Multimedia Signals and Systems (Kluwer International Series in Engineering & Computer Science)

Rating:
Summary: An excellent and interesting introduction to multimedia
Review: It is not easy to find a textbook on multimedia for upper level undergraduate and graduate computer engineering students. This book has filled the need, and has presented an excellent and interesting introduction to multimedia in fifteen chapters. Although, it has been assumed that the readers have knowledge about discrete-time signals and systems, a chapter has been included to review basic transforms and filter theory, as well as to present advanced theories such as discrete cosine transform and wavelets. The signal processing theories have been explained and demonstrated with simple examples. A strong point of the book is the accompanying CD that contains MATLAB codes for all relevant examples. The readers can easily run these codes and verify the results of the audio/image/video experiments presented in the book. For those who are not familiar with MATLAB, the processed audio/image/videos for several examples are provided in the CD. These readers can just play the audio file or display the image to verify the subjective quality. Instructors should also find the Power Point figures and tables provided by the author useful.

Rating:
Summary: Concise and Very Informative
Review: Most books on Multimedia either deal with specific applications of multimedia or offer an analysis of just one Multimedia standard, but this book establishes the fundamentals of multimedia signal processing, introducing generic concepts and then offering a more detailed analysis of the underlying mathematical concepts.

The language is simple and the author does not try to confuse the reader with technical jargon- a very good read. The material on audio and video compression and various standards is especially intensive. The example programs in the MATLAB CD are well written and give a clear understanding of the practical aspects of digital filtering, compression algorithms and the basics of multimedia signal processing. I would strongly recommend this book to someone who wants to know the 'whys' as well as the 'hows'.