I.C Underpinnings
In addition to the background material necessary for this course, this section of the course deals with topics that will tie together many of the Network tools. While knowledge of these topics is not required to use all of the Internet applications it will enable one to take full advantage of the programs.
A. Intro to Hypermedia/Multimedia
Man does not think by text alone. After years of struggling to evolve into more efficient symbolic (textual information) processing beings, humankind is now beginning to realize that the brain is much more adept at image, (graphical), processing.
A very brief discussion of hypermedia and multimedia presentations as they relate to the Net. Links to related Web discussions are also given.
1. sound (recording, sampling rates, formats, storage)
Digital sound has revoluntized the music industry. The basic audio theory, discussed in this section, will provide an understanding of how an inherently continuous medium, (sound), is converted into a discrete, (bits and bytes), representation.
The basics of digital sound is discussed, enabling one to understand appropriate uses and tradeoffs in utilizing digital sound in hyper/multi-media documents.
2. video (playback, formats: mpeg, quicktime, vfw)
Even more complex than sound is the process of digitization of a stream of images. Analog to digital conversion of video presents many complex problems for current systems. How available systems/formats deal with these problems will be addressed.
The basics of digital video and it's relationship to digital sound is explored. This discussion will provide an understanding of the creation and requirements for digital video.
B. Compression
A non-technical introduction to the creation, usage and management of compressed file archives. Compression scheme classes and appropriate applications will be covered.