The Presentation layer gets its name from its purpose: It presents data to the Application layer and is responsible for data translation and code formatting.
This layer is essentially a translator and provides coding and conversion functions. A successful data-transfer technique is to adapt the data into a standard format before transmission. Computers are configured to receive this generically formatted data and then convert the data back into its native format for actual reading (for example, EBCDIC to ASCII). By providing translation services, the Presentation layer ensures that data transferred from the Application layer of one system can be read by the Application layer of another one.
The OSI has protocol standards that define how standard data should be formatted. Tasks
like data compression, decompression, encryption, and decryption are associated with this
layer. Some Presentation layer standards are involved in multimedia operations too. The following serve to direct graphic and visual image presentation:
PICT A picture format used by Macintosh programs for transferring QuickDraw graphics.
TIFF Tagged Image File Format; a standard graphics format for high-resolution, bitmapped
images.
JPEG Photo standards brought to us by the Joint Photographic Experts Group.
Other standards guide movies and sound:
MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface (sometimes called Musical Instrument Device
Interface), used for digitized music.
MPEG Increasingly popular Moving Picture Experts Group standard for the compression and
coding of motion video for CDs. It provides digital storage and bit rates up to 1.5Mbps.
QuickTime For use with Macintosh programs; manages audio and video applications.
RTF Rich Text Format, a file format that lets you exchange text files between different word
processors, even in different operating systems.
This layer is essentially a translator and provides coding and conversion functions. A successful data-transfer technique is to adapt the data into a standard format before transmission. Computers are configured to receive this generically formatted data and then convert the data back into its native format for actual reading (for example, EBCDIC to ASCII). By providing translation services, the Presentation layer ensures that data transferred from the Application layer of one system can be read by the Application layer of another one.
The OSI has protocol standards that define how standard data should be formatted. Tasks
like data compression, decompression, encryption, and decryption are associated with this
layer. Some Presentation layer standards are involved in multimedia operations too. The following serve to direct graphic and visual image presentation:
PICT A picture format used by Macintosh programs for transferring QuickDraw graphics.
TIFF Tagged Image File Format; a standard graphics format for high-resolution, bitmapped
images.
JPEG Photo standards brought to us by the Joint Photographic Experts Group.
Other standards guide movies and sound:
MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface (sometimes called Musical Instrument Device
Interface), used for digitized music.
MPEG Increasingly popular Moving Picture Experts Group standard for the compression and
coding of motion video for CDs. It provides digital storage and bit rates up to 1.5Mbps.
QuickTime For use with Macintosh programs; manages audio and video applications.
RTF Rich Text Format, a file format that lets you exchange text files between different word
processors, even in different operating systems.