Multimedia  consist of two words “Multi” means many and “Media” means way of expressing information. Hence, multimedia can be defined as the several ways of expressing information using media like text, audio, video, graphics and animation. Its importance are:

1. It enhances the level of understanding.
2. It helps in effective communication
3. It helps to make attractive and engaging contents.

Q) What the several components/Elements of multimedia?

The several components/elements of multimedia are:

Text: It is one of the common and oldest medium to express information. It consist of alphanumeric characters. For eg, News paper, books use text to express information. The file extension of text documents are .DOC, .TXT etc. Software like MS-Word, Notepad, Word-pad etc can be used to work with text.

Graphics: It include pictures and images to express information. The smallest unit of picture is PIXEL (Picture Elements). Higher the pixel greater the resolution will be which means quality of picture increases. The file extension of Image file are .JPG, .JPEG, .PNG etc. Software like Adobe photoshop, Corel Draw etc can be used to work with images.

Audio: Audio is the voice signal which can be heard. Audi can be in different form such as speech, music, noise, lecturing etc. The file extension of Image file are .MP3 etc. Software like Windows Media Player, Apple music etc can be used to listen Audio.

Video: Video are the sequence of moving pictures with sound in real time. Normally video are denoted by the Number of frames captured Per Second (FPS). Higher the FPS smoother the video will be. The file extension of Image file are .MP4, .FLV, .MPEG etc. Software like Final cut pro, iMovie, Adobe Premeire  etc can be used to edit video files.

Animation: Animation are the sequence of computer graphics or computerized images that appears to be moving. Nowadays, animations are made with computer-generated imagery (CGI). The file extension of Image file are .FLI, .GIF etc. Software like MAYA animation, Macromedia flash etc can be used to edit video files.

Q) What are the application areas of multimedia?

The application areas of multimedia are:

Education: Multimedia helps to make teaching and learning process much for interesting and effective. Students can learn any topic from any where any time. Distant learning is possible due to use of multimedia components. Tools like Computer Aided Learning (CAL), Computer Based Education (CBE) can be used to learn on any subject. Online trainings can also be conducted using multimedia.

Communication: Nowadays, Due to use of multimedia components people can communicate with each other in real time by exchanging audio and video signal. Using multimedia make our communication faster and secure. Video Conferencing is the best example of use of multimedia in Communication.

Business: Business involves buying and selling goods and services. Nowadays same process of buying and selling goods and services can be done using internet virtually. Thus it is easier and convenient to do business these days using tools of multimedia.

Medicine: Complex surgery and diagnosis can be done by using multimedia tools. X-Ray, CT Scan etc are the high tech technology used in medical sector which also use multimedia. More over research on new disease and medicine can be done effectively using multimedia components.