Hardware requirements for multimedia

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Task 4Read this extract from the tapescript and try to fill in the gaps. The first letter of

each missing word is given.

NATHAN WARD: Tull-motion video' refers to the impression the v__________

has that he or she is watching f__________ 2_ ³television. The

idea is to c___________ ⁴ full-motion video in r 't_________________ 6

and digitize and c_____________ 7 information nformation so that the system can treat

it like any other digital data s__________ ⁸. Some systems do it better than
others.

INTERVIEWER: I see. Getting back to h__________ ⁹requirements, apart from

the e__________ ¹⁰cards that you mentioned, is there anything else that is

needed?

NATHAN WARD: Yes. The machine must have i		_ for a variety of

input and output d ________ 12

INTERVIEWER: Such as?

NATHAN WARD: Such as a CD-ROM d

a		_ tape...

INTERVIEWER: Isn't there a problem of c____________ 16

NATHAN WARD: There is, but that situation is changing. Microsoft's b______ ¹⁷-1 ¹⁸ MPC specification has some support, but it's

only a start. The lack of s	19 is the main reason that multimedia is

not bigger than it is. Once these are in place, users will have easy p ²⁰-and-p ²¹ compatibility, and developers will be

able to develop a____________ ²² that can run on a variety of p________ 23.

Now listen again to the cassette and check your answers.

Reading

Task 5

Read these sentences and decide which one best summarizes the text which follows. 1Computers cannot yet match the technological achievements of conventional audio-visual systems. 2Although multimedia computer systems are improving very fast, they do not yet reflect the multimedia world we already live in. 3Multimedia computer technology will soon be widely used in business, in industry, and in the home.

JET AIRCRAFT technician peers

Ainto the bowels of a malfunctioning engine searching for the source of the problem.

5 Finally, he spots it. Buried deep within the engine is the troublesome part. He will have to replace it. A complicated procedure, to say the least.

10 The technician goes to his high-

powered workstation attached to a network and calls up the information on the part and the replacement procedure. An image

15 of the part seated in the engine appears. In another window, an instructor demonstrates the repair procedure in full-motion video while the technician listens through

20 the audio channel as the instructor explains the process. Diagrams pop up to further clarify key points. In a text window, he reviews lists of

necessary parts and tools he will

25 need to complete the repair.

Still confused about an irregularity in this situation, the technician presses the help key and a real-time image of a live

30 supervisor pops up in another window. Using the attached microphone, the technician discusses the particular problem with the supervisor, who directs

35 more information onto the technician's screen. The technician points a video camera at the part in question to show the supervisor the specific situation.

40 Welcome to the world of high-

end multimedia. The situation described above is not quite here yet, but most of the pieces already

exist to make this scenario

45 become a reality using a

networked RS/6000 or other high-powered workstation.

Or take this example of a

scenario that is more likely

50 today. A manager creates a detailed business presentation involving text, graphics, digitized photographic still images, and tables of spreadsheet data all

55 combined in a single compound document. Before sending the document across the network to a colleague, the manager picks up the microphone and attaches

60 an audio note to one of the tables, reminding the colleague about something unusual or potentially confusing in the accompanying figures.

65 Using a networked RS/6000

equipped with the necessary audio boards and Bolt Baranek & Newman's (Cambridge, Mass.) BBN/Slate, a compound

70 document/office automation application, this scenario is

possible today. High-end multimedia is only in its infancy, but it is here. And over the next

75 few years, industry observers expect multimedia development to accelerate as current barriers are overcome.

Multimedia is not a new

80 phenomenon, although it is new to business computing. We live in a multimedia world. At home, we experience a variety of media through our television: full-

85 motion video, still images,

graphics, sound, and animation. ►

⁴¹¹ At school, we learn through systematic exposure to different media: the instructor's words, text,

90 audio tapes, graphics, and a variety of visuals and video.

Computers, however, have tended to be uni-medium. Traditionally, computers were text-

95 based, and this continues to be the

primary format for business information. A few systems have provided sound or graphics, but until recently, the efforts were

100 rudimentary compared to the

seamlessly integrated, high-quality visuals, video and audio we experience every evening at home. ■

■ Vocabulary

peers into the bowels of (1. 1) — looks down into

Task 6

Decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F) in relation to the information in the text. If you think a statement is false, change it to make it true.

1 I 1 The jet aircraft technician first locates the faulty part and makes a mark on it.

21^-1 The technician calls up his supervisor from his workstation to get information about the faulty part and the replacement procedure.

3The technician can display a computer-generated graphical

representation of a supervisor on his screen.

1^-1 This kind of repair procedure could well be possible before long.

Il

II

8 II In terms of quality, multimedia computer systems have only recently become comparable with the media we already use.

Task 7

Using the line references given, find the words in the text which mean: 1 catches sight of (lines 1-5) 2order of doing things (lines 5-10) 3instruments (lines 20-25) 4appears (lines 30-35) 5top quality (lines 40-45) 6made up of two or more parts (lines 55-60) 7early stages of development (lines 70-75) 8obstacles (lines 75-80) 9undeveloped (lines 95-100) 10 smoothly (lines 100-104)

Speaking

Task 8Work in pairs using the information in the advertisement below.

Student A:You are interested in upgrading your PC to use multimedia. Describe your machine to the salesperson and ask about the various options available, prices, etc.

PC specifications

386 25MHz

4 MB RAM

105MB hard disk VGA colour monitor 3 expansion slots

Student B:You work for a company that sells hardware and software. Find out what your customer wants and check that his/her PC can be upgraded, by referring back to the list you made in Task 3. Explain the options that are available and try to persuade the customer to buy one of the products advertised.

Low cost hardware and software is now
available to transform your Personal
Computer into a MultiMedia workshop.

TEMPRA PROis a fully functional 24 bit colour image editor which can be used to create, import and edit colour pictures. Images can be scanned from a variety of scanners or captured directly from a video camera.

TEMPRA SHOWis a MultiMedia development system and a menu-driven storyboard editor for presentations. This exiciting new medium has been built to give you the power to express your thoughts in a simple and flexible manner.

CREATIVE LABS MULTI-MEDIA UPGRADE KITincludes the Sound Blaster Pro stereo card, MIDI Kit, a high-perfromance CD-ROM drive, Microsoft Windows® version 3.0 graphical enviroment with Multimedia extensions 1.0, Sound Blaster Pro software and additional CD-ROM titles.

MICROKEY/DIGIVIEWis an AT compatible expansion board that captures near photo quality images from still or motion video sources and displays full-colour motion video in a window on standard VGA monitors.

For more information contact us on

T E L (0923) 240272 F A X (0923) 228796

26 GREENHILL CRESC ENT,WATEORD BUSINESS PARK,
WA TFORD,HER TFORDSHIRE,WD I 8XG

	Writing Work in pairs. You manage a company specializing in multimedia hardware and software. Prepare a leaflet to inform companies of the potential benefits of using multimedia. Invite them to contact you for a free consultation.
Task 9