It’s been a busy couple of days.

When we think about communications we can break them down to wired and wireless. The trend in communication is toward faster and more secure connections. This increase in bandwidth can be achieved with compression and improved speed due to falling costs.

The trend is storage solutions is for faster access of larger storage capacity. This is driven by the rapid uptake of multimedia applications that make use of video. Take a look at the progression

• CD-ROM – can store an music album of about 72 minutes without compression
• DVD-ROM – can store an entire SD movie
• Blu-Ray – can store an entire 3D HD movie (3d requires twice the storage)

Processors are becoming  more power efficient. This allows the the processors to be run at faster clock speeds and for each processor to have multiple cores. This allows for more media to be displayed and processed at the same time.

Display technology have moved toward greater pixel density and higher resolutions on a flat display. This coupled with cheaper 3D displays has allowed virtual 3D to move from the cinema screen to the the LCD screen. In the future volumetric displays will allow the projection of images that will allow the user to look at objects from all sides.

Links after the jump

• Description of trends and changes in contemporary technologies that facilitate the convergence of technologies in relation of multimedia capabilities, including:
  • communications
    • buses
    • wireless standards
    • increasing bandwidth
    • USB
    • Firewire
    • WiFi
    • Bluetooth
  • storage technologies
    • decreasing physical size and price
    • increasing capacity
    • optical
    • magnetic
    • holographic
  • processor
    • increasing power
  • display technologies
    • including real and virtual 3D displays
    • flat displays