WHAT IS MULTIMEDIA?

Multimedia is a computer-based presentation technique that incorporates text,graphics,sound,animations and video elements. A combination ...

Multimedia is a computer-based presentation technique that incorporates text,graphics,sound,animations and video elements. A combination of these elements grabs the viewers attention and retains it. The multi-sensory inputs address the different learning needs and styles of different users and enhance the entire experience for the use .

Multimedia applications
Multimedia applications are being used  in a variety of different fields .Some fields where multimedia is commonly used include entertainment ,education,research and business communications.In the field of entertainment ,multimedia is widely used to add special effects to movies .It is also used to create animated films and cartoon strips.High-end graphics and animations are frequently used to make computer games thrilling and realistic.
The multimedia Messaging System ,or MMS,is an application that allows you to send and receive messages over cell phones.These are popularly being used to send and receive jokes ,music,ringtones,pictures and sometimes even videos.
Multimedia also has an enormous impact on education.With the growing popularity of multimedia ,sophisticated e-learning packages are used to train and educate people all over the world.The impact of information presented in a multimedia encyclopedia is several times greater than the same information presented in the printed version.Multimedia applications that allow users to actively participate instead of just sitting by as passive recipients of information are called Interactive Multimedia.The environment is created by using input devices like joysticks and sensors and by using output devices like headphones and goggles.Te various multimedia components are coordinated with a technique called virtual reality .They provide an environment which is experienced by users as similar to reality.Multimedia is also used for corporate communications and presentations.Context-relevant animations ,images and charts help in grabbing the viewers attention and highlighting critical pieces of information in corporate presentations .Multimedia elements are also used in advertisement ,product catalogs and online magazines .Multimedia applications are also widely used in the fields of engineering ,medicine and scientific research.
Multimedia elements-sound,animation and video

It is true that there are many image formats . Some of them are GIF files,JPG files ,Animated GIF files ,MPEG files,Shockwave files and Nx Viewer files.The two most common by far are GIF and JPG files . Both of these formats compress static (as opposed to animated) bitmap images.Photographs are typical example of static images.Both the GIF and JPG formats compress the image in different ways . A JPG file uses a much more complex technique than GIF to compress images ,like photographs,where the color of every pixel is different.A GIF file creates a perfect reproduction of the original ,while a JPG does not.
Sound: The sounds that you hear are analog wave patterns.Two attributes control the characteristics  of sound-amplitude and frequency.The volume is the height of each crest in the wave.The frequency,also called as the pitch, is the distance between the crests of the wave. The greater the distance ,the lower is the sound.
Animations : Animations are primarily used to illustrate or demonstrate an idea or a concept.Unlike videos that are usually taken from life ,animations are based on drawings. Animations can be two-or three-dimensional.
Video: Like sound ,video is also recorded and played back as an analog signal.So,you have to convert the video signal into a digital format before including it in a multimedia application.