Symbian has put into use a technology called as multimedia framework (MMF) which handles the multimedia support for the mobile device. MMF has some powerful enhancements like format recognition, plug-in media library, streaming and multiple threads. There is also a controller framework that provides a very effective multimedia support for applications and softwares.
The MMF and controller framework work together to provide very effective and useful multimedia services to the Symbian OS users.
The MMF and the audio hardware are linked through a sound device know as DevSound.
The DevSound provides audio backup to applications. It also prepares the hardware for any kind of audio activity by selecting and loading the codecs. Its functions also include adjusting volume and assisting in audio playback and recording. Whenever any user plays a song or a video, the DevSound comes into play. There is also a component called as audio policy that manages the audio hardware priority to be given to applications incase there are multiple requests at a time.
There is another facility that manages the pictures on the user’s smartphone. This is the image conversion library (ICL). ICL is capable of converting any image format to the symbian OS bitmap and vice-versa. Also, there is an image rotation library which has features such as image rotation and image scaling.
The font and bitmap server is a service that displays texts and images on the mobile screen efficiently. It also has a mechanism to manage and create off-screen bitmaps.
There is even a graphics device service that represents a drawing surface. Along with the surface there are many drawing options, shapes and texts that can be used for drawing purposes.
The multimedia services of the Symbian OS fully meet the requirements and necessities of the users by offering a very versatile and robust structure.
