Multimedia

Media and content that uses a combination of different content forms is known as Multimedia. It includes text, audio, still images, animation, video, or interactivity content forms. It is generally recorded and played, displayed, or accessed by information content processing devices, such as computerized and electronic devices, and can also be part of a live performance. Electronic media devices used to store and experience multimedia content are known as multimedia devices.

Types of multimedia

Multimedia is divided into linear and non-linear categories.

• Linear active content is often used without any navigational control for the viewer such as a cinema presentation. A recorded presentation may allow interactivity via a navigation system.
• Non-linear uses interactivity to control progress such as a video game or self-paced computer based training and hypermedia. A live multimedia presentation allows interactivity through an interaction with the presenter or performer.

Applications of Multimedia

• Multimedia can be applied in various areas which include advertisements, art, education, entertainment, engineering, medicine, mathematics, business, scientific research and spatial temporal applications.
• Creative industries uses multimedia for a many purposes namely fine arts, entertainment, commercial art, journalism, media and software services provided for any of the industries.
• Commercial artists use an electronic old and new media which is a multimedia.
• In Education field, multimedia is used to produce computer-based training courses popularly called CBTs and reference books like encyclopedia and almanacs.
• In addition, multimedia may refer to devices used for the storage of electronic multimedia content.

Industry Overview

Multimedia is used as a way to present information to shareholders, superiors and coworkers. It is also helpful for providing employee training, advertising and selling products all over the world through virtually unlimited web-based technology.

There is a growth in multimedia market mainly due to increase in downloading music over mobile networks, increase in Mobile Personalization such as ringtones, logos and graphics, wallpapers and screensavers, master tones, skins and video ringtones services, changes in lifestyle of consumers, increase in spending on filmed entertainment, interactive games and increased internet access.

Multimedia Industry Current Trends

As per the reports, mobile multimedia market is the fastest-growing market in Asia Pacific region. Western Europe is emerging for larger number of mobile multimedia users particularly in Russia. In Asia Pacific region namely India and Japan, it showed strong growth in multimedia market. Middle East and Africa is not yet mature market for multimedia revenues whereas, the South and Central America drives the most part of multimedia revenues globally.

Major Industry Players

4Kids Entertainment Inc i.e. KIDEQ, APN News & Media Ltd i.e. APNDF, Astral Media Inc i.e. AAIAF, Blackout Media Corp i.e. BKMP in USA, Baba Arts Ltd i.e. BBA, Fast Track Entertainment Ltd i.e. FTFS in India, Arcontech Group PLC i.e. ARC, Grupo Clarin SA i.e. GCLA in UK, etc are some of the major multimedia industry players.