Digital media
BY ISABELLE CHACTY
What is Digital Media?
Digital Media is practically traditional media
manipulated by computers, and they are
created and shared virtually rather than
physically. Digital media is really everywhere,
and it’s uses are grouped into text, audio,
graphics, animation and video. Digital media is
used in E-music, digital magazines, newspapers
and books, gaming, TV, health and commerce.
Digital media offers to make us more creative
and allows us to access data more efficiently.
Where is Digital Media Used?
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E-music;
This is where music is sold online on stores like iTunes.
Apple’s iTunes software, iTunes music store, iPhone,
iPod, iPad and other portable digital music players let
users buy and download thousands of songs online
and easily store, organise and play them. E-music is
usually available in the MPEG layer 3 (MP3) or AAC
audio formats, and this allows digital data to be
stored with minimal loss of audio quality and with
small file sizes.
-
Digital newspapers, magazines and books;
Digital newspapers and magazines are typed out n
programs on the computer, and photographs of the
book’s pages are scanned into the computer, so
that all of these types of media can not only be read
on paper, but on the laptop or computer as well.
Some websites also allow users to create their own
newspaper from their favourite sections of the world’s
press.
Where is Digital Media Used?
-
Gaming;
Many advances that are made in digital media are
driven by the games industry. In the early days,
computer games were played in shops and arcades
and then as home computers became widespread,
their popularity got larger. Some examples of gaming
are Xbox and Nintendo games, and also the
PlayStation. Three-dimensional realistic characters,
complex background sounds and greater attention to
detail means that gaming environments are even
more compelling and popular.
-
TV;
The ABC’s iView website gets viewers to catch up on
missed free-to-air programs using their computer, a TV
with web access or a mobile device. Interactive TV
(iTV) allows viewers to selects aspects like the camera
angle at which they watch a game of sport (football)
or an alternative outcome to a TV soap. Interactive TV
has a similar level or interactivity to DVDs.
Where is Digital Media Used?
-
Health
Examples of digital media products in the field of medicine
are used widely today. If you were to have an X-ray or
computerised axial tomography (CAT) scan, you could ask
for a DVD with your scan stored as a digital graphic. Digital
hearing aids can be connected to computers and this
allows the patients to adjust the sound quality and sensitivity
to appease their needs. Surgeons have used digital
techniques to perform remote operations using the internet,
where they can select a camera view and angle to
operate on a patient in another part of the world.
-
Commerce
Some examples of commerce digital media is when you
buy a soft drink from a vending machine, how all you do is
simply phone up the vending machine on the railway
station and it will automatically dispense a can and debit
your account. Or maybe when you are at a supermarket,
buying products from a self-checkout, and when you are
scanning your products random digital ads scroll across the
checkout screen. Real estate agents also create virtual
digital journeys through houses which are for sale, using
digital panoramic photographs.
The End!