The creation of multimedia capabilities for the PC was probably given initial impetus by gamers, and certainly it is the case today that game demands drive graphical innovations. In computer sound capabilities musicians found a whole new means for creating and recording music, with studio technology condensed into their home PC. Quickly, business and education began to utilise the dynamism of sound and vision. Applications to harness and exploit multimedia ranged all the way from businesses’ use of Voice Over IP (VoIP) …to educators’ use of Audience Response Systems to interact with learners. Home PC users continued to take advantage of the opportunities to do professional home video editing and music mixing.
Eventually, broadband Internet opened the doors for digital music, online gaming, movie downloads, Internet TV and more. The PC has since been posited as a home media centre, offering a complete home entertainment hub. There is no doubt, multimedia is a cornerstone of home computers.
CRT Monitors
The Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitor has been integral to the rise of the PC. Learn how this TV technology was co-opted for the computer market.
Digital Video
Another mini-revolution within the PC world, home video editing has opened an unprecedented world of creativity to business and home users into the 21st Century.
Flat Panel Displays
The lighter, space saving flat panel monitors offer clear advantages over CRT monitors. Here the various technologies on offer are explained.
Graphics Cards
The graphics card is a component that possibly gains more attention than any other. Now a complex, integrated subsystem with their own RAM and processing power, they are very much a computer within your computer.
Sound Cards
Once the PC began to be taken seriously for its potential in music, the development of sound cards really took off
The combination of the PC and the telephone is the basis of the success of the Internet and the creation of a whole vista of new ways to communicate.