IGCSE ICT Input & Output devices 0417

Unit 2 – Input & Output Devices

Alphanumeric Keyboard
A very common, general purpose, input device that allows text (abc…), numbers (123…) and symbols (%$@...) to be
entered into a computer.
A keyboard is simply a set of buttons. Each button has a symbol assigned

Numeric Keypad
A small keyboard that only has numbers.
Used to enter numeric data into computers such as those in ATMs.
Most computer keyboards have a numeric keypad on the right side, and most mobile phones (there are also
computers) have a one for entering phone numbers, etc.

PIN Pad
This is a device with a numeric keypad used to enter a person’s Personal Identity Number (PIN) e.g. when paying
with a credit card.
PIN pads are also found on electronic door locks – you enter a PIN to unlock the door.

Mouse –
1. pointing device.
2. Sensors on the bottom of the mouse detect when the mouse is moved.
3. Data about this movement is sent to the computer.
4. User can select an icon, open an application, scroll windows, switch between windows

Touchpad / Track pad

1. A pointing device in laptops.
2. Used instead of a mouse since it takes up less space.
3. The user moves a finger across the touch pad and this movement data is sent to the computer.

Trackball / Tracker Ball

1. This pointing device has a large ball that the user spins.
2. Data about which direction the ball is spun is passed to the computer.
3. Tracker balls are often used by people with limited movement (disabled) or by the very young since they are
easier to use than a mouse.

Touch Screen
1. With a touch screen the user selects items on the screen by touching the surface. This makes touch screen
systems very simple to use.
2. Often used for information terminals in public places and even in smart gadgets.

Graphics Tablet
1. A pointing device often used by designers and artists to allow natural hand movements to be input to
graphics applications.
2. A stylus is held like a pen and moved over the surface of the tablet.
3. Data about the stylus movements are sent to the computer.
4. it is very easy to create ‘hand-drawn’ sketches.

Joystick / Joypad
1. Used mainly for playing games.
2. The user moves the joystick left/right, forward/back and data about these movements are sent to the
computer.
3. Small joysticks can also be found on some mobile phones.

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Light Pen
1. A light pen is a device used as a pointing device or to ‘write’ on the screen of a computer.
2. Light pens are rarely used today since graphics tablets and high-quality touch screens provide similar
functionality.

Scanners
1. A device that ‘scans’ images, book pages.
2. Taking a close-up photograph and storing in a secondary storage device of the computer as a digital image.
3. Flat-bed scanner which has a glass plate on which the item to be scanned is placed. The item is illuminated
and an image of it is captured by a moving scan ‘head’. The entire item is scanned.
4. Hand-held scanner, you can scan a part of the image.

Digital Camera
1. A device that captures digital photographs from any moving location.
2. Most digital cameras do not directly input data into a computer - they store photographs on memory cards.
3. The photographs can later be transferred to a computer.

Web Cam
1. This is a very basic video camera used to feed live video into a computer.
2. It is used to transfer still position images into the computer
3. The video data from a web cam is low quality compared to a full video camera.
4. It is good enough for web chats (e.g. Skype).
5. Usually a web cam is clipped to the top of a monitor but many laptops now have web cams built into the
edge of the screen.

Microphone
1. Converts the analogue sound into a digital signal & feeds into a computer with the help of sound card.
2. Many headphones now come with microphones to allow them to be used with chat and phone applications

Remote Control
1. They send data signals each time a button is pressed using infrared light or radio signals.
2. The signals can control a computer , DVD player, TV, AC etc, from some distance.
3. Often used to control a presentation slideshow.
4. A sensor is a device that converts a real-world property (e.g. temperature) into data that a computer can
process.
Environment related sensors are
Sensor What it Detects
Temperature Temperature
Light Light / dark
Pressure Pressure (e.g. someone standing on it)
Moisture Dampness / dryness
Water-level How full / empty a container is
Movement Movement nearby
Proximity How close / far something is
Switch or button If something is touching / pressing it
Infrared Whether a beam of light is broken or not
PH sensors Acidity or alkaline
CO2 or O2 Pollution level
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Direct data entry and associated devices
Magnetic Strip Reader
1. A strip of magnetic material on the back of the card.
2. Data can be stored here in the form of magnetized dots.
3. The card usually stores the card number, expiry date, card type & security pin.
4. The stripe allows this data to be input to a computer system faster and more accurately than by typing it in.

Chip and PIN readers:

1. They have a tiny ‘chip’ of computer memory embedded inside them.
2. Data can be stored in this memory and read back using a ‘chip’ reader.
3. An ID smart card would store the owner’s name and card number & a digital image of the person.
4. Many types of card use this system: id cards, phone cards, credit cards, door security cards, etc.

Contactless cards:
1. A contactless smart card is a contactless credential whose dimensions are credit-card size.
2. Its embedded integrated circuits can store data and communicate with a terminal via NFC(Near Field
Communication). Commonplace uses include transit tickets, bank cards and passports.

Question: A bank has introduced a contactless smart cards to make purchases.

• Reduces time taken by retailers to deal with each customer, quicker than inserting the card and entering the
PIN. Only checks whether the card is not cancelled or stolen not always making a full check on what the
balance of the holder’s account is.
• Customers are limited in what they can buy as transactions must be below a certain value In some cases, the
customer can unwittingly pay for another customer’s purchase if they get too close to the terminal.
• A thief armed with a suitable reader, within a few feet of the customer, would be able to interrogate all of
the cards in their wallet without their knowledge.
• If customer lost card a thief could make purchases without having to know a PIN.
• Customer can pay twice as terminal may detect the card for contactless payment but has inserted the card to
use the PIN.
• Customer doesn’t have to worry about PIN being overseen/shoulder surfed .

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) readers :

• Automatically identifying and tracking tags attached to objects.
• The tag does not necessarily need to be within line of sight of the reader and may be embedded in the
tracked object.
How does it work?
• RFID tags are attached to items in order to track them using an RFID reader and antenna.
• RFID tags transmit data about an item through radio waves to the antenna & reader combination
• When the tag receives the transmission from the reader &antenna, the energy runs through the internal
antenna to the tag's chip.

Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR)

• A system reads vehicle registration plate. Infrared lighting is used to read number plates during day and
night.
• CCTV cameras equipped with ANPR software take pictures of vehicles as they travel on roads and
motorways.
• It uses optical character recognition to convert the numbers on the photos and are then converted to text
from vehicle number plates.
• This text is then passed to the computer for processing.
• It is then cross-referred to databases used by the police.
• A message then is sent to the customer automatically.

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Magnetic Ink Character Reader / Recognition (MICR)
To read from bank cheques into a computer quickly and accurately.
How does it work?
• Each of the cheque is passed through the MICR reader.
• The cheque contains a special ink and characters.
• When the cheque that contains this ink needs to be read, it passes through a machine, which magnetizes
the ink and then translates the magnetic information into characters.
• It reads bank sort code, bank account number, cheque number, cheque amount, and a control indicator.
• The technology allows MICR readers to scan and read the information directly into a data-collection device.
• Then the employees contact the respected bank to complete the process of fund transfer.

OMR Scanner - Optical Mark Recognition

• OMR scanner is a special scanning device used for the purpose of reading pencil marks made on pre-defined
positions on the OMR form.
• The scanner uses its sensors to detect the dark pencil-marked areas on the form because they are less
reflective than the unmarked areas.
• The reader detects the presence or absence of marks.
• The papers are to be gathered and processed in a short period of time.
• There are around 48 sensors which do this job. If the scanner senses a half-filled form, it'll return an error or
mark it as false else the information is converted into a computer data file.

OCR Scanner(Optical Character Recognition ) : It is a software technology that can convert images of text into an
actual text file that can then be edited.
How does it convert?
1. Loads the image file & Improves image quality and orientation
2. Removes lines and analyses the page for text position, white space, and the prioritization of
important text areas or sections.
3. It identifies individual words and entire lines of data
4. It fixes broken and merged characters.
5. The technology/algorithm begins to read and translate characters. Each image of every character is
converted into a character code
6. After the file has been fully interpreted, it can be saved to the desired file format.
Barcode Reader / Scanner
1. A barcode is simply a numeric code represented as a series of lines. These are read by a barcode
reader/scanner.
2. The most common use of barcode readers is at Point-of-Sale (POS) in a shop. The code for each item to be
purchased needs to be entered into the computer. Reading the barcode is far quicker and more accurate
than typing in each code using a keypad.
3. Quick Response Code : The QR Code is a two-dimensional version of the barcode that contains a matrix of
dots. It can be scanned using a QR scanner or a smartphone with built-in camera.
4. CRT (cathode ray tube) Monitor : They are flexible monitors, good resolution & less expensive
5. But.. Large electric power, physically large & heavy to carry around, contain X-ray radiation can damage eyes.
TFT LCD monitor(Twisted Nematic) : Less energy consumption, visibility is sharper, good quality, quick response
time, and less eye strain But ..most restrictive viewing angles.
IPS LCD monitor (In-plane switching)
1. Better color accuracy and image quality
2. Better viewing angles
3. Colors and images on an IPS panel remain visible under bright outdoor lights or direct sunlight
But.. Slow response time and low refresh rate & these monitors are more expensive than TFT monitors.

LED Screens: It is a flat panel display, which uses an array of light-emitting diodes as pixels for a video display. Their
brightness allows them to be used outdoors. They are capable of providing general illumination in addition to
visual display. But.. They are expensive.
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IGCSE ICT Input & Output devices 0417
Dot matrix printer
 Dot matrix printers often use continuous stationary: long, continuous strips of paper rather than separate
sheets of A4 like ink-jet and laser printers use.
 Carbon copy paper – more than one sheet at once
The print mechanism is very cheap, and the inked ribbons last for a long time
Dot-matrix print quality is poor, the printers are noisy, it is letter printer, prints one letter a time(letter
printer), hence slow.
Ink Jet printer
 Line printer, photographic quality of print , quiet to print
 Cheap to buy - initial cost is low.
Since it uses liquid ink, ink dries up quickly. Hence, running cost is high.
Laser Printer:
 Uses toner instead of ink, so lasts for long. Running cost is low. Good quality printing.
 The laser and toner system allows very fast printing (page printer)
They are very complex devices, and thus expensive to buy, so initial cost is high.
Wide format printer:
1. Computer-controlled printing machines that support a maximum print roll width of between 18" and 100".
2. These are used to print banners, posters, trade show graphics, wallpaper, murals(wall painting), backlit
film(looks like lit in darkness), vehicle image wraps, electronic circuit schematics etc.
3. They are more economical
4. Wide format printers are usually designed for printing onto a roll of print media that feeds incrementally
during the print process, rather than onto individual sheets.
3D printer:
It is used to make a three-dimensional object. Successive layers of material are laid down under computer control.
These objects can be of almost any shape or geometry, and are produced from a 3D model or other electronic data
source.
Bio Printing applications:
• 3D-printed plastic, ceramic or metallic implants for bone tissue replacement.
• Thin or hollow blood vessels and tissues as cartilage are printed.
• Bio printed tissue models assist in testing the efficiency of the candidate drugs.
• Bio printing can be used to reconstruct tissue from various regions of the body.
• Models can assist surgeons to study the impaired organs before the operation, explore various approaches
and acquire hands-on experience before entering the operating room.
• 3D printed patient-specific prostheses allows a wide range of disabled people affected either by an accident
or a genetic deformity to carry on their normal life.
Graph Plotter:
 Uses a pen to draw, so very accurate in drawing and faster than humans do.
 Plotters are used by designers and architects to work with huge pieces of paper (A0 paper size)
But. .. Cannot use as a general purpose printer.
Actuators A device, controlled by a computer, that can affect the real-world.
Actuator What it Can Do
Light bulb or LED Creates light
Heater Increases temperature
Cooling Unit Decreases temperature
Motor Spins things around
Pump Pushes water / air through pipes
Buzzer / Bell / Siren Creates noise
Loudspeaker A device which converts an electrical audio signal into a corresponding sound.