1. I Power Multimedia Technology Technologies

2. Higher USB The Universal Serial Bus is a means of connecting external devices such as scanners, keyboards, mice to a PC port. Key Features: Fast transfer rate: 12 Mbps for fast devices and 1.5Mbps for keyboards and mice. You can connect many devices at once: Daisy Chaining. No need to configure new equipment. Simply plug and play Int. 2

3. Higher USB (Cont.) USB2 This is an improved version of USB which has three operating speeds: 1.5, 12 and 480 Mbps. USB Connection Int. 2

4. Higher Firewire IEEE 1394 Used for connecting audio/visual and multimedia applications like digital camcorders, digital cameras and digital TV equipment, music systems. Key Features: High speed up to a max of 800Mbps (1.6 and 3.2 Gbps versions are under development). It is capable of delivering the speeds needed to support the handling and transmitting of multimedia data. Int. 2

5. Higher Firewire IEEE 1394 (Cont.) Using fibre-optic cables, firewire 800 can send data at 800 Mbps over distances if 100 meters. It supports up to 63 devices by daisy chaining on the one connection. Key Features: It can handle compressed video, digitised audio and system commands on the common bus simultaneously. Firewire Connection

6. Higher Wireless Communications WiFi WiFi networks use radio technologies. This wireless technology can be used to connect computers to each other to for a LAN, the internet, even to a wired LAN. Can connect wireless printers, servers, notebooks, PDA’s and Desktops. Available in two speeds, 11Mbps and 54Mbps. Int. 2

7. Higher Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short range wireless transmission system used for: Mobile phones PDA’s Printers Keyboard / Mouse Modems Int. 2

8. Higher Bluetooth Adaptor Bluetooth (Cont.) Key Parameters: Range: 10 meters or 100 meters with a booster. Speed: 720 kbps (a 10Mbps version is planned) Data can be exchanged by up to eight devices simultaneously.

9. Higher Developments in Technology You need to know about developments in storage technology. Particular attention should be paid to: Decreasing size and price. Increasing capacity. Examples should be taken from optical magnetic, optical and holographic technologies. Int. 2

10. Higher Holographic Storage CDs, DVDs and magnetic storage all store bits of information on the surface of a recording medium. Scientists are now working on a new optical storage method, called holographic memory, that will go beneath the surface and use the volume of the recording medium for storage, instead of only the surface area.

11. Higher Holographic Storage (Cont.) Three-dimensional data storage will be able to store more information in a smaller space and offer faster data transfer times. Holographic memory offers the possibility of storing 1 terabyte (TB) of data in a sugar-cube-sized crystal. A terabyte of data equals 1,024 gigabytes.

12. Higher Real 3-D display The old standard way of achieving 3-D display is using a pair of special glasses. Emerging technologies don’t require these. Spatial 3-D display technology uses a rotating projection lens to create an image that appears to occupy 3-D space in a transparent dome. This is a high end technology designed for specialist use and is very expensive.

13. Higher Virtual 3-D displays These are 3-D displays that have been developed for use with virtual reality systems. They usually use a variation on goggles or a helmet that has two monitors producing the 3-D effect. They can be relatively inexpensive. Int. 2

14. Higher 3-D flat panel displays Flat panel displays are being developed to produce a 3-D image. One version uses ‘Parallax illumination’. This involves: Creating two slightly different images of the same data; Directing these images to two separate regions so that each eye receives different data, fooling the brain into seeing one 3-D display.

15. Higher Who uses 3-D displays? At present they are used by people working on: Creating and using simulations; Research projects; Image processing. Eventually this technology will be commercially available to us all and 3-D displays will be common place.