtheyare

askeyelementsofmoderntechnology.(2)Multimediacombinesaudioandvisualmaterialtoenhancecommunicationandits

.(3) Itisdifficultto

theessenceofmultimediasincethetermappearsinnumerouscontexts,eachwithitsownnuances.(4) Perhaps,then,thenotionofmultimediadataisa

todigitalmultimedia.(5) Thisoccurswhenwespeakofdigitalmedia,notinthesenseofdigitalstoragemedia,butinthesenseofdigital

tonaturalmedia.2. Fillintheblanks.(6) The

betweennaturalanddigitalmediamaynotalwaysbeclear,buttheideaisthatnaturalmediarelyonphysicalelements,whiledigitalmediarelyonthecounter.(7) Compositionissometimesdividedintotwocategories:

compositionand

composition.(8) Theprocessofcreatingadigitalpresentationofamediaartifactsiscalled

.(9) Inotherwords,wecandividemediaspecificdigitalhardwareintothree

.(10) Forinstance,

areusedtomeasurebothaudiosignalsandvideosignals.(6) Thebetweennatur3. Answerthequestions.

(1) WhataretwoideasofMcLuhanonMedia?(2) Inwhatconditionaretheartifactsobjectsproduced?(3) Whataredigitalimagesproducedby?(4) Whataretheexamplesofinteractivedevices?(5) Inwhatwaydomultimediadifferfromcurrentlocalandwideareanetwork?(6) Whataredigitalimagesproducedby?(7) Howmanyframescanavideodischoldatnormalplaybackspeedin30minutes?3. Answerthequestions.(8) Whataretheexamplesthatissomewhatnebulouscategoryoverlappingwithpreviouscategories,inparticularhypermediabrowsersandelectronicgames?(9) Whatisauthoring?(10) Whatisthebasisofdesktopconferencing?(11) Whatisthedifferencebetweentextandhypertext?(12) Whatisalink?(13) Whatisbrowsingornavigating?(14) Whataretypicalmediainhypermedianodes?(8) Whataretheexamplest4. Fillintheblankswiththebestchoice.(1) Whichoneofthefollowingisnotanexampleofdigitalmediadevices?a.Printer b.MIDIsynthesizer c.audiotapeplayer d.frame-buffer(2) Whichoneofthefollowingisnotanexampleofanalogmediadevices?a.speaker b.MIDIkeyboardc.microphone d.videodiskplayer(3) Whichoneofthefollowingisnotanexampleofinteractivedevices?a.mouseandjoystick b.electronicpensc.3Dtrackers d.keyboards(4) Whichoneofthefollowingisnotanexampleofinputdevices?a.joysticksb.buttonsc.audiotapeplayerd.triggergrips4. FillintheblankswiththPassageBCharacteristicsMultimediaisoneofthemostinnovativewaysofusingatelecommunicationsnetworktoachieveeffectivecommunications (1) betweenpeopleand (2) foraccesstoinformation.Thischapterdescribestheessentialingredientsofmultimediaandgivesawidevarietyofexamplesofapplicationsinawiderangeofindustrialsettings.PassageBCharacteristicsFourKeyIngredientsMultimediacommunicationsisdefinedhereasthecombinationoffourkeyingredients:·Twoormoreofthefivemediaofcommunication(audio,data,fax,image,andvideo);·Interactivecapabilitiesbetweenthecommunicatingparties;·CommunicationswithHumanUsers.Multimediasystemsinvolvecommunicationswithhumanusersassendersorreceiversofinformation,orboth.Bycontrast,singlemediumsystems,suchasdataandfax,caninvolveinter-machinecommunicationswithnohumanuserpresentwhilethecommunicationisunderway.Itisthehumanelementthatbenefitsfrommorethanonemediumofcommunication,andalsofromtheinteractivecapabilitiesofmultimediasystems.[1]FourKeyIngredients·Synchronization.Multimediasystemsrequiretwotypesofsynchronizationbetweenthedifferentmedia.Continuoussynchronizationisrequiredforaudio/video,forinstance,tocoordinatelipmovementwithspeech.Syntheticsynchronizationisrequiredbythedesignerofthesystemtoorganizethepresentationofmaterialinthedesiresmanner(e.g.,thesequencingofvideoclipswithdataandgraphics).Videoconferencingisatypicalexampleofmultimedia,combiningtwomedia(audioandvideo),interaction,humanusers,andsynchronization.Bycontrast,broadcasttelevisionallowsnobackwardchannelfortheinformationreceivertointeractwiththeinformationprovider,anditisthereforenotregardedasamultimediacommunication.·Synchronization.MultimediThetypesofinteractioninmultimediasystemsareasfollows:·Searchandbrowse.Thesecorrespondtodatabaseaccessfunctionsforextractingtherequiredmultimediainformationfromstorage.·Interactive“buttons”.Aframeofinformation(i.e.,ascreenorportionofascreen)maycontainbuttonsthatcanbeselected(e.g.,usingacursor)tocontrolthepresentationofinformation,andtopassontoanotherframe.Examplesof“buttons”arelistsofoptions,menuselections,andportionsofthedisplayedinformationthatcanbeselectedtoobtainadditionalinformationonthatsubject.·Windowing.Oneframeofinformationoverlapsabackgroundframe,andthesizeofframescanbechangedbytheusersoastoviewportionsofseveralframessimultaneously.Thetypesofinteractionin·FastForward,rewind,pause,andskip.“Taperecorder”commandstocontrolthesequenceandspeedofpresentationofinformationcanbeused,notjustwithaudioandvideoinformationbutalsotocontrolasequenceofframesofdata,fax,andimage.[2]·Conversationalinteraction.Whenahumanuserispresentateachendofthecommunicationchannel,awiderangeofconversationalinteractionsarepossible,includingaudiodiscussion,displayingdataandimagesinsharedscreens,andpointingto,editingandannotatingthecontentsofthesharedscreen.·FastForward,rewind,pausEnablingTechnologiesMultimediacommunicationshascomeaboutasaresultofthedevelopmentofanumberoftechnologicalcapabilities.Thesecapabilitiesaredescribedinthefollowingsubsections.·Fast-PacketNetworks.Thehighbandwidth,burstnatureofmultimediacommunicationsmakesitparticularlysuitedtofast-packettelecommunicationcapabilitiessuchasthoseprovidedbyATMandDQDB.Untilthesenetworksarewidelydeployed,multimediacommunicationscanbebasedoncircuitcapabilitiesatarangeofbandwidthsandlowerbandwidthpacketcapabilities.suchasX.25andframerelay.[3]EnablingTechnologies·HighCapacityStorageSystems.Thepredominanceofstorageintensivemedia,suchasaudio,video,andhighresolutionimageinmultimediacommunicationsrequireshighcapacitystoragesystems,suchasopticaldisks.·PowerfulProcessingCapability.Theencoding/decodingofavarietyofmediaplusthesynchronizationoftheirpresentationtotheuserrequirepowerfulprocessors.·CompressionCoding.Thedevelopmentofcodingtechniquesforaudio,image,andvideohasenabledmultimediacommunicationstobecompressedintoavailablebandwidth.Thisenabledmanymultimediasystemstobedevelopedbeforetheavailabilityofbroadbandnetworks.Broadbandcommunicationsresultsinimprovedqualityandlowerend-to-enddelay.·HighCapacityStorageSyst·Hypertext.Hypertextisaprecursortomultimediathatwasdevelopedseveralyearsbeforethetechnologynecessaryformultimediabecameavailable.[4]Usingonlyonemedium—image—itprovidedmanyoftheinteractivecapabilitiesofmultimediasystemsandservedtoprimethemarketforthetruemultimediathatisbecomingavailabletoday.·Windowing.Windowingsoftwaregivesaninterfaceinwhichtheusercaninteractwithseveralfilesorsoftwareprocessesusingasinglescreen.Itwasoriginallydevelopedinasinglemediumsituation—namely,image—andwasrapidlyextendedtocaterformotionvideo.Itgreatlyenhancestheinteractivecapabilitiesofmanymultimediasystemstoday.·Hypertext.HypertextisaBusinessAdvantagesofMultimediaCommunicationsThereisastronglatentdemandformultimediacommunicationsasevidencedby:·theuseofvideoconferencingtodisplayatechnicaldrawingorotherobjectofdiscussionaswellastheheadandshouldersofthediscussant.Thisisessentiallytheuseofmotionvideotoprovideastill-imagecapability.·theuseoffaxanddatacommunicationequipmentduringthecourseofavideoconferencing;· theuseofmodemsthatallowvoiceanddatacommunicationsoveronevoice-gradeline.BusinessAdvantagesofMultimeTheseexamplesimplyademandforinteractivecombinationsofallfivecommunicationsmedia:audio,data,image,fax,andvideo.Thebusinesseffectivenessofmultimediacommunicationscanbeestimatedfromtheeffectivenessofearlierformsofcomputermediatedcommunications(CMC)inwhichusersexchangedata,sometimesasanaccompanimenttoatelephoneconversation.BusinessexperienceofCMC,andresearchintoitsbenefits,ismoreestablishedthanformultimediasinceithasbeenusedsincethemid-1970s.TheeffectivenessofCMChasbeenanalyzedinbusinessgroupdecision-makingsituationsandineducationalsettingsasaninstructionaltool.TheseexamplesimplyademanGroupDecisionMakingStudieshaveshownthatthereareadvantagestoCMCingroupdecision-makingsituationscomparedtoface-to-facemeetings.Table 6.1givesacomparisonbetweencomputer-mediatedcommunicationsandface-to-facemeetings.GroupDecisionMaking第18章电子信息类专业英语(第二版)课本_李白萍课件TheresultinTable6.1canbesummarizedbythestatementthatcomputermediationallowsfor(1)moreopinionstobegivenbymoregroupmembersand (2) morewillingnesstochangeopinioninordertocometoaqualitydecision.Face-to-facemeetingscanresultinpoorerdecisions,resultingfromthebandwagoneffectofdominantpersonalities.TheseadvantagesofCMCcanbeexpectedtoapplywithgreaterforceinthecaseofmultimediacommunications,wherethecomputer-mediatedelementhasmoreimpactonthehumansensesthaninthedata/text-basedsituations.[5]TheresultinTable6.1canEducationAT&Tresearchersconductedacomparisonbetweenaudio-graphicandface-to-faceinstructioninacontrolledtestwithtwogroupsofstudents.Pre-testscoresshowedaninsignificantdifferencebetweenthetwogroups,butpost-testscoresshowedthatthegrouptrainedusingaudio-graphicshadhigherscoresthantheface-to-facegroup.Theuseofaudio/imagesystemsfordistancelearningatGeorgeBrownCollegeresultedingoodstudentacceptanceofthesystemwithanunexpectedsidebenefit:two-hourclassroomsessionsextendedtothreehourssimplybecausethestudentsdidnotneedtravelhomeafterclass.Multimediacanstimulatetheinterestofschoolchildrenineducationalmaterial.InaninnercityschoolinTexaswitha60%～70%failurerate,theuseofamultimediainstructionalsystemreducedthefailurerateto22%.EducationKEYWORDS

innovative=innovatory创新的，富有革新精神的ingredient成分，组成部分，要素synthetic合成的，综合性的extract抽取，取出，分离cursor光标(显示器)，游标，指针annotate给…作注解DQDB(distributedqueuedualbus)分布式队列双总线deploy采用，利用，推广应用predominance优势，显著hypertext超文本precursor先驱，前任voice-grade音频级KEYWORDScomputermediatedcommunications(CMC)计算机中介通信accompaniment伴随物，附属物consensus(意见)一致，同意deadline(最后)期后，截止时间constrain限制，约束，制约deviate偏离，与…不同preference选择，喜欢dominant主要的，控制的，最有力的※※※bycontrast相反，而，对比起来passon传递，切换computermediatedcommunicatioNOTES[1] Itisthehumanelementthatbenefitsfrommorethanonemediumofcommunication,andalsofromtheinteractivecapabilitiesofmultimediasystems.

人类从多于一种媒体的通信，尤其是从多媒体系统的交互性能中大受裨益。

·本句为强调句型，强调主语“thehumanelement”。

· “benefitfrom”意为“得益于” 、“从…得到好处”，“frommorethan…communication”和“fromtheinteractive…multimedia”为两个并列成分。

·强调句中的“it”无具体词义，翻译时不译。但有时为了表达出原文的强调语气，翻译时常可在译文中加上“正” 、“就是” 、“才”等词。句中的“that”不必译出。NOTES[2] “Taperecorder”commandstocontrolthesequenceandspeedofpresentationofinformationcanbeused,notjustwithaudioandvideoinformationbutalsotocontrolasequenceofframesofdata,fax,andimage.

使用控制信息显示顺序和速度的“磁带录音机”功能键，不仅可以控制声音和图像信息，而且可以控制数据、传真和图形信息的次序。

·句中“tocontrol…ofinformation”为不定式短语作定语。

· “tocontrolasequence…image”为不定式短语作主语补足语。

· “beusedwith”意为“和…一起使用”。

·翻译时，把被动句反译为主动句，且为一个汉语的无主语句，把原主语译为宾语，这种译法在科技翻译中相当常见。[2] “Taperecorder”command[3] Untilthesenetworksarewidelydeployed,multimediacommunicationscanbebasedoncircuitcapabilitiesatarangeofbandwidthsandlowerbandwidthpacketcapabilities,suchasX.25andframerelay.

在这些网络被广泛使用以前，多媒体通信可建立在一定带宽范围的电路功能和较低带宽的分组功能的基础上，如X.25和帧中继。

·句中“untilthese…deployed”为时间状语从句，“until”意为“直到…为止”。

· “bebasedon”意为“以…为基础”。

· “circuitcapability…bandwidths”和“low…framerelay”为两个并列成分。[3] Untilthesenetworksar[4] Hypertextisaprecursortomultimediathatwasdevelopedseveralyearsbeforethetechnologynecessaryformultimediabecameavailable.

超文本是多媒体的先驱，在多媒体所需技术可用以前，它已发展多年了。

·句中“thatwasdevelopedseveralyears”为定语从句，修饰“aprecursor”；关系代词“that”在从句中作主语。

· “beforethe…available”为时间状语从句。[4] Hypertextisaprecurso[5] TheseadvantagesofCMCcanbeexpectedtoapplywithgreaterforceinthecaseofmultimediacommunications,wherethecomputer-mediatedelementhasmoreimpactonthehumansensesthaninthedata/text-basedsituations.

由于计算机中介系统对于人的理性影响比数据、文本为基础的方式要大得多，因此，计算机中介系统的优势必将在多媒体通信中得到极大的发挥。

·句中“toapplywith…”为动词不定式短语作主语补足语。

· “wherethe…situations”为非限定性定语从句，关系副词“where”在从句中作状语，从句修饰部分为“inthecaseofmultimediacommunication”。·翻译时，把非限定性定语从句译为原因状语从句，这是由于在本句中，定语从句对先行词的修饰限制作用较弱，起着状语的作用。翻译中常用这种方法处理定语从句，使译文逻辑严密、流畅。[5] TheseadvantagesofCMCEXERCISES1. PleasetranslatethefollowingphrasesintoEnglish.(1)多媒体通信(2)会议电视(3)压缩编码(4)检索和浏览(5)活动图像(6)静止图像(7)单媒体系统(8)五种通信媒体：声音、数据、传真、图形和图像EXERCISES2. PleasetranslatethefollowingphrasesintoChinese.(1) interactivecapabilities(2) syntheticsynchronization(3) computermediatedcommunication(CMC)(4) conversationalinteraction(5) backgroundframe(6) highcapacitystoragesystem(7) opticaldisk(8) groupdecisionmaking(9) face-to-facemeeting(10) DQDB2. Pleasetranslatethefollo3. Fillintheblankswiththebestchoice.(1) Thefourkeyingredientsofmultimediacommunicationare

.a.audio,data,imageandvideob.search,browse,windowingandconversationalinteractionc.synchronization,interactivecapabilities,communicationswithhumanusersandtwoormoreofthefivemediaofcommunicationd.windowing,hypertext,compressioncodingandpowerfulprocessingcapability(2)

isregardedasamultimediacommunication.a.Broadcast b.Videoconferencingc.Searchandbrowse d.Hypertext3. Fillintheblankswithth(3) Thetypesofinteractioninmultimediasystemsinvolve

.a.ATMandDQDB b.X.25andframerelayc.searchandbrowse,interactive“buttons”,conversationalinteraction,windowingand“taperecorder”commandsd.windowingandhypertext(3) Thetypesofinteractio4. True/False.(1)Multimediasystemscaninvolveinter-machinecommunicationswithnohumanuserpresentwhilethecommunicationisunderway.()(2) Multimediacommunicationscan’tbebasedonX.25andframerelay.()(3) Thedevelopmentofcodingtechniqueshasenabledmultimediacommunicationstobecompressedintoavailablebandwidth.()(4)Thereareadvantagestoface-to-facemeetingsingroupdecision-makingsituationscomparedtoCMC.()4. True/False.5. Answerthequestions.(1) Whichfivemediaofcommunicationdoesmultimediacommunicationinvolve?(2) Whichtechnologicalcapabilitiesresultinthedevelopmentofmultimediacommunicationtoday?5. Answerthequestions.PassageCMultimediaMultimediaisakindofcomputertechnologythatcombinestext,audio,video,andanimatedgraphics;provideseasyaccesstolargequantitiesofinformation,suchasindustrialtrainingmanuals,dictionaries,andencyclopedias;oftenutilizesasmallstoragedevice,suchasanopticaldisk;byearly1990shadbeguntorevolutionizethecomputer,withstrongimplicationsforcommunication,education,andentertainment.Intheearly1990s,manufacturersbeganproducinginexpensiveCD-ROMdrivesthatcouldaccessmorethan650megabytesofdatafromasingledisc.Thisdevelopmentstartedamultimediarevolutionthatmaycontinuefordecades.Thetermmultimediaencompassesthecomputer’sabilitytomergesounds,video,text,music,animations,charts,maps,etc.,intocolorful,interactivepresentations,abusinessadvertisingcampaign,orevenaspace-wararcadegame.PassageCMultimediaAudioandvideoclipsrequireenormousamountsofstoragespace,andforthisreason,untilrecently,programscouldnotuseanybutthemostrudimentaryanimationsandsounds.Floppyandharddiskswerejusttoosmalltoaccommodatethehundredsofmegabytesofrequireddata.TheenermousstoragepotentialofCD-ROMchangedallthat.Drivingsimulations,forexample,cannowshowactualfootageoftheIndianapolisSpeedwayastheuserplaysthegame.Themanufacturerfirstdigitizesvideoscenesofthespeedwayandrecordstherealsoundsoftheracersastheycirclethetrack.ThoseimagesandsoundsarethenstoredonaCD-ROMdiscwiththedrivingprogramitself.Whenauserrunsthesimulationandturnshiscomputerizedcar,forexample,theprogramsensesthe“turn”andimmediatelyflashesthecorrespondingrealsoundsandscenesonthescreen.Like-wise,whenadriver’scarapproachesanothercar,avideoimageofarealcarisdisplayedonthescreen.Byusingsimultaneousclipsfromseveraldifferentmedia,theuser’ssensesofsight,sound,andtoucharemergedintoanastonishinglyrealexperience.AudioandvideoclipsrequirFastercomputerandtherapidproliferationofmultimediaprogramswillprobablyforeverchangethewaypeoplegetinformation.Thecomputer’sabilitytoinstantlyretrieveatinypieceofinformationfromthemidstofahugemassofdatahasalwaysbeenoneofitsmostimportantuses.SincevideoandaudioclipscanbestoredalongsidetextonasingleCD-ROMdisc,awholenewwayofexploringasubjectispossible.Byusinghyperlinks,aprogrammingmethodbywhichrelatedterms,articles,pictures,andsoundsareinternallyhookedtogether,materialcanbepresentedtopeoplesothattheycanperuseitinatypicallyhumanmanner,byassociation.Forexample,ifyouarereadingaboutAbrahamLincoln’sGettysburgAddressandyouwanttoreadaboutthebattleofGettysburg,youneedonlyclickonthehighlightedhyperlink“battleofGettysburg”.Instantly,theappropriatetext,photos,andmapsappearonthemonitor.“Pennsylvania”isanotherclickaway,andsoon.FastercomputerandtherapiEncyclopedias,almanacs,collectionsofreferencebooks,interactivegamesusingmoviefootage,educationalprograms,andevenmotionpictureswithaccompanyingscreenplay,actorbiographies,director’snotes,andreviewsmakemultimediaoneofthecomputerworld’smostexcitingandcreativefields.Encyclopedias,almanacs,colUnitSixMultimediaPassageAWhatIsMultimedia?

PassageBCharacteristics

PassageCMultimediaUnitSixMultimediaPassageAPassageAWhatIsMultimedia?Interestinmulti