Completely class-tested, this book introduces all the important multimedia topics for students in computer science and engineering. The text presents an overview of the tools and taxonomy of multimedia authoring, including data representations for images, video, and audio; vital aspects of colour; data compression; multimedia communication and retrieval; and the content-based retrieval in digital libraries. Table of Contents Preface. Part I: MULTIMEDIA AUTHORING AND DATA REPRESENTATIONS- 1. Introduction to Multimedia. 2. Multimedia Authoring and Tools. 3. Graphics and Image Data Representations. 4. Color in Image and Video. 5. Fundamental Concepts in Video. 6. Basics of Digital Audio. Part II: MULTIMEDIA DATA COMPRESSION- 7. Lossless Compression Algorithms. 8. Lossy Compression Algorithms. 9. Image Compression Standards. 10. Basic Video Compression Techniques. 11. MPEG Video Coding I-MPEG-1 and 2. 12. MPEG Video Coding II-MPEG-4, 7, and Beyond. 13. Basic Audio Compression Techniques. 14. MPEG Audio Compression. Part III: MULTIMEDIA COMMUNICATION AND RETRIEVAL- 15. Computer and Multimedia Networks. 16. Multimedia Network Communications and Applications. 17. Wireless Networks. 18. Content-Based Retrieval in Digital Libraries. Index.