Examining Media Elements: Graphics
By
Janice Remington
MCIS/MMIS 681 Electronic Multimedia Systems
Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences
Nova Southeastern University
Summer 2011
Bitmap vs. Vector
Paint graphics vs. Drawn
Bitmap Most appropriate for photorealistic images and complex drawing Large file sizes, has inability to scale or resize the image easily
while maintaining quality Image’s bit depth determines the number of colors that can be
displayed by an individual pixel Can be found on a screen, scanned, downloaded from a
website, or from a video capture device Can manipulate or adjust its properties Colors will seem darker or richer
Vector Most appropriate for lines, boxes, circles, polygons, and other
graphic shapes that can be mathematically expressed in angles, coordinates, and distances
Can be filled with color or patterns, and can be selected as a single object
Uses a fraction of memory space required to describe and store the same object in bitmap form
Can be downloaded and drawn faster Can export as a bitmap Requires a plug-in for display on a web page Can not be used for photo realistic images
Pictures vs. Graphics
Vector: Graphics
Bitmap: Pictures
Compression Algorithms Lossless: in which a decompressed file is of exactly the
same size as the original file because no detail or content is lost in compression-decompression process
Lossy: in which a decompressed file is smaller in size than the original file because some detail or content is lost in compression-decompression process
File Formats GIF, JPEG, PNG: use compression
within the file JPEG, GIF: most common bitmap
formats used on the Web and may be considered cross platform
BMP, TIFF: Mostly used in Windows
File Format Acronyms
TIFF: Tagged Interchange File Format GIF: Graphic Interchange Format BMP: A Windows Bitmap Image File Format JPEG: Joint Photographic Experts Group PNG: Portable Network Graphic
File Format Definitions TIFF: a universal bitmapped image format GIF: a proprietary bitmap image format limited to a palette of
256 colors and widely used on the Web BMP: designated with the .bmp file extension JPEG: designation for a bitmap image file format widely used on
the Web for photo-realistic images, designated by the .jpg file extension
PNG: bitmap image file format created as a free alternative to the GIF format
Things to Remember Make sure your multimedia authoring
package can import the image files you produce, and that your application can export such a file
Bitmap: photo-realistic images Vector: easy to size and manipulate
images
URL Resources http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fy9Pb
y0Gzsc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fy9Pb
y0Gzsc&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMi1I
04ILGk&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI0rf
2r-dx8&feature=related
Reference
Vaughan, T. (2007). Multimedia: Making it Work, 7th Edition. New York: McGraw Hill Technology Education.