BIT Semester 1 Computer Systems

Chapter 3

Input and Output Devices

Input Devices
The devices that are use to input Data to the computer. Most Common input devices of the computer are,
Keyboard Mouse

Keyboard
The primary input device of the computer. Using the keyboard you can do the simplest Input functions of entering data and commands to your computer system. Has a similar layout to the typewriter. but has some additional keys that provide additional functionality than a typewriter.

Keyboard Cont.
Keyboards come in different shapes and sizes but may different the number of additional keys. The keyboards may be connected to the computer system through a wire or as wireless. The wired connection may be through the DIN(Deutsches Institute fr Normung)5connector, PS/2connector or USB. The wireless may use radio-frequency or infrared.

Keyboard Types

Standard Keyboards
The standard keyboard has one hundred keys. This set of keys can be divided in to six categories.
Alphanumeric keys Modifier keys Numeric keypad Function keys Cursor-Movement keys Special-purpose keys

Alphanumeric keys
These include the alphabetical and numeric keys grouped together on the left side of the keyboard. The main function of these keys is to simply enter what ever symbol that is displayed on the particular key.

Modifier keys
These keys are located on the bottom left and right corners of the grouping of the alphanumeric keys. These keys include Shift, Ctrl, Alt Should use with another supporting key to modify. E.g.- Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V, Alt+F4

Numeric keypad
These are the set of keys that are located at the right most end of your keyboard. These help to enter numeric data faster that using the alphanumeric keys.

Function keys
These are the keys located on the top most row of the keyboard and labeled F1toF12. These keys are allocated certain functions by different applications. E.g-F1-Help

CursorCursor-Movement keys
These cursor keys include the quad-directional arrows keys and the" Home, End, Page-up, Pagedownkeys are the movement keys.

SpecialSpecial-purpose keys
Special keys usually located between the alphanumeric and number-pad keys which allow you to carry out special functions. These keys are the Insert (also known as the over write), Delete, Print screen, Scroll Lock, Pause and Esc

Special keyboards
According to the users requirements the keyboard structure radically changed.
101-key enhanced keyboard

104104-key Windows keyboard

Two Windows keys and One Application Key attached to the keyboard.

Mac keyboard
Similar to 101-keyborad. But specially use within Apple Mac O/S.

Multimedia and Web-enabled Webkeyboards

Enable you launch you multimedia players and control your media player. Support Many media facilities.

Ergonomic keyboards
The term ergonomic implies that something's designed to optimize human well-being, overall system performance and human comfort

Pointer Devices

Pointer Devices
Any location on the computer screen can be addressed by using X-Y coordinates. Pointer devices as the name implies are used to point to specific location on the computer screen. According to the movement of the device screen pointer moves.

Mouse
The second most common input device (after keyboard) is Mouse. The X-Y Position indicator for a display system was invented by Mr. Douglas Englebartin 1964. This device was later called the mouse.

Mouse cont
The mouse comprises of four parts.
A ball/roller or optical sensors that indicate the mouse motion. Buttons and/or wheel that are used to make selections and scroll. A housing that holds the above components and lets you move the mouse around An interface to connect to the computer system.

Ball Mouse
The Ball mouse uses a ball/roller. When the mouse is moved the perpendicular wheels touching the ball moves and sensors at the end of these wheels indicate the direction of motion. The disadvantage of the ball mouse is that it gathers dust and trash ,which cause unreliable motion.

Optical Mouse
The optical mouse uses a light and an optical sensor. Advantages More reliable to perform smoother operations. Light weight. No dust problems.

Mouse cont.
The mouse rolls on a flat surface. The motion of the mouse is picked up by the sensors and passed through the interface to the computer system. The system software decodes this motion data and appropriately moves the pointer on the computer screen. The required task can be executed by clicking the mouse buttons.

Mouse interface..
The interface between the mouse and the computer system may be wired or wireless. Wired connection by via PS/2 port or USB. Wireless may use radio signal or IR.

Trackball
The trackball works like an upside-down mouse. (Ball mouse) The ball is on the top of the device where as the mouse ball is on the underside. The mouse has to be moved around where as the trackball remains stationary. All other functions are similar to mouse. The best example is the use of a trackball in laptops where you do not have space for a mouse.

Touchpad
The touchpad also known as Trackpad. First invented at 1994. This is a square area about 2 inches by 1.5 inches. The finger is used to move around on the touchpad and this is similar to movement of a mouse-Strike sensitive. Tapping the Touchpad is one way to give inputs or users can use provided buttons. More common within Notebook environments.

Pen-Stylus
The stylus is used to write on a special pad or directly on the screen. The pen is commonly used for data entry on PDAs, handheld computers, tablet PCs, smart phones and palmtops. Clicking the mouse similar to tapping the screen or pad by using the Pen. To enter characters using a Virtual Keyboard.

Touch Screen
Is a display screen which has sensors or capacitive film to locate where the finger is touching the screen. Act as a input as well as output device.

Touch Screen cont.

These are commonly used in locations where using a mouse or keyboard is not feasible and an intuitive interface is required. The buttons or icons on the screen can be pressed by the finger or a Pen. Very popular in ATMs, point of sales, mobile phones

Joystick and Game Pad

Joystick and Game Pad cont

Use to provide the gaming experience for the users with more entertainment. By using these motion & sound becoming more and more realistic. New devices connected via USB ports and users can very easily plug & play the device without using device drivers.

Optical Devices

Optical Devices
Optical devices use light to capture data and input it in to the computer system.

Barcode readers
Barcodes are a set of dark lines that are used to uniquely identify an item or product. Barcodes are found in many products. (most of the International products) This is a convenient way of entering data by simply swiping the printed barcode under the barcode reader. These emits trips of LASER light and the reflected image is picked-up by the light sensors. The captured image is processed and the barcode is identified and passed on to the computer system as an alpha numeric value. This value can be processed by the program and a suitable response can be executed.

Scanners
Scanners are used to capture printed image in to an electronic format. Hard-copy input can be stored within a computer as softcopy by using a Scanner. This is done by shining light on to the image and capturing the wave length of light reflected a teach point of the image. The wave length at each position is plotted to a two dimensional array that creates an electronic image file. This image file can be stored within the computer.

The types of Scanners

There are two types pf Scanners.
-Flatbed -Hand-held

Microphones
The microphone is the device used to input sound into the computer system through the soundcard. The microphone aids in recording speech, communicating though voice and providing voice commands. Communication can be achieved through voice overIP telephony and voice chat. If your computer system has voice recognition software it can recognize your voice command and execute appropriate actions.

Video Input
Video input devices also referred to as video cameras come in many sizes, different recording qualities, different storage mediums and in analog and digital forms. There are some types of Cameras,
Web camera Analog video camera Digital video camera (DV and DVD) camcorder

Web Camera
This type can be considered the most prehistoric type of video camera. Where it captures the image and transfers it directly to the computer system. Specially use within online video conferencing. (Cam-Chat) The video quality was low comparing to the other cameras. Not support to capture and transfer sound. Now a days come up as a in built device with portable devices.

Analog video camera

These can capture and store analog video on magnetic tapes. These cameras also capture sound. The main disadvantage is user need to have a special video capture card to convert the analog video in to digital format.

DV Camera
The DV camera stores the audio and video on DV tapes in digital format. Connect to the computer via Fire-Wire interface. Fire-wire interface allow the control of the camera playback through a GUI on the computer system. Disadvantage is data transfer time similar to recording time.

DVD Camera
The DVD cameras directly write the video on to a mini-DVD/DVD. These can be read using a DVD-ROM and copied to the computer using DVD-ripping software.

Camcorder
The most convenient video cameras are those with digital memory cards that directly store the video and audio as a single file on the memory card. When the user attach the device to the computer the content of the memory card will display as a disk drive. (similar like flash drive) File can be simply copy. (Dont need to convert) The video quality is very high. Easy to use than other devices.

Digital cameras
The difference between digital cameras and video cameras is that digital cameras only captures still images and store them in a digital memory card. Most often the image file is compressed and stored on the memory card to allow a large number of photographs to be taken. The memory card is displayed like another disk drive on your computer system when you connect the digital camera to the computer system. Users just need to copy items. (Dont need conversion method)

Output devices
The computer uses output devices to transfer information to the environment and the user.

Monitors
The primary output device of the computer system. Monitors provide us with a graphical representation of information on the screen. Mainly there are two types,
CRT Flat-panel

CRT
CTR stands for Cathode Ray Tube.

CRT cont..
This is the technology commonly used in television sets. The monitor tube is a glass vacuum tube with one end having an electron gun that projects three beams and the other a display surface coated with phosphors. When the electron beam strike the coating it glows with the particular color. The three electron beams are intended to glow the red, green and blue phosphors.

CRT elements

1. Deflection coils 2. Electron beam 3. Focusing coil 4. Phosphor layer 5. Filament for heating the cathode 6. Graphite layer on the inner side of the tube 7. Rubber gasket where the anode voltage wire enters the tube 8. Cathode 9. Air-tight glass "body" of the tube 10.Screen 11.Coil yoke made of iron 12.Control electrode regulating the intensity of the electron beam and thereby the light emitted from the phosphor 13.Contact pins for cathode, filament and control electrode 14.Wire for anode voltage

CRT cont.
The electron beams are controlled by the focus control coil and the deflection coil. This enables the electron beams to be focused on to a specific location of the phosphorus screen. The mixture of the colors red, green and blue can create any given color.

CRT cont..
The electron beam scans the screen horizontally and vertically at a given number of times per second. It also known as Refresh rate. Higher refreshing rate making better views. CRT monitors are high electricity consumption. But better display quality. But also output lot of radiation that cause health issues.

Flat-Panel
The most common type of Flat-Panels are LCD. The LCD was first used in digital calculators and wrist-watches etc.. And usually worked in monochrome (one color)

LCD
LCD Stands for Liquid Crystal Display. As the name amplifies the LCD screen is a grid of liquid crystals.

LCD cont..
By coloring all the pixels on screen an image is created. The Refresh rate of LCD very similar to CRT monitors. Originally designed for the Laptops but now a days also use within desktops. Most modern day color display mobile and smart phones, PDAs, Digital and video cameras, portable DVD players and many more digital devices useLCD technology for the display.

LCD
The main advantages of the LCD over CRT, that has a flat screen,
Consumes very little space Has better color quality Consumes about 5% of the power Used by a CRT, has low glare and produces no radiation and little heat. requires a special back-light Has low contrast Has a limited viewing angle More expensive

The main disadvantages of LCD,

Other monitor types

Some of the less common monitors are,
ELD Plasma Paper-White

ELD
ELD Stands for Electro luminescent displays. Similar to LCD. But instead of liquid crystal phosphorus film sandwiched between two layers of film. The advantage of this is that these have higher contrast and brightness and do not require a back light.

Plasma Display
Plasma displays differ from LCD and ELD by, create the screen output use Gas in between layers of the screen. Expensive method but can create high quality output and back light is not a requirement . The screen size can be increase up to very higher level.

Paper-White displays
These monitors are used by individuals who create high quality graphics like graphic designers for advertisements newspaper, and magazine and desktop publishers. The display output is monochrome. That displays characters in black against a white background. Such monitors are popular for desktop publishing.

Key features of monitors

A good monitor will be easy on your eyes and allow you to work for longer periods of time with comfort. A bad monitor will cause eye strain and in the long run could harm your eyes. When buying a computer there are some considerations.

Main features of monitor

The size of the viewing area-usually stated in inches diagonally. Resolution-the total amount of pixels of the screen. Image contrast-The contrast between colors. Image brightness-The brightness of the display. Power consumption and management-The amount of power it uses and its power management features. Refresh rates-the number of times a second it refreshes the screen Price-up to the user.

Multimedia Projectors
Use to share video output among large number of people. Mainly there are two types of Projectors available,
DLP LCD

DLP-Digital Light Processing

These have a special microchip called the Digital Micro-mirror device. The images projected by the DLP projectors are sharp not blur and brighter. Can be use within normal light conditions. Little time taken to cool down and compact in size. But very expensive.

LCD-Liquid Crystal Display

The projector lamp is shone through a LCD display with the image. These projectors are not that bright therefore require a dark room. The output quality is less compare to DLP projectors. Also more time taken to cool down. But the prize is low.

Sound Systems
To get sound output from the computer system. The soundcard and speakers have become a standard component in a computer system. The soundcard converts the digital audio data in to an analog form during playback.

Sound Systems cont..

During recording the sound card converts the analog signal in to digital data and stores it on the disk. To get sound outputs sound card have to attach with high quality speakers as well.

Sound Card

Sound Systems cont..

For better quality outputs users can select necessary speaker systems.

2.1 sound System

4.1 Surround sound System

Headphones

5.1 Surround sound System

7.1 Surround sound System

Stereo Speakers

Printers
The printer is the device that provides you with a hardcopy output. Printers are generally categorized in to two types,
Impact - make a high impact on the printing paper, use pins or shapes to make the impact. Non-impact make low impact on the printing paper, but the ink will be spayed on the paper