Multimedia networking

The applications of networked multimedia can be classfied into 2 categories: 1. those that assist in the communication between people, and 2. those that further the interaction between people and information. With desktop workstations as a gateway, networked multimedia can allow users to quickly transfer a full spectrum of full-motion video, text, application-based, and audio information over large geographical distances. Multimedia systems also affect the way users relate to information. Multimedia systems present information to users in a way they can easily understand and engage, through the use of color, motion images, and sound. Two network models - the OSI-based layer model and the multimedia server model - offer complementary methods for the delivery of multimedia information. Because the full implementation of multimedia requires more capabilities and resources than most common networks provide, new communication technologies are becoming available to handle the flow of multimedia information, including FDDI and SONET.