What Is the JMF?

Fundamentally, the JMF is an extension to Java for handling audio and video. More rigorously, the JMF API (Java Media Framework Application Programming Interface) is one of the Official Java optional APIs that extends the functionality of the core Java Platform. Included in this group of optional APIs, freely available from Sun, are others such as Java 3D and Java Advanced Imaging (JAI).

JMF, as its name implies, is a collection of classes to enable the processing of (time-based) media objects. Sun Microsystems' JMF 2.1.1 Programmer's Documentation introduces the JMF as

Java Media Framework (JMF) provides a unified architecture and messaging protocol for managing the acquisition, processing, and delivery of time-based media data. ...

Get Java™ Media APIs: Cross-Platform Imaging, Media, and Visualization now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.