PAF: Media encoding
This course introduces the role and principles of the encoding and compression of speech, music and video in a digital communications system.
This course can be studied on its own or as part of the "PTT Level 3 Award in Principles of Telecommunications" study programme.
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Target audience:
This course is designed for those who require an introduction to the fundamental technical concepts that underpin modern telecommunications. The course is suitable for those joining the industry in a technical role especially those in an apprenticeship.
Course prerequisites:
An understanding of the basic properties of analogue and digital signals. It is recommended that the PTT course "Analogue and digital signals" is studied before attempting this course.
Course objectives:
By the end of this course you will be able to:
- explain the digital communications system constraints that necessitate the compression of encoded speech and video signals.
- state the audio bandwidth requirements of speech and music signals and describe why the allocated audio bandwidth is restricted before encoding takes place.
- describe the principles of PCM analogue to digital encoding and the principles and benefits of non-linear encoding.
- describe the principles of the compression techniques employed to minimise the bit rate of encoded speech and music.
- explain the disadvantages of compression.
- describe the characteristics of the types of encoder used for telephony, digital broadcasting and music downloads.
- describe the bit rate requirements of video traffic and the principles of JPEG and MPEG video compression.
- describe the characteristics of the codecs used for video telephony and conferencing, television broadcasting, and video streaming services.
Number of modules: 4
Approximate study time: 5 hours
Download and view the course specification in Adobe PDF format
Delivery platform requirements:
To access the course, a computer running a browser such as Google Chrome, Safari etc is required. The computer should have Internet access and be running Adobe Flash. A screen resolution of at least 1024x768 is necessary.
