The state-of-the-art in multimedia content analysis, media foundations, and compression Covers digital audio, images, video, graphics, and animation Includes real-world project sets that help you build and test your expertise By two of the world's leading experts in advanced multimedia systems development The practical, example-rich guide to media coding and content processing for every multimedia developer. From DVDs to the Internet, media coding and content processing are central to the effective delivery of high-quality multimedia. In this book, two of the field's leading experts introduce today's state-of-the-art, presenting realistic examples and projects designed to help implementers create multimedia systems with unprecedented performance. Ralf Steinmetz and Klara Nahrstedt introduce the fundamental characteristics of digital audio, images, video, graphics, and animation; demonstrate powerful new approaches to content analysis and compression; and share expert insights into system and end-user issues every advanced multimedia professional must understand. Coverage includes: Generic characteristics of multimedia and data streams, and their impact on multimedia system design Essential audio concepts and representation techniques: sound perception, psychoacoustics, music, MIDI, Speech signals, and related I/O and transmission issues Graphics and image characteristics: image formats, analysis, synthesis, reconstruction, and output Video signals, television formats, digitization, and computer-based animation issues Fundamental compression methods: run-length, Huffman, and subband coding Multimedia compression standards: JPEG, H.232, and various MPEG techniques Optical storage technologies and techniques: CD-DA, CD-ROM, DVD, and beyond Content processing techniques: Image analysis, video processing, cut detection, and audio analysis First in an authoritative 3-volume set on tomorrow's robust multimedia desktop: real-time audio, video, and streaming media. Multimedia Fundamentals offers a single, authoritative source for the knowledge and techniques you need to succeed with any advanced multimedia development project. Look for Volume 2 focusing on networking and operating system-related issues, and Volume 3 focusing on service and application issues.