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Digital media, or electronic media that is made and displayed using computers, is becoming more prevalent these days. It shows up everywhere, from digital audio, video, and online games, to internet technology, e-mail, and social networking sites. Technology can sometimes distance people from others because it substitutes in some ways for interpersonal interaction. However, one way digital media brings people closer together is by using it to document and share some of life’s precious moments.
Still cameras have always been the type of media that was used to record family and friends getting together or babies taking their first steps. Traditional or film cameras use light to transfer images to photographic film. Digital cameras have replaced film cameras for many because of their ease of use and instant picture gratification. Digital images can be immediately transferred to a computer for processing with a photo editing software, or uploaded to a hard drive, such as Apple TV, and displayed as a slide show on the television. Photo editing software does have a small learning curve, however, and pictures that are enlarged or taken with a low camera resolution can suffer a form of distortion known as pixilation.
When family and friends are not living close by, another form of digital media technology steps in to keep the bonds going strong. Video is the new favorite because, with the development of lower-priced, high functioning video equipment, as well as phones and computers that also capture video, users have many more opportunities to record slices of their lives to share. Video is attention-getting; it conveys information much more quickly than other types of media and can be posted at online sites such as YouTube or sent via e-mail to Grandma and Grandpa to see their grandchild’s first steps. Whether using still photo technology or video, digital media is helping to bring people together in a way that is enhanced with new methods to make it easier than ever. When talking about digital media, we cannot ignore the importance of digital media players. Good media players are mandatory to play back music and videos. Some good open source media players that you may consider to have in your system are:
1- VLC- An open source media player that can handle vcds, dvds, web streams, TV cards etc. VLC player can even playback damaged media files as well.
2- Media Player- Another media player that you can consider having in your system if you are in love with the classic looks of windows media player. In terms of functionality the Media player replaces the need of having multiple players in your system.
3- KM Player – A multi media player having minimal desktop footprint because of having a small interface.
4- BS player – A very user friendly media player that is trusted my over 70 million users worldwide. The BS player supports a large number of media formats.
Other than open source players, you may consider investing in players like Quick Time, Real Player etc