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Standard UnitsMultimedia Interface Unit
Targets: Win32 only
This module provides the interface to control multimedia hardware,
such as CD players, joysticks, video-cassette recorders,
and MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) devices.
About Multimedia Applications:
A multimedia application is an application that incorporates sound,
video, or both. It delivers information more powerfully than printed
material or standard sound and video. Unlike printed material,
a multimedia application contains more than a series of static images
or text. Unlike standard sound or video presentations, a multimedia
application allows the user to navigate through media and interact
with information quickly and easily. Even when the focus of the
application is to help a user produce a printed document or perform
calculations, the application can use sound, video, or both to enrich
the user's experience.
Developing multimedia applications can be as simple as adding an existing
sound or video recording to an application or as complex as building an
editing tool for customizing multimedia presentations.
Practically any computer that uses the Microsoft® Windows®
operating system and has a VGA monitor and a sound card can exploit
multimedia features. Millions of computer users already own equipment
like this, and many also have compact disc (CD) players.
More and more, these computers are becoming the final delivery system
for information. People are sending electronic mail instead of letters.
Instead of reaching for a bulky printed encyclopedia, they are enjoying
the full-color graphics, sound, and video of a CD-based encyclopedia.
The definition of a multimedia computer has been established by an
industry-wide group, the Multimedia PC Marketing Council.
This council has defined two sets of minimum specifications for
multimedia computers. For a description of these specifications,
see Multimedia PC Specifications in WIN32.HLP. An application does
not need to take full advantage of all of this hardware to qualify as a
multimedia application.
An increasing number of applications are using sound and video in new
and exciting ways. For example, real estate agents have long organized
descriptions and photographs of homes in large catalogs.
Because these catalogs are printed on paper, the presentation of the
homes is limited to a picture and some text. When the catalog is produced
as a multimedia application, the agent can include a guided audio and
visual tour of the inside and outside of these homes.
Having potential buyers view these listings is a powerful sales tool
and could prevent wasted trips to unsuitable locations.
This real estate application is just one example of what you can do with
multimedia. You can use multimedia to create applications that play,
edit, and capture sounds and images. You can also create applications
that can control multimedia hardware, such as CD players, joysticks,
video-cassette recorders, and MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface)
devices.
Many developers use multimedia to improve applications that did not use
sound and video when they were first designed and written. For example,
developers are adding voice-annotation capabilities to word-processing
applications, and video clips to presentation-graphics applications.
Some applications integrate multimedia features more completely.
Software developers are creating hundreds of such applications,
such as entertainment programs, computerized reference works,
and educational programs. Because extensive use of sound or video
requires a great deal of data-storage space, these applications are
often distributed on CDs.
You can create multimedia applications for anyone who routinely needs
fast access to large amounts of data. These applications are often
written for niche markets; the multimedia real estate catalogue
discussed earlier is a good example.
For more info look the "Multimedia Programmers Reference" in WIN32.HLP
and "Multimedia PC Specifications" in MM.HLP.
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