Media types
From Brett
In trying to think big for a site, I often end up thinking about various media types, but I haven't had a simple way to categorize them.
Note that the following might be combined (e.g., real video and audio with abstract (searchable as opposed to graphical) text for subtitles).
Also note that whereas SVG may theoretically be able to represent any detail of visual representation, unextended MIDI is an abstraction limited to current conventions such as a fixed number of instruments, tunes, and channels, while Open Type SVG fonts (?) may be somewhat limited to current Unicode conventions.
| Scalability (i.e., Abstract or Real) | Medium/Dimensionality | Timing | Recording Technology | File format | Ideal possibilities (including text if kept within the format) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real | Visual 3d | timed | Kinect | ? | Hologram - timed |
| Real | Visual 3d | snapshot | Kinect | ? | Hologram |
| Abstract | Visual 3d | timed | (Scriptable) | WebGL (JavaScript)/SVG 3D (XML) + Animation | Hologram - timed (with (synchronized) text-searchable captions or metadata) |
| Abstract | Visual 3d | snapshot | (Scriptable) | WebGL (JavaScript)/SVG 3D (XML) | Hologram (with text-searchable caption or metadata) |
| Real | Visual 2d or 1d | timed | Video camera | Theora (or GIF) | Video (with embedded captions or metadata) |
| Real | Visual 2d or 1d | snapshot | Camera | PNG/JPG/GIF/etc. | Image (with embedded caption or metadata) |
| Abstract | Visual 2d or 1d | timed | (Scriptable) | Canvas 2d (JavaScript)/SVG + SMIL/Timed Text (XML) | Images - animated (with (synchronized) text-searchable captions or metadata) |
| Abstract | Visual 2d or 1d | snapshot | (Scriptable) | Canvas 2d (JavaScript)/SVG (XML) | Image (with text-searchable caption or metadata) |
| Real | Text (2-3d) | timed | Keyboard (or video camera on text)/Scripted for timing | WOFF? | (Pixelated) font |
| Abstract | Text (2-3d) | timed | Keyboard/Scripted for timing | SVG | Open Type SVG? |
| Real | Text (2-3d) | snapshot | Keyboard (or camera on text) | WOFF? | (Pixelated) font |
| Abstract | Text (2-3d) | snapshot | Keyboard | SVG | Open Type SVG? |
| Real | Aural | timed | Audio recorder | Ogg | Audio playback (sound and voice) with pause |
| Real | Aural | snapshot | Audio recorder | Ogg | Audio playback (sound and voice) |
| Abstract | Aural | timed | (Scriptable) | Web Audio (JavaScript)/MIDI | Audio playback (instrument or voice synthesizer) + (synchronizable) notation & lyrics |
| Abstract | Aural | snapshot | (Scriptable) | Web Audio (JavaScript)/MIDI | Audio playback (instrument or voice synthesizer) + notation & lyric |
