This work explores the vital connections between today's digital culture and an absorbing history of screen entertainments and technologies. It moves from the magic lantern and early film to the DVD and the Internet.

Here is a thorough, not-overly-complex introduction to the three technical foundations for multimedia applications across the Internet: communications (principles, technologies and networking); compressive encoding of digital media; and Internet protocol and services. All the contributing systems elements are explained through descriptive text and numerous illustrative figures; the result is a book well-suited toward non-specialists, preferably with technical background, who need well-composed tutorial introductions to the three foundation areas. The text discusses the latest advances in digital audio and video encoding, optical and wireless communications technologies, high-speed access networks, and IP-based media streaming, all crucial enablers of the multimedia Internet.

Reviews the features and applications of a broad range of computer software systems that allow the user to choose the sequence of text or other display at the time of use. Contains a well-annotated bibliography. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) was conceived in 1996 as a signaling protocol for inviting users to multimedia conferences. With this development, the next big Internet revolution silently started. That was the revolution which would end up converting the Internet into a total communication system which would allow people to talk to each other, see each other, work collaboratively or send messages in real time. Internet telephony and, in general, Internet multimedia, is the new revolution today and SIP is the key protocol which allows this revolution to grow. The book explains, in tutorial fashion, the underlying technologies that enable real-time IP multimedia communication services in the Internet (voice, video, presence, instant messaging, online picture sharing, white-boarding, etc). Focus is on session initiation protocol (SIP) but also covers session description protocol (SDP), Real-time transport protocol (RTP), and message session relay protocol (MSRP). In addition, it will also touch on other application-related protocols and refer to the latest research work in IETF and 3GPP about these topics. (3GPP stands for "third-generation partnership project" which is a collaboration agreement between ETSI (Europe), ARIB/TTC (Japan), CCSA (China), ATIS (North America) and TTA (South Korea).) The book includes discussion of leading edge theory (which is key to really understanding the technology) accompanied by Java examples that illustrate the theoretical concepts. Throughout the book, in addition to the code snippets, the reader is guided to build a simple but functional IP soft-phone therefore demonstrating the theory with practical examples. This book covers IP multimedia from both a theoretical and practical point of view focusing on letting the reader understand the concepts and put them into practice using Java. It includes lots of drawings, protocol diagrams, UML sequence diagrams and code snippets that allow the reader to rapidly understand the concepts. Focus on HOW multimedia communications over the Internet works to allow readers to really understand and implement the technology Explains how SIP works, including many programming examples so the reader can understand abstract concepts like SIP dialogs, SIP transactions, etc. It is not focused on just VoIP. It looks At a wide array of enhanced communication services related to SIP enabling the reader put this technology into practice. Includes nearly 100 references to the latest standards and working group activities in the IETF, bringing the reader completely up to date. Provides a step-by-step tutorial on how to build a basic, though functional, IP soft-phone allowing the reader to put concepts into practice. For advanced readers, the book also explains how to build a SIP proxy and a SIP registrar to enhance one's expertise and marketability in this fast moving area.

This book addresses the required and optimal equipment necessary for administering a site for multimedia applications. It also discusses, in detail, Internet and MBone resources as well as how to produce and distribute Internet MPEG, QuickTime, and AVI videos. -- Appeals to PC, Macintosh, and Unix users on the Internet -- Examines the solutions to video conferencing, 3D virtual shopping, and Web TV commercials for site administrators -- Shows users how to broadcast, advertise, and display their products on the Internet -- Addresses the Internet site administrator's concerns about the effects of video on a network

Multimedia technologies and the internet are increasingly intrinsic to our daily lives, and into the future will continue to transform the way we live. Multimedia Engineering describes the latest advances in this technology applied to the Internet and WWW. It immerses the reader into the development of many practical internet/ multimedia systems, offering an insight into a range of engineering problems and solutions. It provides a broad coverage of internet/WWW and multimedia processing, as well as transmission and practical applications. Provides an overview of state-of-the-art technologies Addresses commerical, industrial and educational applications and security and privacy issues. Offers a detailed background into how the internet has been used to support multimedia communications Assumes a practical and descriptive problem-solving approach, featuring many worked-through examples Written by widely published authors with years of research in the field Multimedia Engineering will appeal to graduate and senior undergraduate students in electrical and electronic engineering, industrial, systems & computer engineering. It will also be of interest to electrical, computer and systems engineers and web developers interested in, or already engaged in, this emerging field.

Multimedia computing has emerged as a major area of research. Coupled with high-speed networks, multimedia computer systems have opened a spectrum of new applications by combining a variety of information sources, such as voice, graphics, animation, images, audio, and video. Handbook on Multimedia Computing provides a comprehensive resource on advanced topics in this field, considered here as the integration of four industries: computer, communication, broadcasting/entertainment, and consumer electronics. This indispensable reference compiles contributions from 80 academic and industry leaders, examining all the major subsets of multimedia activity. Four parts divide the text: Basic Concepts and Standards introduces basic multimedia terminology, taxonomy, and concepts, including multimedia objects, user interfaces, and standards Multimedia Retrieval and Processing Techniques addresses various aspects of audio, image, and video retrieval; indexing; and processing techniques and systems Multimedia Systems and Techniques covers critical multimedia issues, such as multimedia synchronization, operating systems for multimedia, multimedia databases, storage organizations, and processor architectures Multimedia Communications and Networking discusses networking issues, such as quality of service, resource management, and video transport An indispensable reference, Handbook on Multimedia Computing covers every aspect of multimedia applications and technology. It gives you the tools you need to understand and work in this fast-paced, continuously changing field.