| Multimedia Technology |
|
 |
COMP S888
Multimedia Technology
| Introduction |  |
COMP S888 Multimedia Technologyaims to provide you with knowledge in current multimedia technology so that you can design and develop multimedia systems. This course is a full-year, 10-credit, masters-level course that is:
part of the Master of Science in Information Technology with Internet Applications (MSCITIA) programme;
a mandatory course for the Postgraduate Certificate in Multimedia and Internet Technology (PCMIT) programme; and
an elective course in the Master of Electronic Commerce (MEC) programme.
Students planning to study COMP S888 are expec`ted to have prior programming experience, preferably in Java. You will be required to develop simple applications in order to demonstrate your understanding of the material.
The course is divided into nine study units. Each study unit includes a set of objectives, directions for study and further discussion of the material presented in the course textbook. In order to help you understand the important concepts and techniques of multimedia technology, most units will include self-tests and activities. The self-tests, activities and assignments will give you the opportunity to test your understanding and to apply concepts and knowledge to solve practical problems.
| What this course helps you to do | |
Aims
This course aims to help you to:
Describe the important components of a multimedia system;
Explain the underlying principles of the compression of multimedia information;
Describe the different transmission and streaming technologies used for video and audio;
Explain storage and retrieval requirements of multimedia systems; and
Develop a computer game as a multimedia application.
Course learning outcomes
Upon completion of the course, you should be able to:
Critically review the current technologies for representing and transferring audio and video in the digital domain.
Implement basic compression algorithms in multimedia data.
Analyse different compression technologies for multimedia data.
Critically evaluate appropriate networking technologies that can be employed in multimedia systems.
Analyse a featured-based multimedia information retrieval system and illustrate the design of a computer game application.
Discuss how to protect multimedia data using cryptography and watermarking.
| Working through this course | |
Whenever possible, COMP S888 Multimedia Technology will contain many illustrative programs in Java to illustrate important concepts, such as compression and coding, and audio and image processing that play a central role for multimedia system development and analysis. Since the field of multimedia is changing rapidly, you will also be directed to read related articles and resources available on the Internet to keep up with the latest developments.
Materials
In addition to this Course Guide , the course has the following important components:
- study units
- set textbook
- Assignment File
- Presentation Schedule .
Please ensure that you have all these materials.
Study units
There are nine study units in COMP S888 Multimedia Technology. They are:
Unit 1 Fundamentals of multimedia
Unit 2 Digital audio and video
Unit 3 Digital processing of audio and video data
Unit 4 Data compression and coding
Unit 5 Compression of audio, image and video data
Unit 6 Multimedia communication
Unit 7 Multimedia information retrieval
Unit 8 Developing a multimedia application
Unit 9 Cryptography and watermarking.
As you will see in the 'Course overview' section of this Course Guide, the units in this course will require varying amounts of study time to complete. You are probably an experienced distance learner and you probably have had experience at successfully planning your own study schedule. However, it is important to remember always to plan ahead and to keep track of how many weeks are needed to complete each study unit and each assignment. This course has been designed so that each unit builds on the theories and skills of the previous unit. Therefore, it is recommended that you study the units in sequence. It is most important that you complete the self-tests and assignments successfully and on time. Remember, if you have difficulty completing a section of a unit, go back and revise the readings and activities for that section before you proceed to the next section. If you still have problems, please contact your tutor.
Set textbook
There is one compulsory textbook for COMP S888 Multimedia Technology :
Li, Z-N and Drew, M S (2014) Fundamentals of Multimedia , 2nd edn, Pearson Education.
This textbook has an unofficial companion website containing useful information that you can access:
http://www.cs.sfu.ca/mmbookAssignment File
Assignment details for this course are contained in the Assignment File. The assignments are described below in the 'assignments' section of this Course Guide. You are required to complete your assignments and mail them, together with an Assignment Form, to your tutor in accordance with the timetable provided in the Presentation Schedule.
Presentation Schedule
The Presentation Schedule for COMP S888 Multimedia Technology is available on the Online Learning Environment (OLE). It gives you the dates for completing assignments, and attending tutorials, day schools, and so on.
Equipment
You are expected to have access to a PC with an Internet connection. You may also use the OUHK computer lab PCs, many of which have access to the Internet.
The following PC specifications are stated here only as minimum requirements, recognizing that you may be able to access a more powerful computer:
Hardware
Intel processor with 1 GB RAM
Hard disk
Sound card and speakers
Internet access
Software
Windows XP or above
Web browser
Java Development Kit: freeware to be downloaded
| Assessment | |
The course assessment consists of two components:
30% for assignments; and
70% for the final examination.
You will be expected to apply concepts and techniques acquired during the course as you complete the assignments and the final examination. You must submit assignments to your tutor for formal assessment in accordance with the due dates stated in the Assignment File. The self-tests and activities are not part of your formal assessment, but it is very important that you complete them as you work through the units. The activities can consolidate the concepts acquired through reading the required materials and help to prepare you for doing the assignments and the examination.
You are required to achieve at least 40% as the average of your assessment scores and 40% or above in the final examination in order to obtain a pass in this course.
Assignments
There are four assignments for the course, of which three (3) of the four (4) including Assessment 02 will count toward the final assessment. Assessments generally consist of questions that assess your understanding of different concepts in multimedia technology and development. Some of the assignments will be programming-oriented hands-on assignments to deepen your understanding. Upon receiving your assessments, your tutor is required to mark the assignments immediately and to return them to you with their comments and feedback as quickly as possible.
One of the programming assignments (Assessment 02) is required. It, together with the best two out of the other three assessments, makes up the score for continuous assessment. The score of your continuous assessment contributes 30% to the total course mark. The schedule is as follows:
Assignment Assignment coverage Marks 1 Units 1-3 30% 2 Units 4-5 40% 3 Units 6-7 30% 4 Units 8-9 30%
Final examination and grading
At the end of the course, you are required to attend a final examination. The examination aims to test your thorough understanding of the area of multimedia technology and its applications. The examination will be a three-hour, closed-book written examination that will be designed to test your understanding of important concepts and your ability to apply the acquired knowledge to practical problems. The examination score contributes 70% of the total course mark.
| Course overview | |
The following table gives you a general overview of the course's structure.
Unit Title Weeks Assessment activity
(end of unit)1 Fundamentals of multimedia 2 2 Digital audio and video 4 3 Digital processing of audio and video data 4 Assignment 1 4 Data compression and coding 5 5 Compression of audio, image and video data 5 Assignment 2 6 Multimedia communication 4 7 Multimedia information retrieval 3 Assignment 3 8 Developing a multimedia application 4 9 Cryptography and watermarking 3 Assignment 4 Revision 2 TOTAL 36
| How to get the most from this course | |
COMP S888 Multimedia Technology will cover a wide range of materials including important features of multimedia systems, lossless and lossy compression techniques and their application to multimedia data, and hardware and software used to develop multimedia applications. To understand these features, you should follow these steps in your study:
read the objectives of each study unit
read the study unit
read the appropriate sections from your textbook
summarize the key issues you have read
do the self-tests
find and ask open questions for discussion
complete the assignments
check the unit objectives again and make sure that you have completed everything that you need to in order to achieve these learning objectives
check the Online Learning Environment (OLE) of the course at http://ole.ouhk.edu.hk regularly and participate in the discussions ongoing there.
There is also optional 'Further reading' listed at the back of each unit after the 'References' section. These readings are for your own knowledge and are not directly related to the main themes of this course.
Presumed knowledge and experience
COMP S888 Multimedia Technology is a postgraduate level course and the course material may include some technical terms and mathematical equations. In order to get the most from this course, you should have good background knowledge in mathematics, and at least some programming experience, preferably in the Java language. The course also assumes that you have knowledge of differentiation, integration and some basic algebra. As part of the course, you will be required to write Java programs using the Java Development Kit that can be downloaded as freeware from the WWW.
Tutors, tutorials and surgeries
Your tutor will mark and comment on your assignments. He or she will also keep a close watch on your progress, note any difficulties you might encounter, and give you any help you need during the course. Your assignments should be mailed in accordance with the timetable provided in your course package. Your tutor will mark and return them to you as soon as possible.
Do not hesitate to contact your tutor by telephone or through the discussion board on the OLE if you need help -- for example, if you:
do not understand any part of the study units or the assigned readings;
have any difficulty with the self-tests; or
have questions or problems with assignments, with your tutor's comments or with the grading of an assignment.
The course includes a total of 20 hours of tutorials in ten meeting sessions. The course is also supplemented with 16 surgeries of two hours each.
You are strongly recommended to attend the tutorials. Tutorials are not lectures. They are not compulsory, but they are intended to facilitate group discussion and input. They will provide considerable assistance to you in your study of COMP S888 Multimedia Technology and they will improve your chances of gaining higher marks. As well, they will bring you into contact with other learners who are studying through the Open University of Hong Kong.
Surgeries are held almost biweekly. An on-duty tutor chairs each surgery. Each surgery aims to provide face-to-face consultation on individual students' problem areas. You may bring along any questions that you have about the study units, textbook, assignments or specimen examination papers when you consult the on-duty tutor.
| Summary | |
COMP S888 Multimedia Technology is intended to develop your understanding of the principles of multimedia systems and related technologies, as well as your knowledge of developing multimedia applications and systems using currently available solutions. You will need to read widely and study a wide range of applications. You should try your best to put the knowledge and techniques learned into practice and into your career.
A note about the course developer
Wu Siu Fan received both his BSc(Hons) in Physics/Microcomputing and PhD in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Surrey, UK. His doctoral research on the application of motion compensation to HDTV was sponsored by Philips Research Laboratories. He then worked as a research scientist at the Canon Research Centre Europe on sound field visualization and digital signal processing. His began his teaching career as a lecturer at the Singapore Polytechnic and he is currently an acting senior lecturer at the Institute of Vocational Education.
