Multimedia

Principles

Chapter 14

Multimedia Documents

TMH Chapter - 14 1
Multimedia Documents
Documents
ƒ A document consists of a set of structural information using which some
content is displayed.

ƒ The content is traditionally in the textual form while the structural layout
takes the form of individual pages into which a document may be split.

ƒ Within each page information may be demarcated into sections each

with a heading and or sub-heading. A document is aimed at the
perception of a human and is accessible for computer processing.

ƒ A multimedia document is a document which is comprised of information

coded in at least one continuous (time-dependent) medium and in one
discrete (time-independent) medium. Integration of different media is
achieved through synchronization.

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Multimedia Documents
Documents
ƒ Exchanging documents between applications implies exchanging the
document content as well as the document layout information. This
requires that both documents have the same document architecture.

ƒ The document architecture specifies the content of a document (for text

documents this is usually represented by alpha-numeric characters), the
physical layout of the document, like pages and frames, and the logical
layout of the document, which means identifying paragraphs, sections,
headings, sub-headings etc.

ƒ The current standardized architectures are the Standard Generalized

Markup Language (SGML) and the Open Document Architecture (ODA),
none of which have been originally created for representing multimedia
data. Among the open architectures that have been created for
multimedia are the Open Media Framework (OMF), Multimedia and
Hypermedia Information Coding Expert Group (MHEG)
TMH Chapter - 14 3
Multimedia Documents
Interchange Format
ƒ The major technical issues that must be addressed for designing
an interchange architecture for exchanging multimedia
information between applications can be mentioned as below:

ƒ Data Model - A data model that can represent adequately

(without loss of information) the characteristics of various media
elements, the temporal and dynamic nature of the documents,
provide support for interactivity and non-linear presentation.

ƒ The data model describes how various types of data and

information will be represented within the interchange
architecture or definition.
TMH Chapter - 14 4
Multimedia Documents
Interchange Format
ƒ Storage and Access Efficiency - The interchange model should
be efficient for storage purposes and should be accessible by
various users in a transparent manner irrespective of resource
limitations.

ƒ Portability - The interchange format should be able to interpret

multimedia data correctly irrespective of the operating system
and hardware platform used.

ƒ Extensibility - The interchange model should be flexible enough

to accommodate new data types for future application
requirements.
TMH Chapter - 14 5
Multimedia Documents
Markup
ƒ Markup is everything in a document that is not content. Markup
originally referred to the handwritten notations that a designer would add
to typewritten text.

ƒ These notations contained instructions to a typesetter about how to lay

out the copy and what typeface to use.

ƒ Most electronic publishing systems today, such as word processing

software and desktop publishing software, use procedural markup.

ƒ Procedural markup is typically unique to a specific software package

such as Microsoft Word and Quark XPress. Each has its own set of
markup codes that make sense only to itself.

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Multimedia Documents
Markup
ƒ Descriptive markup, also known as "generic markup," describes
the purpose of the text in a document, rather than its physical
appearance on the page.

ƒ The basic concept of descriptive markup is that the content of a

document should remain separate from its style.

ƒ Descriptive markup is based on the structure of a document and

identifies elements within that structure -- such as a chapter, a
section, or a table of contents -- using notations that describe
what the element is, not how it appears.

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Multimedia Documents
SGML
ƒ The Standard Generalized Markup Language, or SGML, is an
international standard (ISO 8879) published in 1986.

ƒ SGML prescribes a standard format for embedding descriptive markup

within a document. More importantly, and crucial to its real value and
power,

ƒ SGML also specifies a standard method for describing the structure of a

document.

ƒ SGML forces each element in the structure, which is labeled with

descriptive markup such as "chapter," "title" and "paragraph," to fit in the
logical, predictable structure of your document. SGML supports an
infinite variety of document structures.

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Multimedia Documents
SGML
ƒ At the heart of an SGML application is a file called the DTD, or
Document Type Definition.

ƒ The DTD describes the structure of a document, much like a

database schema describes the types of information it handles
and the relationships between fields.

ƒ A DTD provides a framework for the elements (such as chapters

and chapter headings, sections, and topics) that constitute a
document.

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Multimedia Documents
SGML
ƒ Content is the information itself: content includes titles,
paragraphs, lists, tables, graphics, and audio. The method for
identifying the content's position within the DTD structure is
called "tagging.“

ƒ SGML parser is a piece of software which can take a document

type definition and generate from it a software system capable of
validating any document invoking that DTD.

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Multimedia Documents
SGML
ƒ An element typically consists of three parts: a start tag, content, and an
end tag. A element's start tag is written <element-name>, where
element-name is the name of the element.

ƒ An element's end tag is written with a slash before the element name:
</element-name>.

ƒ Elements may have associated properties, called attributes, to which

authors assign values. Attribute/value pairs appear before the final ">" of
an element's start tag.

ƒ Any number of (legal) attribute value pairs, separated by spaces, may

appear in an element's start tag. They may appear in any order.

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Multimedia Documents
ODA
ƒ The main goal of this document architecture is to support the
exchange, processing and presentation of documents in open
systems.

ƒ ODA has been endorsed by the computer industry especially in

Europe.

ƒ The main property of ODA is the distinction among content,

logical structure and layout structure. This is in contrast to SGML
where only a logical structure and the contents are defined.

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Multimedia Documents
ODA
ƒ At the basic level ODA enables compound documents containing
character text, raster graphics images and geometric graphics to be
encoded and interchanged electronically between systems conforming
to the standard.

ƒ The ODA document model divides the information content of a

document into three primary categories.

ƒ The partitioning of the document information into three categories and

the rules concerning its meaning are termed the document architecture.

ƒ The categories are termed: logical information, layout information, and

content.

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Multimedia Documents
ODA
ƒ Logical information, according to the standard is information in a
document that is firstly, independent of the page layout.

ƒ Secondly, it defines relationships between the components of the

document content.

ƒ An example is the subdivision of a document into chapters, sections,

paragraphs, titled figures, footnotes etc.

ƒ Content is information that primarily represents human perceivable

marks used to convey meaning.

ƒ The most obvious examples are alphanumeric characters but it also

includes geometric shapes, for example electronic circuit symbols.
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Multimedia Documents
ODA
ƒ Layout information is defined in ODA to be concerned with size,
positioning and other image related properties of the content.

ƒ Layout structures are comprised of a hierarchy of positioning

components called page sets, pages, frames and blocks, blocks
being the lowest level positioning components and that ultimately
contain the content.

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Multimedia Documents
ODA
ƒ In ODA generic structures can be either logical or layout so we
can discuss both together having already mentioned the
differences between logical and layout.

ƒ Generic structures are sets of rules within the document itself

that can be thought of as defining the "class" of the document.
For example, you could have a class of document called "report".

ƒ They would enable for example, different word processors

conforming to the ODA standard to be used to modify
consistently a report being produced by several departments of
one company or by several companies.
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Multimedia Documents
ODA
ƒ Styles in ODA are subdivided into layout and presentation styles.

ƒ Some what of a misnomer, layout styles are associated with the

logical structure (both generic and specific). They are used to
specify whether the logical content for example, is to be
contained on a single page, or to start on a new page.

ƒ This would be used to ensure that the "caption" of a logical

"captioned figure" did not appear on the following page from the
"figure" or to ensure that a logical "chapter" started at the top of a
new page.

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Multimedia Documents
ODA
ƒ Presentation styles apply to lowest level logical or layout
components and specify layout or imaging aspects of the
content.

ƒ There are different sets of presentation styles for the different

types of content.

ƒ For character text they specify such properties as: how the first
line is to be indented, what fonts and line spacing are to be used
and many others.

ƒ For geometric and raster graphics similar such properties can be

controlled.
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Multimedia Documents
ODA
ƒ The final aspect of the ODA model is the "document profile". This
is information concerning the document as a whole.

ƒ This is management information, such as the title, the author's

name, when the document was created, keywords etc.

ƒ This type of information is intended to be used by automatic filing

and retrieval systems.

ƒ Additionally it also pertains to technical information like what

coding system has been used

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Multimedia Documents
MHEG
ƒ Unlike ODA, the Multimedia and Hypermedia Coding Expert
Group (MHEG) standard from ISO and ITU is suited for the
interchange of multimedia documents.

ƒ However, the various information types that MHEG represents

are not revisable. That means in practice that an MHEG
document can be distributed over the network or in CD-ROM
format, but for presentation only. No editing is possible.

ƒ MHEG allows the description of the logical structure of the

documents and supports interactive media and real-time delivery
over networks.
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Multimedia Documents
MHEG
ƒ The major breakthrough lies in the fact that MHEG allows for the
description of time-dependencies between elements of the
document.

ƒ It supports encoding of interactive multimedia presentations

defining a platform independent set of multimedia objects like
buttons, text fields etc.

ƒ It also provides the facility of an embedded scripting language,

which may be used as an event-handler.

ƒ The actual implementation of the scripting language is left to the

particular application.
TMH Chapter - 14 21
Multimedia Documents
MHEG
ƒ MHEG is based on an object hierarchy where each object has a
set of components and behaviors.

ƒ A macro facility is available using which an application can

define a complex object with a set of parameters, from a
collection of simple objects

TMH Chapter - 14 22
Multimedia Documents
HyTime
ƒ HyTime is a standardized infrastructure from ISO (ISO 10744) for
the representation of hypermedia documents.

ƒ HyTime brings more general concepts than MHEG, which was

designed for the local presentation of non-revisable documents.

ƒ HyTime is a mark-up language; more precisely it is a meta-

language, of the same kind as SGML. It is an extension of SGML
to allow the structuring of multimedia documents.

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Multimedia Documents
HyTime
ƒ The structure allows for:
· the specification of spatial interrelations between document
elements (i.e. the spatial layout)
· the specification of temporal interrelations between document
elements (the synchronization and time-dependencies)
· the specification of the overall logical structure

TMH Chapter - 14 24
Multimedia Documents
OMF
ƒ The Open Media Framework (OMF) interchange format is a standard
format for the interchange of digital media data among heterogeneous
platforms.

ƒ The format encapsulates all the information required to transport a

variety of digital media such as audio, video, graphics as well as rules
for combining and presenting the media.

ƒ It was developed by Avid Technology, a major digital video hardware

vendor, in response to an industry led standardization effort.

ƒ The format also includes rules for identifying the original analog sources
of the digital data.

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Multimedia Documents
OMF
ƒ The OMF provides structures for three distinct elements : digital
media data, media sources and compositions.

ƒ Digital media data such as audio, video and graphics, form only
part of the information.

ƒ Sources describe the original physical sources of data.

ƒ Compositions describe the arrangement of sections of sources

and how they are played over time.

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Multimedia Documents
OMF
ƒ OMF uses objects called Mobs (media objects) to uniquely describe
compositions and sources. Each mob contains an identifier called a
MobID. Each media object consists of a set of properties that identify
the data.

ƒ The OMF Interchange format uses SMPTE time code for numbering
frames.

ƒ It also includes a set of predefined transitions, and support for “motion

control” which is the ability to play one track at a speed which is the ratio
of the speed of another.

ƒ A file header has indexes to the location of the objects in a file like the
Mobs and the pieces of digital media data in the file.

TMH Chapter - 14 27
Multimedia Documents
Digital Copyrights
ƒ Copyright is a form of protection to the authors of “original works
of authorship” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic and
certain other intellectual work, for a specified yet extendable time
duration.

ƒ It gives the owner of copyright exclusive right to do the following

· Reproduce the copyrighted work
· Prepare derivative work based on the copyrighted work
· Distribute copies of the work by sale, rental, lease or lending.
· Perform the work publicly in case of audiovisual work like drama,
musical, motion pictures etc. and display them publicly including
other works like paintings, sculpture etc.
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Multimedia Documents
Digital Copyrights
ƒ There is a limit to the amount of time that material is protected. In
general any material published on or after January 1, 1978, may not be
used without written permission by anyone other than the owner during
the lifetime of the creator plus a period of 50 years following the death of
the creator.

ƒ After the period of protection has expired, the material becomes a part
of the public domain and may be used without permission. Copyrights
do not cover ideas or facts, only the particular expressions of such.

ƒ A copyright law seeks to protect the authors or owners of these type of

works from other people from copying these and declaring these as their
own for the purpose of commercial gain.

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Multimedia Documents
Digital Copyrights
ƒ The term Anti-copyright describes specific statements that are
added to works in order to encourage wide distribution.

ƒ Anti-copyright notices are legally required because, in

international copyright law, works are protected even if no
copyright statement is attached to them.

ƒ "Anti-copyright" statements typically do not take the form of

either sophisticated open content licenses or a simple dedication
to the public domain; instead, they usually just encourage wide
distribution.

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Multimedia Documents
Digital Copyrights
ƒ Copyleft describes a group of licenses applied to works such as
software, documents, and art.

ƒ A copyleft license uses copyright law in order to ensure that

every person who receives a copy or derived version of a work,
can use, modify, and also redistribute both the work, and derived
versions of the work.

ƒ One of the most important reasons creators or authors might

want to make copyleft applicable to their work is that in so doing
they hope to create the most favourable conditions for a wide
range of people to feel invited to contribute improvements and/or
elaborations to this work, in a continuing process.

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Multimedia Documents
Digital Copyrights
ƒ Several new research efforts are aimed at curbing copyright
violations for digital content. These efforts aim to use technology
to help protect copyrighted works against unauthorized access,
reproduction, manipulation, distribution, performance or display.

ƒ Control over access to servers may be used as the first level of

protection from works found on it.

ƒ Access to servers can vary from completely uncontrolled access

(full contents are accessible without restriction) to partially
controlled access (unrestricted access are granted only to certain
data) to completely controlled access (no uncontrolled access is
permitted).

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Multimedia Documents
Digital Copyrights
ƒ A second level of access control can be exerted through
restriction related to manipulating the file.

ƒ Such mechanisms often use a proprietary or unique file format

that can be read only by software developed or controlled by the
information provider, or provide license numbers without which
full access to the resource is prevented.

ƒ Another method of access restriction is encryption which involves

“scrambling” of the data using mathematical algorithms.
Authorization in the form of possession of an appropriate “key” is
required to decrypt the file and restore it to its manipulatable
format.

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Multimedia Documents
Digital Copyrights
ƒ A third way of restricting manipulation is by placing digital
watermarks at the background of copyrighted text, images, video
etc. which indicates the rightful owner of the work even if it is
copied and distributed without prior permission.

ƒ Mathematical algorithms can be used to create digital signatures

that can be used to authenticate digital work.

ƒ These algorithms can be implemented through software,

hardware or both and guarantees that the creator of the file is the
specified person or company whose digital signature the file
contains
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Multimedia Documents
Digital Copyrights
ƒ Digital Rights Management (DRM) refers to a technical arrangements
which enables the author of a content in electronic digital form to decide
how the material can be used. Vendors can use this technology to
exercise their legal rights.

ƒ Several laws relating to DRM have been proposed or already enacted in

various jurisdictions (State, Federal, non-US). Some of them will require
all computer systems to have mechanisms controlling the use of digital
media.

ƒ An early example of a DRM system is the Content Scrambling System

(CSS) employed by the DVD Forum on movie DVD disks. The data on
the DVD is encrypted so that it can only be decoded and viewed using
an encryption key, which the DVD Consortium kept secret.

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Multimedia Documents
Digital Copyrights
ƒ In order to gain access to the key, a DVD player manufacturer
was required to sign a license agreement with the DVD
Consortium which restricted them from including certain
desirable features in their players, such as a digital output which
could be used to extract a high-quality digital copy of the movie.

ƒ Physical protection mechanisms employ hardware dongles that

had to be attached to the computer prior to using the content.

ƒ The DIVX system prevented the sale or lending of purchased

works, by recording the account information of the original
purchaser on a DIVX Silver disk.
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Multimedia Documents
Digital Copyrights
ƒ CSS is an encryption scheme which prevents the user from
playing CSS-encrypted DVDs on any computer platform (notably
Linux computers).

ƒ Recently, with the advent of DeCSS and cryptographic analysis

of the CSS algorithm have demonstrated flaws in this system
which can be exploited

ƒ Product activation scheme invalidates or severely restricts a

product's functionality until the product is registered with a
publisher by means of a special identification (activation) code.

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Multimedia Documents
Digital Copyrights
ƒ Digital watermarking allows hidden data, such as a unique disc ID, to
the media. The name and address of the purchaser would be taken at
the location of sale, and entered into a database along with the unique
media ID.

ƒ FairPlay is Apple’s name for digital rights management (DRM) built in

the QuickTime architecture and used by the iPod, iTunes and iTunes
Music Store. It digitally encrypts AAC files and prevents their playback
on unauthorized computers.

ƒ The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a controversial US

copyright law which criminalizes production and dissemination of
technology that can circumvent measures taken to protect copyright,
passed in 1998.

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Multimedia Documents
Digital Copyrights
ƒ The Audio Home Recording Act (AHRA) was added as a part of
US Copyright Law in 1992.

ƒ With the release of the Sony Digital Audio Tape (DAT) the RIAA
was concerned that consumers can make perfect digital copies
of music and thereby inflict losses to the audio recording
industry.

ƒ The act prevented manufacturing, importing and selling of digital

records, however consumers were exempted from infringement
for private non-commercial recordings in return for a royalty.

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Multimedia Documents
Digital Copyrights
ƒ The copyright infringement of software, also called software piracy,
refers to several practices when done without the permission of the
copyright holder, including the following:

ƒ (1) Creating a copy and selling it. This is the act most people refer to as
software piracy.

ƒ (2) Renting the original software. Software licenses often try to restrict
the usual right of a purchaser of a copyrighted work to let others borrow
the work

ƒ (3) Reselling the original software. Licenses often say that the buyer
does not buy the software but instead pays for the right to use the
software.

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Multimedia Documents
Digital Copyrights
ƒ Created in relation to the digital audio tape (DAT), the Serial Copy
Management System (SCMS) is a set of measures to prevent DAT
recorders to make second generation copies. This involves setting a
“copy” bit on all copies preventing anyone from making further copies.

ƒ Macrovision is a company that creates electronic copy protection

schemes for VHS tape and DVD. Essentially it involves addition of
specialized signals in the vertical blanking zone of a video signal that
interferes with the recording mechanism of a VCR or DVD, producing a
garbled picture.

ƒ Steam is a mechanism for delivery of on-line multiplayer games with

provision for DRM, developed by Valve Software. It requires the user to
connect to a Steam server, register and login to access its game
collections.
TMH Chapter - 14 41