Multimedia BSc Exam 2000 SOLUTIONS

Setter: ADM
CheckerACJ
Additional Material: SMIL Language Description Sheet
Answer 3 Questions out of 4
1. (a) What is meant by the terms Multimedia and Hypermedia? Distinguish between
these two concepts.
Multimedia ---- An Application which uses a collection of multiple media sources
e.g. text, graphics, images, sound/audio, animation and/or video.
Hypermedia --- An application which uses associative relationships among
information contained within multiple media data for the purpose of facilitating
access to, and manipulation of, the information encapsulated by the data.
2 MARKS ---- BOOKWORK
(b) What is meant by the terms static media and dynamic media? Give two examples
of each type of media.
Static Media does not change over time, e.g. text, graphics
Dynamic Media --- Time dependent (Temporal), e.g. Video, sound, animation.
4 MARKS --- BOOKWORK
(c) What issues of functionality need to be provided in order to effectively use a wide
variety of media in Multimedia applications? Your answer should briefly address how
such functionality can facilitated in general Multimedia applications.
The following functionality should be provided:
-

Digital Representation of Media --- Many formats for many media

Capture: Digitisation of Media --- special Hardware/Software
Creation and editing --- assemble media and alter it
Storage Requirements --- significant for multimedia
Compression --- related to above and below, ie can save on storage but can
hinder retrieval
Structuring and retrieval methods of media --- simple to advanced DataBase
Storage

- Display or Playback methods --- effect of retrieval must view data

- Media Synchronisation --- display multimedia as it is intended
9 MARKS --- BOOKWORK
(d) Different types of media will require different types of supporting operations to
provide adequate levels of functionality. For the examples of static and dynamic
media given in your answer to part 1(b) briefly discuss what operations are need to
support a wide range of multimedia applications.
A selection of the items below is reuired for good marks NOT ALL. Other Solns
Possible?
Typical Range of operations required for common media
Text: Editing
Formatting
Sorting
Indexing
Searching
Encrypting
ABOVE REQUIRE: :
Character Manipulation
String Manipulation
Audio:

Audio Editing
Synchronisation
Conversion/Translation
Filtering/ Sound Enhancing Operators
Compression
Searching
Indexing
ABOVE REQUIRE: :
Sample Manipulation
Waveform Manipulation

Graphics:

Graphic primitive Editing

Shading
Mapping
Lighting
Viewing
Rendering
Searching
Indexing
ABOVE REQUIRE: :
Primitive Manipulation
Structural/Group Manipulation

Image:

Pixel operations
Geometric Operations
Filtering
Conversion
Indexing
Compression
Searching

Animation: Primitive/Group Editing

Structural Editing
Rendering
Synchronistaion
Searching
Indexing
Video:

Pixel Operations
Frame Operations
Editing
Synchronisation
Conversion
Mixing
Indexing
Searching
Video Effects/Filtering
12 MARKS --- UNSEEN

2. (a) Why is file or data compression necessary for Multimedia activities?

Multimedia files are very large therefore for storage, file transfer etc. file sizes need to
be reduced. Text and other files may also be encoded/compressed for email and other
applications.
2 MARKS --- BOOKWORK
(b) Briefly explain, clearly identifying the differences between them, how entropy
coding and transform coding techniques work for data compression. Illustrate your
answer with a simple example of each type.
Compression can be categorised in two broad ways:
Lossless Compression
-- where data is compressed and can be reconstituted (uncompressed)
without loss of detail or information. These are referred to as bit-preserving
or reversible compression systems also.
Lossy Compression
-- where the aim is to obtain the best possible fidelity for a given bit-rate
or minimizing the bit-rate to achieve a given fidelity measure. Video and
audio compression techniques are most suited to this form of
compression.
Lossless compression frequently involves some form of entropy encoding
and are based in information theoretic techniques
Lossy compression use source encoding techniques that may involve
transform encoding, differential encoding or vector quantisation.
ENTROPY METHODS:
The entropy of an information source S is defined as:
H(S) = SUMI (PI Log2 (1/PI)
where PI is the probability that symbol SI in S will occur.
Log2 (1/PI) indicates the amount of information contained in SI, i.e., the number of
bits needed to code SI.
Encoding for the Shannon-Fano Algorithm:
A top-down approach

1. Sort symbols according to their frequencies/probabilities, e.g., ABCDE.

2.

Recursively divide into two parts, each with approx. same number of counts.

(Huffman algorithm also valid indicated below)

A simple transform coding example
A Simple Transform Encoding procedure maybe described by the following
steps for a 2x2 block of monochrome pixels:
1. Take top left pixel as the base value for the block, pixel A.
2. Calculate three other transformed values by taking the difference between
these (respective) pixels and pixel A, i.e. B-A, C-A, D-A.
3. Store the base pixel and the differences as the values of the transform.
Given the above we can easily for the forward transform:
and the inverse transform is trivial
The above transform scheme may be used to compress data by exploiting
redundancy in the data:
Any Redundancy in the data has been transformed to values, Xi. So We can
compress the data by using fewer bits to represent the differences. I.e if we
use 8 bits per pixel then the 2x2 block uses 32 bits/ If we keep 8 bits for the base
pixel, X0, and assign 4 bits for each difference then we only use 20 bits.
Which is better than an average 5 bits/pixel
8 MARKS --- BOOKWORK

(c) (i) Show how you would use Huffman coding to encode the following set of tokens:

BABACACADADABBCBABEBEDDABEEEBB
How is this message transmitted when encoded?
The Huffman algorithm is now briefly summarised:
1. Initialization: Put all nodes in an OPEN list, keep it sorted at all times
(e.g., ABCDE).

2. Repeat until the OPEN list has only one node left:
(a) From OPEN pick two nodes having the lowest
frequencies/probabilities, create a parent node of them.
(b) Assign the sum of the children's frequencies/probabilities to the
parent node and insert it into OPEN.
(c) Assign code 0, 1 to the two branches of the tree, and delete the
children from OPEN.
Symbol
A
B
C
D
E
Total
-

Count
8
10
3
4
5

OPEN (1) OPEN (2) OPEN (3) OPEN (4)

18
30
7
12
-

30

indicate merge node with other node with number in column

Finished Huffman
Tr

Symbol
A
B
C
D
E

Code
01
00
101
100
11

How is this message transmitted when encoded?

Send code book and then bit code for each symbol.
7 Marks --- UNSEEN

(ii) How many bits are needed transfer this coded message and what is its
Entropy?
Symbol
A
B
C
D
E

Count
8
10
3
4
5

Subtotal # of bits
16
20
9
12
10

Total Number bits (excluding code book) = 67

Entropy = 67/30 = 2.2333
4

MARKS --- UNSEEN

(iii)

What amendments are required to this coding technique if data is

generated live or is otherwise not wholly available? Show how you
could use this modified scheme by adding the tokens ADADA to the
above message.

Adaptive method needed:

Basic idea (encoding)
Initialize_model();
while ((c = getc (input)) != eof)
{
encode (c, output);
update_model (c);
}
So encode message as before:
A= 01 D = 100
So addd stream:
011000110001

Modify Tree:
Symbol
A
B
C
D
E

Count
11
10
3
6
5

OPEN (1) OPEN (2) OPEN (3) OPEN (4)

21
35
8
14
-

Huffman tree drawn as before but different.

6 Marks --- UNSEEN

3 (a) What are the major factors to be taken into account when considering what
storage requirements are necessary for Multimedia Systems?
Major factors:
Large volume of date
Real time delivery
Data format
Storage Medium
Retrieval mechanisms
4 MARKS --- Unseen/applied bookwork
(b) What is RAID technology and what advantages does it offer as a medium for
the storage and delivery of large data?
RAID --- Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks
Offers:
Affordable alternative to mass storage
High throughput and reliability
RAID System:
Set of disk drives viewed by user as one or more logical drives
Data may be distributed across drives
Redundancy added in order to allow for disk failure
4 MARKS --- BOOKWORK
(c) Briefly explain the eight levels of RAID functionality .
Level 0 Disk Striping --- distributing data across multiple drives
Level 1 Disk Mirroring --- Fault tolerancing
Level 2 Bit Interleaving and HEC Parity
Level 3 - Bit Interleaving with XOR Parity
Level 4 Block Interleaving with XOR Parity
Level 5 - Block Interleaving with Parity Distribution
Level 6 Fault Tolerant System --- Error recovery
Level 7 Heterogeneuos System --- Fast access across whole system
8 MARKS --- BOOKWORK
(d) A digital video file is 40 Mb in size. The disk subsystem has four drives and
the controller is designed to support read and write onto each drive,
concurrently. The digital video stored using the disk striping concept. A block
size of 8 Kb is used for each I/O operation.

(i) What is the performance improvement in sequentially reading the

complete file when compared to a single drive subsystem in terms of the number
of operations performed?
We have 5120 segments to write to RAID disks. Given 4 disks we have 1280
actual I/Os to perform
On 1 drive we clearly have 5120 operations to perform.
(ii) What is the percentage performance improvement expressed as the
number of physical I/O operations to be executed in on the RAID and single
drive systems?
The improvement is
(5120 1280)/1280*100 = 300%. Obvious given 4 concurrent drives and RAID!!
11 MARKS --- UNSEEN

4 (a) Give a definition of a Multimedia Authoring System. What key features

should such a system provide?
An Authoring System is a program which has pre-programmed elements for the
development of interactive multimedia software titles.
Authoring systems vary widely in orientation, capabilities, and learning curve.
There is no such thing (at this time) as a completely point-and-click automated
authoring system; some knowledge of heuristic thinking and algorithm design is
necessary.
Authoring is basically just a speeded-up form of programming --- VISUAL
PROGRAMMING; you don't need to know the intricacies of a programming
language, or worse, an API, but you do need to understand how programs work.
2 MARKS ---- BOOKWORK
(b) What Multimedia Authoring paradigms exist? Describe each paradigm
briefly.
There are various paradigms, including:
Scripting Language
The Scripting paradigm is the authoring method closest in form to traditional
programming. The paradigm is that of a programming language, which specifies (by
filename) multimedia elements, sequencing, hotspots, synchronization, etc. A
powerful, object-oriented scripting language is usually the centerpiece of such a
system; in-program editing of elements (still graphics, video, audio, etc.) tends to be
minimal or non-existent. Scripting languages do vary; check out how much the
language is object-based or object-oriented. The scripting paradigm tends to be longer
in development time (it takes longer to code an individual interaction), but generally
more powerful interactivity is possible. Since most Scripting languages are
interpreted, instead of compiled, the runtime speed gains over other authoring
methods are minimal.
The media handling can vary widely; check out your system with your contributing
package formats carefully. The Apples HyperTalk for HyperCard, Assymetrixs
OpenScript for ToolBook and Lingo scripting language of Macromedia Director are
examples of a Multimedia scripting language.
Here is an example lingo script to jump to a frame

global gNavSprite
on exitFrame

go the frame
play sprite gNavSprite
end
Iconic/Flow Control
This tends to be the speediest (in development time) authoring style; it is best suited
for rapid prototyping and short-development time projects. Many of these tools are
also optimized for developing Computer-Based Training (CBT). The core of the
paradigm is the Icon Palette, containing the possible functions/interactions of a
program, and the Flow Line, which shows the actual links between the icons. These
programs tend to be the slowest runtimes, because each interaction carries with it all
of its possible permutations; the higher end packages, such as Authorware or
IconAuthor, are extremely powerful and suffer least from runtime speed problems.

Frame
The Frame paradigm is similar to the Iconic/Flow Control paradigm in that it usually
incorporates an icon palette; however, the links drawn between icons are conceptual
and do not always represent the actual flow of the program. This is a very fast
development system, but requires a good auto-debugging function, as it is visually
un-debuggable. The best of these have bundled compiled-language scripting, such as
Quest (whose scripting language is C) or Apple Media Kit.
Card/Scripting
The Card/Scripting paradigm provides a great deal of power (via the incorporated
scripting language) but suffers from the index-card structure. It is excellently
suitedfor Hypertext applications, and supremely suited for navigation intensive (a la
Cyans MYST game) applications. Such programs are easily extensible via
XCMDs andDLLs; they are widely used for shareware applications. The best
applications allow all objects (including individual graphic elements) to be scripted;
many entertainment applications are prototyped in a card/scripting system prior to
compiled-language coding.
Cast/Score/Scripting
The Cast/Score/Scripting paradigm uses a music score as its primary authoring
metaphor; the synchronous elements are shown in various horizontal tracks
withsimultaneity shown via the vertical columns. The true power of this metaphor lies
in the ability to script the behavior of each of the cast members. The most
popularmember of this paradigm is Director, which is used in the creation of many
commercial applications. These programs are best suited for animation-intensive
orsynchronized media applications; they are easily extensible to handle other
functions (such as hypertext) via XOBJs, XCMDs, and DLLs.
Macromedia Director uses this .

Hierarchical Object
The Hierarchical Object paradigm uses a object metaphor (like OOP) which is
visually represented by embedded objects and iconic properties. Although the
learning curve is non-trivial, the visual representation of objects can make very
complicated constructions possible.
Hypermedia Linkage
The Hypermedia Linkage paradigm is similar to the Frame paradigm in that it shows
conceptual links between elements; however, it lacks the Frame paradigms visual
linkage metaphor.
Tagging
The Tagging paradigm uses tags in text files (for instance, SGML/HTML, SMIL
(Synchronised Media Integration Language), VRML, 3DML and WinHelp) to link
pages, provide interactivity and integrate multimedia elements.
8 Marks --- BOOKWORK
(c)

You have been asked to provide a Multimedia presentation that can

support media in both English and French. You may assume that you
have been given a sequence of 10 images and a single 50 second digitised
audio soundtrack in both languages. Each Image should be mapped over
consecutive 5 second fragments of the audio. All Images are of the same
500x500 pixel dimension.
Describe, giving suitable code fragments, how you would assemble such a
presentation using SMIL. Your solution should cover all aspects of the
SMIL presentation
<smil>
<head>
<layout>
<root-layout height="500" width="500" backgroundcolor="#000000" title="MultiLingual"/>
<region id="image1" width="500" height="500" top="0"
left="0" background-color="#000000" z-index="1" />
<region id="image2" width="500" height="500" top="0"
left="0" background-color="#000000" z-index="1" />
.
</layout>
</head>
<body>
<par>
<switch>
<!-- English only -->

< audio system-language="en" src ="english.au" />

<!-- French only -->
<audio system-language="fr" src ="francais.au" />
</switch>
<seq>
<img src="image1.jpg" region="image1" begin="0.00s"
dur="5.00s" />
<img src="image2.jpg" region="image2" begin="5.00s"
dur="5.00s" />
.
</seq>
</par>
</body>
</smil>
17 Marks ---- UNSEEN