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Computer monitor
A 19-inch, 16:10 widescreen LCD monitor.
A monitor or a display (also called screen or visual display unit) is an
electronic visual display for computers. The monitor comprises the display
device, circuitry and an enclosure. The display device in modern monitors is
typically a thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) thin panel,
while older monitors use a cathode ray tube (CRT) about as deep as the
screen size.
Originally, computer monitors were used for data processing while television
receivers were used for entertainment. From the 1980s onwards, computers
(and their monitors) have been used for both data processing and
entertainment, while televisions have implemented some computer
functionality. The common aspect ratio of televisions, and then computer
monitors, has also changed from 4:3 to 16:9 (and 16:10).
Technologies
Further information: Comparison of CRT, LCD, Plasma, and
OLED and History of display technology
Multiple technologies have been used for computer monitors. Until the 21st
century most used cathode ray tubes but they have largely been superseded
by LCD monitors.
Measurements of performance
The performance of a monitor is measured by the following parameters:
Luminance is measured in candelas per square meter (cd/m2
also called a Nit).
Keyboard
A keyboard is the set of typewriter-like keys that enables you to enter data
into a computer. Computer keyboards are similar to electric-typewriter
keyboards but contain additional keys. The keys on computer keyboards are
often classified as follows:
alphanumeric keys -- letters and numbers
punctuation keys -- comma, period, semicolon, and so
on.
special keys -- function keys, control keys, arrow keys,
Caps Lock key, and so on.
Image scanner
In computing, an image scanneroften abbreviated to just scanneris a
device that optically scans images, printed text, handwriting, or an object, and
converts it to a digital image. Common examples found in offices are
variations of the desktop (or flatbed) scanner where the document is placed
on a glass window for scanning. Hand-held scanners, where the device is
moved by hand, have evolved from text scanning "wands" to 3D scanners
used for industrial design, reverse engineering, test and measurement,
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Printer (computing)
In computing, a printer is a peripheral which produces a representation of an
electronic document on physical media such as paper or transparency film.
Many printers are local peripherals connected directly to a nearby personal
computer. Network printers have built-in network interfaces can serve any
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user on the network. Individual printers are often designed to support both
local and network connected users at the same time. Some printers can print
documents stored on memory cards or from digital cameras and scanners.
Multifunction printers (MFPs) include a scanner and can copy paper
documents or send a fax; these are also called multi-function devices (MFD),
or all-in-one (AIO) printers. Most MFPs include printing, scanning, and
copying among their many features.
Consumer and some commercial printers are designed for low-volume, shortturnaround print jobs; requiring virtually no setup time to achieve a hard copy
of a given document. However, printers are generally slow devices (30 pages
per minute is considered fast, and many inexpensive consumer printers are
far slower than that), and the cost per page is actually relatively high.
However, this is offset by the on-demand convenience and project
management costs being more controllable compared to an out-sourced
solution. The printing press remains the machine of choice for high-volume,
professional publishing. However, as printers have improved in quality and
performance, many jobs which used to be done by professional print shops
are now done by users on local printers; see desktop publishing. Local
printers are also increasingly taking over the process of photofinishing as
digital photo printers become commonplace.
The world's first computer printer was a 19th century mechanically driven
apparatus invented by Charles Babbage for his difference engine.[1]
A virtual printer is a piece of computer software whose user interface and
API resembles that of a printer driver, but which is not connected with a
physical computer printer.
Computer speaker
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Motherboard
A motherboard (sometimes alternatively known as the mainboard, system board,
planar board or logic board[1]) is a printed circuit board (PCB) found in all modern
computers which holds many of the crucial components of the system, such as the central
processing unit (CPU) and memory, and provides connectors for other peripherals.
Motherboard specifically refers to a PCB with expansion capability - the board is the
"mother" of all components attached to it, which often include sound cards, video cards,
network cards, extra hard drives or other forms of persistent storage, TV tuner cards,
cards providing extra USB or Firewire slots, and a variety of thousands of other kinds of
custom components. (The term mainboard is applied to devices with a single board and
no additional expansions or capability - in modern terms this would include controlling
boards in televisions, washing machines and other embedded systems, which are not true
motherboards.)
Prior to the advent of the microprocessor, a computer was usually built in a card-cage
case or mainframe with components connected by a backplane consisting of a set of slots
themselves connected with wires; in very old designs the wires were discrete connections
between card connector pins, but printed circuit boards soon became the standard
practice. The Central Processing Unit, memory and peripherals were housed on
individual printed circuit boards which plugged into the backplate.
During the late 1980s and 1990s, it became economical to move an increasing number of
peripheral functions onto the motherboard. In the late 1980s, motherboards began to
include single ICs (called Super I/O chips) capable of supporting a set of low-speed
peripherals: keyboard, mouse, floppy disk drive, serial ports, and parallel ports. By the
late 1990s, many personal computer motherboards supported a full range of audio, video,
storage, and networking functions without the need for any expansion cards at all; higherend systems for 3D gaming and computer graphics typically retained only the graphics
card as a separate component.
The early pioneers of motherboard manufacturing were Micronics, Mylex, AMI, DTK,
Hauppauge, Orchid Technology, Elitegroup, DFI, and a number of Taiwan-based
manufacturers.
The most popular computers such as the Apple II and IBM PC had published schematic
diagrams and other documentation which permitted rapid reverse-engineering and third9
Hard disk
A hard disk is part of a unit, often called a "disk drive," "hard drive," or "hard disk drive,"
that stores and provides relatively quick access to large amounts of data on an
electromagnetically charged surface or set of surfaces. Today's computers typically come
with a hard disk that contains several billion bytes (gigabytes) of storage.
A hard disk is really a set of stacked "disks," each of which, like phonograph records, has
data recorded electromagnetically in concentric circles or "tracks" on the disk. A "head"
(something like a phonograph arm but in a relatively fixed position) records (writes) or
reads the information on the tracks. Two heads, one on each side of a disk, read or write
the data as the disk spins. Each read or write operation requires that data be located,
which is an operation called a "seek." (Data already in a disk cache, however, will be
located more quickly.)
A hard disk/drive unit comes with a set rotation speed varying from 4500 to 7200 rpm.
Disk access time is measured in milliseconds. Although the physical location can be
identified with cylinder, track, and sector locations, these are actually mapped to a logical
block address (LBA) that works with the larger address range on today's hard disks.
How is data read and stored on a hard drive?
Data sent to and from the hard drive is interpreted by the disk controller, which tells the
hard drive what to do and how to move the components within the drive. When the
operating system needs to read or write information, it examines the hard drives File
Allocation Table (FAT) to determine file location and available areas. Once this has been
determined, the disk controller instructs the actuator to move the read/write arm and align
the read/write head. Because files are often scattered throughout the platter, the head will
often need to move to several different locations to access all information.
All information stored on a traditional hard drive, like the above example, is done
magnetically. After completing the above steps, if the computer needs to read information
from the hard drive it would read the magnetic polarities on the platter. One side of the
magnetic polarity is 0 and the other is 1, reading this as binary data the computer can
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understand what the data is on the platter. For the computer to write information to the
platter, the read/write head aligns the magnetic polarities, writing 0's and 1's that can be
read later.
External and Internal hard drives
Although most hard drives are internal hard drives, many users also use external hard
drives to backup data on their computer and expand the total amount of space available
to them. External drives are often stored in an enclosure that helps protect the drive and
allow it to interface with the computer, usually over USB or eSATA. A great example of a
backup external device that supports multiple hard drives is the Drobo.
External hard drives come in many shapes and sizes. Some are large, about the size of a
book, while others are about the size of a cell phone. External hard drives can be very
useful for backing up important data and taking with you on the go. They can store a lot
of information, including music and movies.
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