Multimedia and multimedia communication: a tutorial

This paper presents, in a tutorial fashion, the important features of multimedia technology. The specific areas addressed are multimedia and compression standards, computer networks, multimedia transport, and some specific applications employed by industry to date. Multimedia and the effective and efficient communication of multimedia using compression and networks are fused together in this tutorial in an attempt to demonstrate the tight coupling which exists between these two interrelated technologies. First, the techniques and properties inherent in both multimedia and compression standards are presented. Then, the important characteristics of the major local and wide area networks are summarized. Next, the communication techniques for the transport of video and video conferencing are discussed. The new strategies employed to connect homes through cable TV and the telephone companies, as well as the new Ethernet technologies, are also described. Finally, some modern applications of multimedia communication derived from the automotive industry are used to describe the use of this technology in design, manufacturing, and sales.