Page 98 - DCAP303_MULTIMEDIA_SYSTEMS

Multimedia Systems

notes 5.9.6 super vGa (svGa)
Super VGA was first defined in 1989 by the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA);
an association dedicated to providing open standards instead of the closed standards from
a single company (IBM). While initially defined as 800 × 600 with 16 colours, SVGA evolved to
1024 × 768 with 256 colours and even higher resolutions and colours as time went on.
As a result SVGA is more of an umbrella than a fixed standard. Indeed, most any graphics system
released between the early 1990s and early 2000s (a decade!) has generally been called SVGA.
And, it was up to the user to determine from the specifications if the graphics system supported
their needs.
5.9.7 extended Graphics array (XGa)

The IBM’s XGA was introduced in 1990 and is generally considered to be a 1024 × 768 pixel
display. It would be wrong, however, to consider XGA a successor to SVGA as the two were
initially released about the same time. Indeed, the SVGA “definition” has expanded as seen above
and one might consider XGA to have been folded under the SVGA umbrella.
Initially, XGA was an enhancement to VGA and added two modes to VGA, such as:
1. 800 × 600 pixels at 16-bit pixel for 65,536 colours.

2. 1024 × 768 pixels at 8-bit pixel for 256 colours.

Jackson uses online video to educate financial
advisors on investment Choices

hile many financial services firms are just beginning to integrate multimedia into their
communication strategy to improve audience engagement, some have fully embraced
Wthis medium and are already looking for ways to build upon years of success.
“We have been using multimedia to educate advisors and wholesalers on our products
for years,” said Luis Gomez, Vice President of Marketing Strategy at Jackson National Life
Distributors, an industry leader in variable, fixed and fixed index annuities, also offering life
insurance and institutional products. “If we relied solely on e-mail or mailings to deliver
those messages it just would not be as effective. We are always looking for innovative ways
to differentiate ourselves. Expanding the use of video was the next step in the evolution of
our marketing program.”
After discovering Flash-based presentations and video e-mail were more effective than text-
based materials in educating advisors and wholesalers about complex products, Gomez
sought to develop a library of online videos to provide an even richer experience. “We found
that text-based communications led to a lot of confusion as they left room for interpretation
and were not very dynamic. Video not only helps in simplifying products which are often
complex, but it also communicates body language and tone so advisors and wholesalers can
really understand how to deliver the message.”

Online Video as the Centerpiece to Jackson’s Investment Platform Lineup
The process of building the video library starts with Gomez asking fund partners to create
video overviews for selecting variable annuity options. Once completed, the content is returned
to Jackson’s compliance group for review. After feedback is exchanged and the videos are
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