Multimedia is the media that uses multiple forms of information content and

information processing (e.g. text, audio, graphics, animation, video, interactivity) to

inform or entertain the user. Multimedia also refers to the use of electronic media to store
and experience multimedia content. Multimedia is similar to traditional mixed media in
fine art, but with a broader scope. The term "rich media" is synonymous for interactive
multimedia.
Elements of Multimedia System
Multimedia means that computer information can be represented through audio,
graphics, image, video and animation in addition to traditional media(text and graphics).
Hypermedia can be considered as one type of particular multimedia application.
Features of Multimedia
Multimedia presentations may be viewed in person on stage, projected,
transmitted, or played locally with a media player. A broadcast may be a live or recorded
multimedia presentation. Broadcasts and recordings can be either analog or digital
electronic media technology. Digital online multimedia may be downloaded or streamed.
Streaming multimedia may be live or on-demand.
Multimedia games and simulations may be used in a physical environment with
special effects, with multiple users in an online network, or locally with an offline
computer, game system, or simulator.
Multimedia finds its application in various areas including, but not limited to,
advertisements, art, education, entertainment, engineering, medicine, mathematics,
business, scientific research and spatial, temporal applications.
A few application areas of multimedia are listed below:
Creative industries
Creative industries use multimedia for a variety of purposes ranging from
fine arts, to entertainment, to commercial art, to journalism, to media and software
services provided for any of the industries listed below. An individual multimedia
designer may cover the spectrum throughout their career. Request for their skills
range from technical, to analytical and to creative.
Commercial
Much of the electronic old and new media utilized by commercial artists is
multimedia. Exciting presentations are used to grab and keep attention in
advertising. Industrial, business to business, and interoffice communications are
often developed by creative services firms for advanced multimedia presentations
beyond simple slide shows to sell ideas or liven-up training. Commercial
multimedia developers may be hired to design for governmental services and
nonprofit services applications as well.
Entertainment and Fine Arts
In addition, multimedia is heavily used in the entertainment industry,
especially to develop special effects in movies and animations. Multimedia games
are a popular pastime and are software programs available either as CD-ROMs or
online. Some video games also use multimedia features.
Multimedia applications that allow users to actively participate instead of just
sitting by as passive recipients of information are called Interactive Multimedia.
Education
In Education, multimedia is used to produce computer-based training
courses (popularly called CBTs) and reference books like encyclopaedia and
almanacs. A CBT lets the user go through a series of presentations, text about a
particular topic, and associated illustrations in various information formats.
 Edutainment is an informal term used to describe combining education with
entertainment, especially multimedia entertainment.
Engineering
Software engineers may use multimedia in Computer Simulations for
anything from entertainment to training such as military or industrial training.
Multimedia for software interfaces are often done as collaboration between
creative professionals and software engineers.
Industry
In the Industrial sector, multimedia is used as a way to help present
information to shareholders, superiors and coworkers. Multimedia is also helpful
for providing employee training, advertising and selling products all over the
world via virtually unlimited web-based technologies.
Mathematical and Scientific Research
In Mathematical and Scientific Research, multimedia is mainly used for
modeling and simulation. For example, a scientist can look at a molecular model
of a particular substance and manipulate it to arrive at a new substance.
Representative research can be found in journals such as the Journal of
Multimedia.
Medicine
In Medicine, doctors can get trained by looking at a virtual surgery or they
can simulate how the human body is affected by diseases spread by viruses and
bacteria and then develop techniques to prevent it.
Multimedia in Public Places
In hotels, railway stations, shopping malls, museums, and grocery stores,
multimedia will become available at stand-alone terminals or kiosks to provide
information and help. Such installation reduce demand on traditional information
booths and personnel, add value, and they can work around the clock, even in the
middle of the night, when live help is off duty.
A menu screen from a supermarket kiosk that provide services ranging
from meal planning to coupons. Hotel kiosk list nearby restaurant, maps of the
city, airline schedules, and provide guest services such as automated checkout.

Digital camera
A digital camera is a hardware device that takes pictures like a
regular camera, but stores the image as data on a memory
card instead of printing it to film. Many digital cameras are capable
of recording video in addition to taking photos. The picture is of
a Casio QV-R62 with 6.0 Megapixel resolution, an example of a
typical digital camera.
Note: A camera that is always connected to your computer with
no storage could also be referred to as a digital camera. However,
it is more appropriate to refer to this device as a webcam.
Note: A digital camera may be considered both
an input and output device (sometimes referred to as an I/O
device) as it can both take pictures (input) and send them to your
computer (output).
What are the advantages to using a digital camera?

Below are key advantages that make digital cameras a popular

choice when compared to film cameras.
LCD screen
The rear-mounted LCD screen on a digital camera allows users to
see their photos and videos immediately after they have been
taken, rather than a standard camera whose film needs to be
developed. This screen can also make it easier to frame your
pictures.
Storage
A digital camera can store thousands of pictures instead of only
up to 36 pictures.
Picture development
Digital camera pictures can be developed just like on a standard
camera, but you can pick and choose which pictures to develop
instead of having to do the whole roll of film.
Size
Because a digital camera does not need a place for film (not an
SLR), it takes up far less space and can easily be carried in your
pocket or purse.
History of the digital camera

Although the idea for a digital camera originated in 1961, the

technology to create one didn't exist. The first digital camera was
invented in 1975 by Steven Sasson, an engineer at Eastman
Kodak. It primarily used a charged-coupled device, a type of
image sensor, but originally used a camera tube for image
capture. That functionality was later digitized by Kodak. The first
digital cameras were used by the military and for scientific
purposes. Medical businesses and News reporting companies
began to use digital cameras a few years later.
Digital cameras did not become common consumer electronic
devices until the mid 1990s. By the mid 2000s, digital cameras
mostly replaced film cameras as the camera of choice by
consumers.

Voice recognition
Alternatively referred to as speech recognition, voice
recognition is a computer software program or hardware device
with the ability to decode the human voice. Voice recognition is
commonly used to operate a device, perform commands, or write
without having to use a keyboard, mouse, or press any buttons.
Today, this is done on a computer with automatic speech
recognition (ASR) software programs. Many ASR programs require
the user to "train" the ASR program to recognize their voice so that
it can more accurately convert the speech to text. For example, you
could say "open Internet" and the computer would open the
Internet browser.
The first ASR device was used in 1952 and recognized single
digits spoken by a user (it was not computer driven). Today, ASR
programs are used in many industries, including Healthcare,
Military (e.g., F-16 fighter jets), Telecommunications, and
personal computing (i.e. hands-free computing).
What does voice recognition require?

For voice recognition to work you must have a computer with

a sound card and either a microphone or a headset. Other
devices like smart phones have all of the necessary hardware
built into the device. Also, the software you use needs voice
recognition support or if you want to use voice recognition
everywhere you need a program like Nuance Naturally Speaking
to be installed.
If you are using Microsoft Windows Vista, 7, 8, or 10 you can also
use the included Windows Speech Recognition program.
Tip: Although speech recognition can be done using
any microphone, you get much better results if you use a
headset.
Examples of where you might have used voice recognition

As voice recognition improves, it is being implemented in more

places and its very likely you have already used it. Below are
some good examples of where you might encounter voice
recognition.
 Automated phone systems - Many companies today use phone systems
that help direct the caller to the correct department. If you have ever been
asked something like "Say or press number 2 for support" and you say "2,"
you used voice recognition.
 Google Voice - Google voice is a service that allows you to search and ask
questions on your computer, tablet, and phone.
 Siri - Apple's Siri is another good example of voice recognition that helps
answer questions on Apple devices.
 Car Bluetooth - For cars with Bluetooth or Handsfree phone pairing you
can use voice recognition to make commands such as "call my wife" to
make calls without taking your eyes off the road.
Types of voice recognition systems

Automatic speech recognition is just one example of voice

recognition, below are other examples of voice recognition
systems.
 Speaker dependent system - The voice recognition requires training before
it can be used, which requires you to read a series of words and phrases.
 Speaker independent system - The voice recognition software recognizes
most users voices with no training.
 Discrete speech recognition - The user must pause between each word so
that the speech recognition can identify each separate word.
 Continuous speech recognition - The voice recognition can understand a
normal rate of speaking.
 Natural language - The speech recognition not only can understand the
voice but also return answers to questions or other queries that are being
asked.
Trackball
An input device that looks like an upside-down mouse. The onscreen
pointer is moved by the trackball with a thumb or finger.
A trackball requires less arm and wrist motion that a regular
mouse takes and therefore is often less stressful for the user to
use, helping to prevent RSI. There are usually one or two buttons
provided with a trackball that have the same capability as click buttons on a
mouse. Unlike other input devices which needs movement like the mouse,
a trackball is stationary and does not require much space. It can also work
on most surfaces which is a great advantage compared to other input
devices.
While working with a trackball, the arm and wrist motion are less compared
to working with a mouse. The physical strain is less as well. Controlling of
the trackball is done using thumbs, fingers or the palm of the hand. As
precision control is more pronounced in case of a trackball, it's more
popular for certain applications like gaming.

Advantages of using a trackball are:

 Less work surface is required for trackball to function.

 As it's stationary, the trackball allows continuous and fast scrolling
and does not require repositioning.
 Precision control is more the case of the trackball. Ergonomic
advantages are more pronounced trackballs.
 Unlike other input devices, trackballs require only minimal cleaning

Disadvantages of using a trackball are:

 Compared to mouse, trackballs are physically larger.

 As they are little more expensive, the selection is not as broad as
other input devices.

Graphics tablet
Alternatively referred to as a drawing tablet and pen tablet,
a graphics tablet is a hardware input device that enables an artist
to draw or sketch digitally using a pen or stylus. They are helpful
because they provide a more natural and precise feel than a
standard computer mouse. The picture to the right shows an
example of a Pen Graphics Tablet from Wacom.
The first graphics tablet for home computers was the KoalaPad.
Developed by Koala Technologies in 1984, the KoalaPad was
originally designed for use by the Apple II computer, but later
was available for the IBM PC compatible computer as well.
Similar to an artist drawing with a pencil and paper, a user draws
on the graphics tablet with a stylus. The computer will convert
the drawing strokes into digital form, displaying them on the
computer screen.
The graphics tablet can also be used to capture users' signatures.
This use is similar to the signature pads found at many retail
stores, where you would write your signature after using a credit
card to make a purchase.
Who uses graphics tablets?

Below is a list of professions and people who are more likely to

use a graphics tablet.
 Architects and Engineers
 Artists
 Cartoonist
 Fashion designers
 Graphic designers
 Illustrators
 Photographers
 Teachers
What is an Audio Amplifier?
An audio amplifier is an electronic device that increases the strength (amplitude)
of audio signals that pass through it. An audio amplifier amplifies low-power
audio signals to a level which is suitable for driving loudspeakers. The input
signal of an audio amplifier may only measure a few hundred microwatts, but its
output may be tens or even thousands of watts. Design parameters for audio
amplifiers include gain, frequency response, distortion and noise.

Types of Audio Amplifiers

There are many different kinds of audio amplifiers and at Future Electronics we
stock many of the most common types categorized by gain, nominal gain
bandwidth, output power, maximum supply voltage, packaging type and number
of channels. The parametric filters on our website can help refine your search
results depending on the required specifications.
The most common sizes for gain are 20 dB, 26 dB, 30 dB, 36 dB and 48 dB. We
also carry audio amplifiers with gain as high as 115 dB. The number of channels
can be between 1 and 10, with the most common audio amplifier semiconductor
chips having 1, 2 or 4 channels.

Audio Amplifiers from Future Electronics

Future Electronics has a full selection of programmable audio amplifier chips

from several manufacturers that can be used to design a home audio amplifier,
mini audio amplifier, audio amplifier IC (integrated circuit), car audio amplifier,
digital audio amplifier, inline audio amplifier, low power audio amplifier, PC audio
amplifier, TV audio amplifier or stereo audio amplifier. Simply choose from the
audio amplifier technical attributes below and your search results will quickly be
narrowed to match your specific audio amplifier application needs.
If you have a preferred brand, we deal with several manufacturers such as New
Japan Radio, NXP, ON Semiconductor, STMicroelectronics or Wolfson
Microelectronics, among other manufacturers. You can easily refine your audio
amplifier product search results by clicking your preferred audio amplifier brand
below from our list of manufacturers.

Applications for Audio Amplifiers:

Applications for audio amplifiers include home audio systems, concert and
theatrical sound reinforcement and public address systems. The sound card in a
personal computer, every stereo system and every home theatre system
contains one or several audio amplifiers. Other applications include instrument
amplifiers such as guitar amplifiers, professional and amateur mobile radio and
portable consumer products such as games and children’s toys

OCR
Stands for "Optical Character Recognition." OCR is a
technology that recognizes text within a digital image. It is
commonly used to recognize text in scanned documents, but
it serves many other purposes as well.
OCR software processes a digital image by locating and
recognizing characters, such as letters, numbers, and
symbols. Some OCR software will simply export the text,
while other programs can convert the characters to editable
text directly in the image. Advanced OCR software can export
the size and formatting of the text as well as the layout of
the text found on a page.
OCR technology can be used to convert a hard copy of a
document into an electronic version (or soft copy. For
example, if you scan a multipage document into a digital
image, such as a TIFF file, you can load the document into an
OCR program, which will recognize the text and convert the
document to an editable text file. Some OCR programs allow
you to scan a document and convert it to a word
processing document in a single step.
While OCR technology was originally designed to recognize
printed text, it can be used to recognize and verify
handwritten text as well. For example, postal services such as
USPS use OCR software to automatically process letters and
packages based on the address. The algorithm checks the
scanned information against database of existing addresses
to confirm the mailing address. The Google
Translate app includes OCR technology that works with your
device's camera. It allows you to capture the text from
documents, magazines, signs, and other objects and
translate it to another language in real-time.
OCR Scanned Images

When looking at what OCR technology is, it is important to state that the basic function of
this technology is to automatically capture printed text present on scanned images and
convert it into a text searchable file format. While looking at this basic function we get to
understand what OCR technology is and the benefits that it provides. To understand OCR
technology, it is important to know that before the advent of this technology and the
designing of software packages with OCR technology, users and data entry operators had to
be hired to retype information from scanned images into text searchable files. This tedious
process has been done away with due to the use of OCR software.

Savings from OCR Technology

Hundreds of companies around the world have learned that understanding OCR technology
brings about a lot of benefits. One major benefit is cost savings, which can be achieved by
implementing OCR effectively and reducing manual data entry.