What is an interactive combination of text, graphics, video, audio and images termed as?

Correct — B, Multimedia. The stem is close to a textbook definition. Multimedia is content that combines more than one form of media — text, graphics, still images, audio, video and animation — in a single presentation, and the word 'interactive' in the question is the second half of the idea: interactive multimedia lets the user control the sequence, choosing what to see next rather than watching a fixed linear stream. A web page carrying text, photographs, a video and a soundtrack that the reader navigates is the everyday example; a computer-based training package, a game and a digital encyclopaedia are the classical ones. The other three options are all narrower or unrelated. JPEG and PNG are file formats for a single medium, still images, and each stores one picture rather than a combination of media. They are worth telling apart in their own right, since the examiner uses them as a pair: JPEG uses lossy compression, discarding detail the eye is unlikely to notice, which makes it efficient for photographs but unsuitable for repeated re-saving; PNG uses lossless compression and supports transparency, which makes it the better choice for line art, logos and screenshots. The remaining option is not a recognised term for combined media at all, and exists only to fill the fourth slot.

• (a)JPEG — A file format for a single still image, using lossy compression. It stores one picture, not a combination of text, video, audio and graphics, and it has no interactive element.
• (c)AVA — Not a recognised name for any format or concept of this kind in computing. Nothing in the term corresponds to the combination of media the stem describes.
• (d)PNG — Another single-image file format, this one using lossless compression and supporting transparency. Like JPEG it holds one medium, which is exactly what the stem is not describing.

Multimedia means the integration of several media types — text, graphics, still images, audio, video and animation — into one piece of content or one application. It is called linear when it plays through from beginning to end without user control, as in a film, and interactive or non-linear when the user chooses the path, as in a web page, a game, a kiosk or a training package. Delivering it needs enough storage and bandwidth for the heaviest medium in the mix, which is why multimedia became ordinary only as compression, optical storage and then broadband arrived.

The option list here is a small lesson in categories. Two of the four are file formats holding a single medium, one is a term with no standing, and one is the name of the category the stem describes. When a stem lists several media and asks what the combination is called, the answer must be a category word rather than a format name — formats are how one medium is stored, not what a combination is called. It is worth carrying the format families separately, because they recur: JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP and TIFF for still images, MP3, WAV and AAC for audio, MP4, AVI, MOV and MKV for video, and PDF for fixed-layout documents. Within the image family, the lossy-and-lossless distinction is the point most often tested — JPEG discards information to save space and degrades a little on every re-save, while PNG and GIF preserve every pixel and support transparency, GIF additionally supporting simple animation but only 256 colours.

• Multimedia is the integration of text, graphics, still images, audio, video and animation into a single presentation or application.
• Interactive or non-linear multimedia lets the user control the order of what is presented; linear multimedia plays straight through.
• JPEG is a lossy still-image format, efficient for photographs but degrading slightly on each re-save.
• PNG is a lossless still-image format that supports transparency, and is preferred for line art, logos and screenshots.
• GIF is lossless too but limited to 256 colours, and supports simple animation.
• A file format describes how one medium is stored; multimedia is a category describing a combination of media.

• Answering with a file format when the stem asks what a combination of media is called.
• Assuming PNG is simply a newer JPEG; the two use different compression and suit different content.
• Forgetting the word 'interactive' in the stem — it points to user-controlled, non-linear presentation rather than a video clip.

As a definition-to-term item like this one, as a which-format-for-which-purpose question, or by asking which image format uses lossy compression.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which one of the following image file formats uses lossy compression?

  • (a)PNG
  • (b)JPEG
  • (c)BMP
  • (d)TIFF

  Answer(b) JPEG — it discards detail to reduce file size, which is why quality falls a little each time the file is re-saved.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Multimedia in which the user controls the order in which the content is presented is described as which one of the following?

  • (a)Linear multimedia
  • (b)Interactive multimedia
  • (c)Streaming multimedia
  • (d)Compressed multimedia

  Answer(b) Interactive multimedia — linear multimedia, such as a film, plays from beginning to end without the user choosing the path.