What essential hardware and software is required for Multimedia development and delivery?

There are a variety of multimedia devices and software available for use in the CS department. Here is a summary of the available equipment.

Editing Software

GIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program and is a freely distributed program for image manipulation and image authoring. It has many capabilities. It can be used as a simple paint program, an expert quality photo retouching program, an online batch processing system, a mass production image renderer, an image format converter, etc. 

Corel Paint Shop Pro is a raster graphics editor and later in the series, a vector graphics editor. Paint Shop Pro is considered to be the ultimate photo-editing software and offers features such as turning photos into slideshows, editing and retouching your photos and uploading photos directly onto your facebook, flickr and youtube account.

Adobe Photoshop is a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe Systems Incorporated. The software redefines digital imaging with powerful new photography tools and breakthrough capabilities for complex image selections, realistic painting, and intelligent retouching.While Adobe is the industry standard, several features are available on the cheaper Paint Shop Pro and even the freely distributed GIMP.

Paint.NET is a proprietary freeware raster graphics editing program for Microsoft Windows. Paint.NET has evolved from a simple replacement for the Microsoft Paint program, which is included with Windows, into a powerful editor with support for layers, blending, transparency, and plugins.

 

CD/DVD Burners

Today, it is now standard for a computer and a laptop to have a built in CD/DVD burner, in some cases, you can even get a burner that will allow you to watch blu-rays!

There are some fairly obvious differences between CD and DVD burners, one being the type of format recognised by both devices, DVD Burners will allow you to play and burn both CD and DVDs but CD Burners will only allow you to play and burn CDs.

Also, in a CD Burner you only have one laser diode built into it for whereas DVDs have two laser diodes built in. The other difference is performance related, DVD Burners tend to be faster than CD's.

Digital Cameras

A digital camera is a camera that takes video or still photographs, or both, digitally by recording images via an electronic image sensor.

Many compact digital still cameras can record sound and moving video as well as still photographs. Most 21st century cameras are digital.

There are five different types of digital camera -

1. Compact Digital Camera
2. Bridge Cameras
3. Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera
4. Digital Single Lens Reflex Cameras
5. Digital Rangefinders 

Compact cameras are designed to be tiny and portable and are particularly suitable for casual and "snapshot" use. The smallest, generally less than 20 mm thick, are described as subcompacts or "ultra-compacts".Most, apart from ruggedized or water-resistant models, incorporate a retractable lens assembly allowing a thin camera to have a moderately long focal length and thus fully exploit an image sensor larger than that on a camera phone, and a mechanized lens cap to cover the lens when retracted. The retracted and capped lens is protected from keys, coins and other hard objects, thus making a thin, pocketable package. 

Compact cameras are usually designed to be easy to use, sacrificing advanced features and picture quality for compactness and simplicity; images can usually only be stored using lossy compression (JPEG). Most have a built-in flash usually of low power, sufficient for nearby subjects. For lower cost and smaller size, these cameras typically use image sensors with a diagonal of approximately 6 mm. This gives them weaker low-light performance, greater depth of field, generally closer focusing ability, and smaller components than cameras using larger sensors.

An example of a compact digital camera is the Nikon L21 which can be purchased for £55.99

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nikon-L21-Digital-Camera-Optical/dp/B0036WN358/ref=sr_1_19?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1288637214&sr=1-19

Bridge cameras are cameras which fill the niche between the SLRs and the Compact cameras.They are often comparable in size and weight to the smallest Digital SLR's (DSLR), but almost all digital bridge cameras lack an optical viewfinder system (film bridges generally had a lighter version of a reflex finder). In addition, SLRs normally feature interchangeable lenses, while current bridge cameras do not. The term "Bridge camera" was originally used to refer to film cameras which "bridged the gap" between point and shoot cameras and SLRs. 

An example of a bridge camera is the new Nikon P100 which can be purchased for £269.00

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nikon-P100-Digital-Camera-Optical/dp/B0036WN2F4/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

The purpose of Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Cameras is to provide high quality imaging in a smaller body than in DSLR cameras. Prior to the introduction of Micros, digital cameras featured either a small sensor (in various body styles), or a large sensor in a DSLR body, with very rare exception and one was faced with a sharp trade-off between small-but-poor-quality or high-quality-but-large. DSLR cameras provide high quality imaging, but use essentially the same design and lenses as existing film SLR cameras; micros by contrast represent a break from the legacy of cameras designed for film.

A digital display screen on the camera serves the dual purpose of an electronic viewfinder and status display for setting camera functions. Short of these mechanisms, micros can have significantly thinner and lighter bodies with fewer moving parts. Further, by placing the lens closer to the sensor, smaller (and accordingly cheaper and lighter) lenses can be used, which is particularly significant for wide-angle lenses. Thus, due to the absence of a light box and having smaller lenses, micros are significantly smaller and lighter than DSLRs.

An example of a Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera is the Samsung NX100 which can be purchased for £429.00

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-NX100-Interchangeable-Lens-Camera/dp/B00472MGPE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1288637516&sr=1-1

A digital single-lens reflex camera is a digital camera that uses a mechanical mirror system and pentaprismlens to an optical viewfinder on the back of the camera. The basic operation of a DSLR is as follows: for viewing purposes, the mirror reflects the light coming through the attached lens upwards at a 90 degree angle. It is then reflected three times by the roof pentaprism, rectifying it for the photographer's eye. (Note that the diagram below incorrectly shows a non-roof pentaprism.) During exposure, the mirror assembly swings upward, the aperture narrows (if stopped down, or set smaller than wide open), and a shutter opens, allowing the lens to project light onto the image sensor. A second shutter then covers the sensor, ending the exposure, and the mirror lowers while the shutter resets. The period that the mirror is flipped up is referred to as "viewfinder blackout". A fast-acting mirror and shutter is preferred so as to not delay an action photo. All of this happens automatically over a period of milliseconds, with cameras designed to do this 3–10 times per second.DSLRs are often preferred by professional still photographers because they allow an accurate preview of framing close to the moment of exposure, and because DSLRs allow the user to choose from a variety of interchangeable lenses.

An example of a DSLR is the Nikon D7000 which is due to be released shortly for the price of £1029.00

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nikon-VBA290AB-D7000-Body-Only/dp/B00437RK7C/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1288638227&sr=1-6

A rangefinder camera is a camera fitted with a rangefinder: a range-finding focusing mechanism allowing the photographer to measure the subject distance and take photographs that are in sharp focus. Most varieties of rangefinder show two images of the same subject, one of which moves when a calibrated wheel is turned; when the two images coincide and fuse into one, the distance can be read off the wheel. Older, non-coupled rangefinder cameras display the focusing distance and require the photographer to transfer the value to the lens focus ring; cameras without built-in rangefinders could have an external rangefinder fitted into the accessory shoe. Earlier cameras of this type had separate viewfinder and rangefinder windows; later the rangefinder was incorporated into the viewfinder. More modern designs have rangefinders coupled to the focusing mechanism, so that the lens is focused correctly when the rangefinder images fuse; compare with the focusing screen in non-autofocus SLRs. 

An example of a rangefinder camera is the Leica M8.2 which can still be purchased for £3914.99

http://www.jacobsdigital.co.uk/p-36859-jacobs-digital-leica-m82-black.aspx

LCD Projectors

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) projectors pass light through LCD panels about the size of a postage stamp; the LCD panel is made up of minuscule panels ('pixels') that can be clear, opaque or some semi-clear point in between. These pixels take the form of the image to be created, and the light passes through the clear or partly-clear areas in the same way that light passes through the clear or gray parts of a negative. The projector's lens, in turn, expands the image and directs the light onto the screen or viewing surface.

An LCD projector can help any home theatre achieve that movie theater feel. Like any type of projector, however, you need a screen. There are a wide variety of screen types for LCD projectors depending on your needs, from permanent installations to compact and portable screens. Picking the right screen for your needs can help your home theater or mobile presentation achieve its true potential. 

Portable projection screens are easily dismantled and transported. While they can work for a home theater, they are better suited for people who conduct presentations at different locations and who must bring their set-up with them. Portable screens are commonly used in business and academic settings.

 

 

Fixed projection screens are mounted on a wall as a permanent fixture. These types of screens are typically found in homes with dedicated home theaters. Fixed screens do not retract, and are often covered by a curtain installation. Several companies offer specific wall paint to turn a wall into a fixed screen, allowing you to forgo the screen altogether.

 

Electric screens use an electric motor to retract the screen with the flick of a switch. The screen can mount from the ceiling, floor or a wall depending on your model. Electric screens offer a distinct advantage over fixed models as they can retract when not in use, giving you access to your wall space.

 

 

 

Manual screens retract just like electric screens, but rather than using a motor, manual screens use a spring system to retract. To retract the screen you simply pull on the bottom of the screen and it slides back up into the mount.

 

 

 

Scanners

A scanner is a device that optically scans images, printed text, handwriting or an object, and coverts it to a digital image.

There are four different types of scanner - drum scanner, a flatbed scanner, a film scanner and a handheld scanner. Here is some information on all four of them.

Drum Scanner - This is a type of scanner used to capture the highest resolution from an image. The drum scanner gets its name from the clear acrylic cylinder, the drum, on which the original artwork is mounted for scanning.  A light source that focuses on one pixel is beamed onto the drum and moves down the drum a line at a time. Here is an example of a drum scanner -

Flatbed Scanner - A flatbed scanner is usually composed of a glass pane, under which there is a bright light which illuminates the pane. Images to be scanned are placed face down on the glass, a cover is lowered over it to exclude ambient light, and the sensor array and light source move across the pane, reading the entire area. An image is therefore visible to the detector only because of the light it reflects. Here is an example of a flatbed scanner -

Film Scanner - A scanner designed and constructed to scan film only. The optics and transport hardware, as well as the image sensor and supporting electronics are optimized to scan film, not documents or other materials. Here is an example of a film scanner -

Handheld Scanner - Hand scanners come in two forms: document and 3D scanners.This scanner is moved by hand over the material being captured. Handheld scanners are small but partially rely on the user's dexterity to move the unit across the paper. Trays are available that keep the scanner moving in a straight line. Here is an example of a handheld scanner -