AULA 6 – INPUT DEVICES

A variety of input devices can be connected to a computer to

allow the user to input different kinds of data and to control
the computer in different ways. Some common input devices
and their functions are shown in the tables below:

Standard input device

Device Comments
keyboard Main input device controlling the computer and
inputting text and numerical data.

Cursor control input devices

Device Comments
mouse Common input device for use with a graphical
user interface. The mouse has a ball underneath
that is rolled on a mousemat.
trackerball It is like a mouse turned upside down. The
trackerball remains in one position while the
user rotates a small ball on top. Often used
instead of a mouse on portable computers.
joystick A vertical lever allows the user to control the
cursor precisely and at high speed. Particularly
good for playing fast action games.
touchscreen The user interacts with the computer by lightly
pressing their finger on a touch-sensitive area of
the monitor screen.

Voice input device

Device Comments
Microphone Used to input sound.
 Optical input devices
Device Comments
Lightpen It detects differences in reflected light. It
can be used for drawing directly on the
monitor screen or for reading printed optical
characters of barcodes.
Graphocs tablet Used with a lightpen for drawing. The user
draws on the tablet with a lightpen as if they
were drawing on a sheet of paper.
Barcode reader A special kind of lightpen for reading
barcodes. Barcodes are used to identify
items for stock control and pricing.
Scanner Used to input text and graphics from a
printed page.
Digital camera Used to take pictures of na object. The
picture is stored electronically and can be
edited using a computer.

Exercises:
1. Match these pictures of input devices with their names.
Joystick barcode reader graphics tablet digital camera
Trackerball scanner touchscreen microphone

2. Try to list the uses of these devices.

Device Uses
a) Joystick ( ) Like a film camera but can input
photographs directly to a computer
b) Barcode reader ( ) Inputs sound
c) Graphics tablet ( ) Drawing
d) Digital camera ( ) Reads barcode labels
e) Trackerball ( ) Allows cursor to be controlled by
touching the screen
f) Scanner ( ) Computer games
g) Touchscreen ( ) Inputs drawings, photographs, and
texts
h) Microphone ( ) Controls the cursor like a mouse
3. Study this diagram. It shows how voice input works. Label
the steps in the process with these captions (a-e).

a) The computer compares the binary code with its stored vocabulary.
b) The user says a word into a microphone.
c) The screen displays the correct word.
d) The speech recognition board converts the signals into binary
numbers.
e) The microphone converts the word from audio signals into electrical
signals.

4. Each text describes one of these devices: trackerball,

joystick, lightpen, scanner. Identify the device each text
describes. Write your answers in this table. Then compare
your answers with other students.

Text Device
A.
B.
C.
D.

A. A ____________ is another input device you can connect to a

computer system. The __________ is able to move in eight
directions. ___________s are mostly used in computer games to
control the way a picture on the screen moves. Sometimes two
__________s are connected to a computer so two people can play
the game at the same time.
B. A _____________ works in exactly the same way as a mouse,
except that the ball is on top. The user rolls the ball around with her
hand to operate it. If you use a _________, you don’t need any
extra space on your desk to move it around (like you do with a
mouse). ___________s are often used on small portable computers
and on some video game machines.

C. A ____________ can be used to draw pictures directly on to a

computer screen or to read the pattern on a barcode. A _________
that can read barcodes detects the difference between the light
reflected from a black barcode line and its lighter background.

D. Using a __________, you can input printed drawings, photographs,

or text directly into a computer. A __________ works like a
photocopier – a light is shone on the material and the _________
detects the reflected light. You can use a ___________ with optical
character recognition (OCR) software to input the scanned text into
a word processing package.

5. Match each device (1 – 7) with its use.

Device Use
1. joystick ( ) draw pictures on to a
computer screen
2. lightpen ( ) copy documents
3. scanner ( ) input sound
4. digital camera ( ) input text
5. mouse ( ) select from a menu
6. keyboard ( ) move the cursor rapidly
7. microphone ( )produce photos without film

Grammar:
Language work: function

There are many different ways to describe function. The four examples
given bellow use a variety of grammatical structures.
We can describe the function or use of a device in different ways.
Study these examples.
Joystickers are used in computer games.
Using a scanner, you can input printed drawings directly into a computer.
You can use a scanner to input text.
A microphone is used for inputting sound.

6. Describe the use of each device (exercise 5) in a sentence.

Use these structures from the Language work section.

... is/are used in ...

... is/are used for ...-ing
Using ... you can ...
You can use ... to ...

Example: You use a mouse to select from a menu.

...................................................................................................
...................................................................................................
...................................................................................................
...................................................................................................
....
...................................................................................................
...................................................................................................
...................................................................................................
...................................................................................................
....

7. Decide which input device is best for:

a) controlling fast-moving objects in a game

b) reading the price of things in a shop
c) making copies of a page of text and graphics
d) storing sounds on a computer
e) producing pictures of people and places for storing in a computer
f) controlling a computer using speech
g) typing text into a computer
8. Writing
With the help of this diagram, fill in the blanks in this comparison of
digital cameras and film cameras.

Digital cameras don’t use film. You take pictures on to solid state
memory. Then you 1. ____________________ them to a 2. _______________________ .
You can 3. ___________________________ and improve the pictures in your PC.
Then you can 4. ___________________________ them, add them to your 5.
___________________, or 6. ____________________________ them on the screen.

Digital cameras are more 7. ___________________________ than film cameras but

the cost for each picture is lower because there is no 9.
_________________________ the pictures.

Film cameras are cheaper but each picture costs a lot because there
are 10. _____________________________ costs. The quality of film camera
pictures is much 11. ______________________ than digital cameras but you have
to 12. ______________________________ the pictures to transfer images to a PC.