As illustrated in the chart below, each step up in media requires increased computing capabilities. Text, graphics, and color require relatively little computing capabilities. Animation and sound is feasible on most computers currently being marketed. Video, however, requires a high-end multimedia machine. There are several important considerations when working with multimedia.
Multimedia requires huge amounts of storage during both the development and application stages.
Bandwidth can be thought of as the pipe through which information must be pumped. The larger amount of data that needs to be delivered, the larger the pipe needs to be. This is currently the biggest limitation to delivering large amounts of digital video in multimedia. Optical fiber provides one of the largest pipes available. The processor speed is the ability of the computer to perform operations quickly.