IEEE MultiMedia contains technical information covering a broad range of issues in multimedia systems and applications. Articles discuss research as well as advanced practice in hardware/software and are expected to span the range from theory to working systems. Especially encouraged are papers discussing experiences with new or advanced systems and subsystems. To avoid unnecessary overlap with existing publications, acceptable papers must have a significant focus on aspects unique to multimedia systems and applications. These aspects are likely to be related to the special needs of multimedia information compared to other electronic data, for example, the size requirements of digital media and the importance of time in the representation of such media. The following list is not exhaustive, but is representative of the topics that are covered: Hardware and software for media compression, coding & processing; Media representations & standards for storage, editing, interchange, transmission & presentation; Hardware platforms supporting multimedia applications; Operating systems suitable for multimedia applications; Storage devices & technologies for multimedia information; Network technologies, protocols, architectures & delivery techniques intended for multimedia; Synchronization issues; Multimedia databases; Formalisms for multimedia information systems & applications; Programming paradigms & languages for multimedia; Multimedia user interfaces; Media creation integration editing & management; Creation & modification of multimedia applications. The primary goal of the magazine is to provide a forum for researchers and practitioners to present new findings and discuss experiences with multimedia systems and applications. In addition, the magazine keeps readers informed of the state of the art in the multimedia arena, including technical trends and research directions.