Week 6: Clear

      

Multimedia

In week 6 a new topic was introduced, namely multimedia. The lectures we had to watch were about (1) images, (2) audio and (3) video. They all began by explaining what an image, audio or video data actually is and what the key characteristics are. After that "compression" was dealt, followed by the explanation of different file formats. Finally, the lectures closed by outlining which hard- and softwares are used to fully exploit images, audios and videos.Of course each lecture had its own specific "character" but the structure was quite similar which made it convenient to follow them.

In the lecture about audios, the concept of DRM was explained further. DRM means "digital rights management" and described a way to control access to an audio file. By using DRM you can limit the access to a file to one device and you can also set an expiration date after which the file cannot be used any more. But Mr. Olsen also explained a way to circumvent these restrictions.This way is called "Analog hole" and is a quite simple way to get around access controls. If a file is restricted to one device you can just record it to a second device and so set up a completely new audio file on that device, by just losing minor quality. To find out more about the "Analog hole" just click here.

In the lecture about images, the software Google Picasa was named as an example for softwares useful to work on images. I immediately downloaded the program (here), as I lacked a proper software for working on images before. Thus, the program is really valuable for me as it is a simple tool to enhance the quality of your images. You should definitely download it if you are looking for a software for working on images and start playing around with it. This is probably the best way to find out about the different functions of the program, as it is a really simple and clear program.