Multimedia
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Section Objectives
After completing this section you will be able to:
 Differentiate between various CD and DVD technologies
 Determine a CD or DVD X factor from an advertisement or specification
sheet
 Explain the basics of how a CD/DVD drive works
 State the various interfaces and ports used to connect CD/DVD drives
 Explain the basic operation of a sound card
 Install, configure, and troubleshoot a sound card
 Use Windows XP to verify CD/DVD drive and sound card installation
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Multimedia Overview
 The term multimedia has different meanings to different people
because there are so many different types of multimedia
devices. This chapter focuses on the most popular areas and you
will find that other devices are similar to install and
troubleshoot.
 Multimedia devices:
– CD and DVD technologies
– Sound cards
– Speakers
– Cameras
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CD Drive Overview
CD Drive terms:
– CD Drive also known as a CD-ROM (Compact
Disk-Read Only Memory) Drive is a device that
uses compact disks.
– CD (Compact Disk) is a disk that holds large
amounts of data (628MB and higher), such as audio,
software applications, and graphics.
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CD Drive Speeds
CD-ROM drives operate much slower than hard
drives.
CD-ROM drive specifications:
– Average Seek Time is the time required for a drive
to move randomly about the disk.
– Average Access Time is the time required to find
and retrieve data on a disk or in memory.
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CD Drive Speeds
CD drive transfer speeds
Multimedia – Table 8.1
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CD Drive Speeds
CD drive access times
Multimedia – Table 8.2
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CD Drive Buffers/Cache
Ways to reduce CD data transfers time:
– Buffer memory located on the CD drive
– A minimum of 500KB buffer size is recommended
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Theory of CD Drive Operation
Data is stored on a CD with pits and flats.
– Pits are indentations along the track of a CD.
– Flats are lands that separate the pits in a CD.
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Theory of CD Drive Operation
Inside a CD drive
Multimedia – Figure 8.2
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CD Disk Loading
 Methods for inserting a compact disk into a CD drive:
– Tray Loaded is a method to insert a CD into a drive. They are less
expensive but more likely to have lower MTBFs.
 MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) is the average number of
hours before a device fails.
– Caddy Loaded is a term used to describe how a CD inserts into a CD
drive using a special holder.
 Caddy is a holder for a compact disk that inserts into the CD drive.
– Slot Loaded is a term used to describe how a CD loads into a slot in the
CD drive. This has the disadvantage of disk jams.
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CD-ROM Disk Loading
CD drive with tray and CD caddy
Multimedia – Figure 8.3
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CD-R and CD-RW
 CD-R (compact disk recordable) is a CD drive that can create a
compact disk by writing once to the disk.
– UDF (Universal Disk Format) is a CD-R drive standard
used by some manufacturers.
– DDCD (Double Density CD) is a CD disk format that
extends to 1.3GB. Drives that use this specification can also
read regular CDs, CD-R disks, and CD-RW disks.
 WORM (Write Once-Read Many) is a technology that writes
data once to a disk.
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CD-R and CD-RW
 CD-RW (CD rewritable) or CD-E is a CD drive that can write
data multiple times to a particular disk.
– Dye-Polymer is a technology for making CD-E or CD-RW
disks by laser-heating the disk surface to produce light
reflecting bumps.
 MultiRead or MultiRead2 is an OSTA specification that states
the CD-RW drive is backward compatible with CD-ROM and
CD-R disks.
 Multisession – A feature which allows a CD-R or CD-RW
drive to support multiple sessions.
 MRW - named Mount Rainier. MRW provides an improvement
on UDF by saving to CD and DVDs as if they were hard drives.
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CD Standards
CD Standards
Multimedia – Table 8.3
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Magneto-Optical Drives
MO (Magneto-Optical) Drive is a type of drive
that uses a special technology for reading and
writing multiple times to a compact disk. After
the disk is heated by the laser to produce a
bump, a magnet applies a charge to the surface.
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DVD Drives
 DVD-ROM is a technology that produces disks with superior
audio and video performance and increased storage capacity.
– In DVD drives, the MPEG-2 video must be converted, and
the decoder is the way to convert the data.
– DirectX is a Microsoft DVD technology that integrates
multimedia drivers, application code, and 3-D support for
audio and video.
– Region Code is a setting on a DVD drive or disk that
specifies a geographic region.
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Decoders
Decoders are used to decompress the video and
audio from a DVD.
– Hardware Decoder requires a PCI adapter and
handles the decoding.
– Software Decoder is a type of DVD decoder that
puts the burden on the CPU to decode and
uncompress the MPEG-2 video data from the DVD.
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DVD Drives
DVD Region Codes
Multimedia – Table 8.5
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Other DVD Technologies
 Types of DVD Technologies:
– DVD-RAM uses a phase technology like CD-RW and allows
data to be rewritten on a DVD-RAM disk.
– DVD-R uses WORM technology to use one or two sides of
the disk.
– DVD-RW (DVD-ReWritable) uses 4.7GB disks that can be
erased and rewritten to the disk.
– DVD+RW (DVD Read and Write) is a drive that can be read
from, written to, and discs holds 2.8GB per side.
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DVD Standards
DVD book type field values
Multimedia – Table 8.6
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Blu-ray Drives
Blu-ray – an optical disc technology that uses
blue laser technology instead of the red laser
technology currently used by CD/DVD drives.
Blu-ray has a higher data transfer rate than
DVDs and stores 27GB on a single side disc or
50GB on a dual-side disc.
Blu-ray was developed for high-definition
video and data storage.
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CD/DVD Drive Interfaces and
Connections
Types of CD and DVD Drive Interfaces:
–
–
–
–
–
–
PATA
IDE – most common for internal
SATA IDE
SCSI
USB – most common for external
FireWire
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CD/DVD Drive Upgrades
• Questions to analyze a CD/DVD Drive upgrade:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Are speakers or sound wanted?
What microprocessor is installed in the computer?
Is a slot available in the computer for a sound card?
Will video-intensive CDs be used?
Does the computer have enough RAM?
Does the computer have a sound system that accepts
digital audio input and support Dolby Digital Surround
Sound?
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Preventive Maintenance for CD/DVD
Drives and Discs
If the laser lens gets dust, dirt, or moisture on it,
the drive may report data or read errors.
– Laser Lens or Objective Lens is a special
component of the CD drive that is responsible for
reading information from the CD disk.
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CD/DVD Drive Installation
 CD/DVD Drive Installation Steps:
– Install any necessary mounting brackets on the drive.
– Set the appropriate master/slave, SCSI ID, or termination for
the drive interface.
– Turn off computer power, and install appropriate adapter if
necessary .
– Install drive.
– Attach the appropriate cables to the drive.
 Device Driver is a small piece of software that stays in RAM to
allow communication with a piece of hardware.
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Laptop CD/DVD Drive
Many laptop have bays which allow for the
exchange of storage devices.
The removal of the keyboard may be necessary
to access internally mounted drives.
FireWire or USB can be used to connect
external drives.
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Troubleshooting CD/DVD Drive Problems
Troubleshooting CD/DVD Drive Problems:
– Always use the latest drivers.
– Correct any interrupt, DMA channel, and I/O address
conflicts.
– Verify that the CD or DVD is installed in the drive.
– Check power connections, cabling, and configuration
settings.
– Additional troubleshooting tips can be found on page
289.
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Sound
Sound Card Features:
– MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is
used to create synthesized music and found on a
sound card.
– MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer-3) is a sound format
that compresses an audio file and has the extension
of MP3.
– AAC (Advanced Audio Compression) is a sound
file format that provides file compression superior
to MP3.
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Sound
CD drive with sound card
Multimedia – Figure 8.10
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Sound
Multimedia Sound Blaster sound card ports
Multimedia – Figure 8.11
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Sound
PC design symbols
Multimedia – Figure 8.12
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Sound Card Theory of Operation
 The sound card must take the analog signal and
convert it to a digital format to send the sound into the
computer. To convert an analog waveform to 1s and
0s, samples of data are taken.
 Frequency Response is the number of samples taken
by a sound card.
 It is recommended to purchase a PCI/PCI-E sound
card that uses a minimum of 16 bits for sampling.
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Sound Card Theory of Operation
Sound Wave
Multimedia – Figure 8.13
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Sound Card Theory of Operation
8-Bit Sampling
Multimedia – Figure 8.14
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Sound Card Theory of Operation
16-Bit Sampling
Multimedia – Figure 8.15
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Installing Sound Cards
The steps to installing a sound card are similar
to other adapters. The onboard sound must be
disabled before installing a new sound adapter.
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Sound Cards Using Windows XP
 Audio Drivers:
– WDM (Windows Driver Model) is a kernel mode process that handles
audio management such as multiple streams of real-time audio.
– DS3D (DirectSound3D) is a Microsoft development included in
DirectX3 that adds more 3D audio effect commands.
– A3D is an audio standard developed by Aureal Semiconductor that
supports hardware acceleration and allows simulation of sounds in
certain environments such as a tunnel or under water.
– EAX (Environmental Audio Extensions) is Creative Labs’ development
that allows software and game developers to create a realistic audio
environment such as muffling effects and audio directional effects.
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Speakers
Speaker Features:
– Power Rating is how loud the volume can go
without distorting the sound and is expressed
in watts-per-channel.
– Frequency Response Range is the range of
sounds a speaker can reproduce.
– Shielding cancels out and keeps magnetic
interference from devices.
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Speakers
 The following is a list of extras for speakers:
– An external volume control
– Headphone jacks
– Headphone and microphone pass-through connectors
– AC adapter
– Proper connectors to connect speakers to the sound card
– If the sound card is capable of 3D sound, a four or six
speaker system is an enhancement.
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Troubleshooting Sound Problems
• Troubleshooting Sound Problems:
– Verify that the sound card is secured in a PCI or
ISA slot and no cuts are present in the speaker
wires.
– Verify installation of the correct sound drivers.
– Verify that there are not any resource conflicts.
– Check the speaker’s connection to the back of the
computer.
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Scanners
 A Scanner is an input device that allows documents including text and pictures to be
brought into the computer and displayed, printed, etc.
 The most common types of scanners:
– Flatbed
– Sheetfed
– Handheld
– Film
– Barcode Reader
 Scanners attach to the computer using one of three methods:
– Parallel
– USB
– SCSI
– IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
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Scanners
The most common scanner file formats:
– JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) is good for web pictures and master copies.
– GIF (Graphic Interchange Format) is limited to 256 colors and good for web pictures.
– TIFF (Tag Image File Format) is good for master copies.
– PNG (Portable Network Graphics) is the newest type and supports 24 and 48-bit color.
 Scanner Terms:
– Resolution is measured in dots per inch and determined by the number of sensors in the
CCD array.
– Bit depth is the number of bits used for color. The more bits, the more colors and color
depth.
– Interpolation is software used by the scanner to achieve a greater resolution.
– OCR (Optical Character Recognition) is software that processes printed or written text
characters.
– TWAIN is a driver used that allows applications to access and acquire images directly
from the scanner.
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Digital Cameras
 Digital camera stores photographs in digital form.
 Digital cameras connect to the computer with several different interfaces:
– Serial
– Parallel
– USB
– SCSI
– FireWire
 The most common types of Digital Camera Batteries:
– AA
– NiCad
– NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride)
– Li-Ion (Lithium Ion)
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Digital Cameras
The most common types of Digital Camera Data
Storage:
CF (Compact Flash)
SmartMedia
Memory Stick
Secure Digital
PC Card drives
Multimedia card
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Digital Cameras
• Memory card readers are popular devices with
multiple slots for different memory media.
• Web cams are another popular type of digital
camera that are used to transmit live video
across the internet.
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