Theory of operation

There are two principal means by which touchpads work. In the matrix approach, a series
of conductors are arranged in an array of parallel lines in two layers, separated by an
insulator. The conductors in these layers are oriented orthogonally to one another. A high
frequency signal is applied sequentially between pairs in the two dimensional matrix
created by the conductor array. The current that passes between the nodes is proportional
to the capacitance. When a virtual ground, such as the finger, is placed over one of the
intersections between the conductive layer some of the electrical field lines are shunted to
this ground point, resulting in a change in the apparent capacitance at that location. This
method received US patent number 5,305,017 awarded to George Gerpheide.
The capacitive shunt method, described well in an application note by Analog Devices,
senses the change in capacitance between a transmitter and receiver that are on opposite
sides of the sensor. The transmitter creates an electric field which oscillates at 2-300 kHz.
If a ground point, such as the finger, is placed between the transmitter and receiver, some
of the field lines are shunted away, decreasing the apparent capacitance.
Computer keyboard
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Jump to: navigation, search
A computer keyboard is a peripheral partially modeled after the typewriter keyboard.
Keyboards are designed for the input of text and characters and also to control the
operation of a computer.

A 104-key PC US English QWERTY keyboard layout

The Dvorak Simplified Keyboard layout

Physically, computer keyboards are an arrangement of rectangular or near-rectangular

buttons, or "keys". Keyboards typically have characters engraved or printed on the keys;
in most cases, each press of a key corresponds to a single written symbol. However, to
produce some symbols requires pressing and holding several keys simultaneously or in
sequence; other keys do not produce any symbol, but instead affect the operation of the
computer or the keyboard itself. See input method editor.
Roughly 50% of all keyboard keys produce letters, numbers or signs (characters). Other
keys can produce actions when pressed, and other actions are available by the
simultaneous pressing of more than one action key.
Image scanner
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Desktop scanner, with the lid raised. An object has been laid on the glass, ready for
scanning.

Scan of the jade rhinoceros seen in the photograph above.

In computing, a scanner is a device that analyzes an image (such as a photograph,
printed text, or handwriting) or an object (such as an ornament) and converts it to a
digital image. Most scanners today are variations of the desktop (or flatbed) scanner The
flatbed scanner is the most common in offices. Hand-held scanners, where the device is
moved by hand, were briefly popular but are now not used due to the difficulty of
obtaining a high-quality image. Both these types of scanners use charge-coupled device
(CCD) or Contact Image Sensor (CIS) as the image sensor, whereas older drum scanners
use a photomultiplier tube as the image sensor.
Another category of scanner is a rotary scanner used for high-speed document scanning.
This is another kind of drum scanner, but it uses a CCD array instead of a
photomultiplier.
Other types of scanners are planetary scanners, which take photographs of books and
documents, and 3D scanners, for producing three-dimensional models of objects, but this
type of scanner is considerably more expensive relative to other types of scanners.
Another category of scanner are digital camera scanners which are based on the concept
of reprographic cameras. Due to the increasing mega-pixels and new features such as
anti-shake, digital cameras become an attractive alternative to regular scanners. While
still containing disadvantages compared to traditional scanners, digital cameras offer
ummatched advantages in speed and portability
Types of scanners
Nowadays there are different types of scanners depending on users purposes. Find below
the most common and used scanners that can be found in the market:
[edit] Drum scanners

Drum scanner
Drum scanners capture image information with photomultiplier tubes (PMT) rather than
the charged coupled device (CCD) arrays found in flatbed scanners and inexpensive film
scanners. Reflective and transmissive originals are mounted to an acrylic cylinder, the
scanner drum, which rotates at high speed while it passes the in front of precision optics
that deliver image information to the PMTs. The Most modern color drum scanners use 3
matched PMTs, which read red, blue and green light respectively. Light from the original
artwork is split into separate red blue and green beams in the optical bench of the
scanner.
One of the unique features of drum scanners is the ability to control sample area and
aperture size independently. The sample size is the area that the scanner encoder reads to
create an individual pixel. The aperture is the actual opening that allows light into the
optical bench of the scanner. The ability to control aperture and sample size separately is
particularly useful for smoothing film grain when scanning black and white and color
negative originals.
While drum scanners are capable of scanning both reflective and transmissive artwork a
good quality flatbed scanner can produce excellent scans from reflective artwork. As a
result, drum scanners are rarely used to scan prints now that high quality inexpensive
flatbed scanners are readily available. Film, however, is where drum scanners continue to
be the tool of choice for high-end applications. Because film can be wet mounted to the
scanner drum and because of the exceptional sensitivity of the PMTs, drum scanners are
capable of capturing very subtle details in film originals.
Currently only a few companies continue to manufacture drum scanners. While prices of
both new and used units have come down over the last decade they still require a
considerable monetary investment when compared to CCD flatbed scanners and film
scanners. However, drum scanners remain in demand due to their capacity to produce
scans which are superior in resolution, color gradation and value structure. Also, since
drum scanners are capable of resolutions up to 12,000 ppi, their use is generally
recommended when a scanned image is going to be enlarged.
In most current graphic arts operations, very high quality flatbed scanners have replaced
drum scanners, being both less expensive and faster. However, drum scanners continue to
be used in high-end applications, such as museum-quality archiving of photographs and
print production of high-quality books and magazine advertisements. In addition, due to
the greater availability of pre-owned units many fine art photographers are acquiring
drum scanners, which has created a new niche market for the machines.
[edit] Flatbed scanner
A flatbed scanner is usually composed of a glass pane (or platen), under which there is a
bright light (often xenon or cold cathode fluorescent) which illuminates the pane, and a
moving optical array, whether CCD or CIS. Colour scanners typically contain three rows
(arrays) of sensors with red, green, and blue filters. Images to be scanned are placed face
down on the glass and the sensor array and light source move across the pane reading the
entire area. An image is therefore visible to the charge-coupled device only because of
the light it reflects. Transparent images do not work in this way, and require special
accessories that illuminate them from the upper side.
[edit] Hand scanner
Hand scanners are manual devices which are dragged across the surface of the image to
be scanned. Scanning documents in this manner requires a steady hand, as an uneven
scanning rate would produce distorted images. They typically have a "start" button which
is held by the user for the duration of the scan, some switches to set the optical resolution,
and a roller which generates a clock pulse for synchronisation with the computer. Most
hand scanners were monochrome, and produced light from an array of green LEDs to
illuminate the image. A typical hand scanner also had a small window through which the
document being scanned could be viewed. They were popular during the early 1990s and
usually had a proprietary interface module specific to a particular type of home computer,
usually an Atari ST or Commodore Amiga.
[edit] Scanner quality
Scanners typically read red-green-blue color (RGB) data from the array. This data is then
processed with some proprietary algorithm to correct for different exposure conditions
and sent to the computer, via the device's input/output interface (usually SCSI or USB, or
LPT in machines pre-dating the USB standard). Color depth varies depending on the
scanning array characteristics, but is usually at least 24 bits. High quality models have 48
bits or more color depth. The other qualifying parameter for a scanner is its resolution,
measured in pixels per inch (ppi), sometimes more accurately referred to as samples per
inch (spi). Instead of using the scanner's true optical resolution, the only meaningful
parameter, manufacturers like to refer to the interpolated resolution, which is much
higher thanks to software interpolation. As of 2004, a good flatbed scanner has an optical
resolution of 1600–3200 ppi, high-end flatbed scanners can scan up to 5400 ppi, and a
good drum scanner has an optical resolution of 8000–14,000 ppi.
Manufacturers often claim interpolated resolutions as high as 19,200 ppi; but such
numbers carry little meaningful value, because the number of possible interpolated pixels
is unlimited. The higher the resolution, the larger the file. In most cases, there is a trade-
off between manageable file size and level of detail. Resolutions higher than 1200dpi are
overkill for colour printers and monitors.
The third important parameter for a scanner is its density range. A high density range
means that the scanner is able to reproduce shadow details and brightness details in one
scan.
[edit] Image transfer. Computer connection
Scanning the document is only one part of the process. For the scanned image to be
useful, it must be transferred to a computer. The amount of data generated by a scanner
can be very large: a 600 DPI 9"x11" (slightly larger than A4 paper) uncompressed 24-bit
image consumes about 100 megabytes of uncompressed data in transfer and storage on
the host computer. Recent scanners can generate this volume of data in a matter of
seconds. Therefore, a fast connection is desirable.
There are four common connections used by scanners:
• Parallel - Connecting through the parallel port is the slowest transfer method available.
Early scanners had parallel connections that could not go faster than 70 kilobytes/second.
• Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) requires a special SCSI connection. Most
SCSI scanners include a dedicated SCSI card to insert into your computer and connect
the scanner to, but you can use a standard SCSI controller instead. Professional models
adopted the SCSI-II connection, which was much faster (a few megabytes per second)
albeit expensive.
• Universal Serial Bus (USB) scanners combine good speed, ease of use and
affordability in a single package. In its first version, USB 1.1 was capable of 1.5
megabytes per second. Recent models use USB 2.0 connections that can transfer up to 60
megabytes per second, eliminating the bottleneck.
• FireWire - Usually found on higher-end scanners,FireWire connections are faster than
USB and SCSI. FireWire is ideal for scanning high-resolution (and therefore high
volume) images.
A computer needs software, called a driver, that knows how to communicate with the
scanner. Most scanners speak a common language, TWAIN. The TWAIN driver,
originally used for low-end and home-use equipment and now widely used for large-
volume scanning, acts as an interpreter between any application that supports the TWAIN
standard and the scanner. This means that the application does not need to know the
specific details of the scanner in order to access it directly. For example, you can choose
to acquire an image from the scanner from within Adobe Photoshop because Photoshop
supports the TWAIN standard.
Other scanner drivers that can be also used are:
ISIS, created by Pixel Translations, which still uses SCSI-II for performance reasons, is
used by large, departmental scale, machines.
SANE (Scanner Access Now Easy) is a free/open source API for accessing scanners.
Originally developed for Unix and Linux operating systems, it has been ported to OS/2,
Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows. Unlike TWAIN, SANE does not handle the user
interface. This allows batch scans and transparent network access without any special
support from the device driver.
In addition to the driver, most scanners come with other software. Typically, a scanning
utility and some type of image editing application are included. A lot of scanners include
OCR software. OCR allows you to scan in words from a document and convert them into
computer-based text. It uses an averaging process to determine what the shape of a
character is and match it to the correct letter or number.
[edit] Output data
The scanned result is a non-compressed RGB image which can be transferred to a
computer's memory. Some scanner compress and clean up the image using embedded
firmware. Once on the computer, the image can be processed with a raster graphics
program (such as Photoshop or the GIMP) and saved on a storage device (such as a hard
disk).
In common use, scanned pictures are stored on a computer's hard disk, normally in image
formats such as JPEG, TIFF, Bitmap, and PNG. Some scanners can also be used to
capture editable text, so long as the text can be read by the computer in a discernable
font. This process is called Optical Character Recognition (OCR).
[edit] Document scanning
The scanning or digitization of paper documents for storage is quite different from the
scanning of pictures for reproduction though it uses some of the same technology. While
document scanning can be done on general-purpose office scanners, in major operations
it is performed on dedicated, specialized scanners, manufactured by companies like Böwe
Bell & Howell, Canon, Fujitsu, Kodak and others.
Document scanners have document feeders, generally larger than those found on copiers
or all-purpose scanners. They scan at lower resolution than other scanners, usually in the
range 150dpi to 300dpi, since higher resolution is usually not needed and makes files
much larger to store.
A lot of scans can be made at high speed, traditionally in grayscale but now in color as
well. Many are capable of duplex (two-sided) scanning at or near full speed (20ppm
(pages per minute) to 150ppm). Sophisticated document scanners have either firmware of
software that “cleans up” scans as they are produced, eliminating accidental marks and
sharpening type. They also usually compress the scan on the fly.
Many document scans are converted using OCR technology into searchable files. Most
scanners use ISIS or Twain device drivers to scan documents into TIFF format so that the
scanned pages can be fed into a document management system that will handle the
archiving and retrieval of the scanned pages.
The biggest issues with document scanning are preparation and indexing. Preparation
involves taking the papers to be scanned and making sure that they are in order, unfolded,
without staples or anything else that might jam the scanner. This is a manual task and can
be time consuming. Indexing involves associating keywords with files so they can be
found later. This process can be automated in some cases, but may involve manual
labour. One common practice is the use of barcode recognition technology. During the
preparation process, barcode sheets are inserted into the document files, folders and
document groups. Using automatic batch scanning, the documents are saved into the
appropriate folders and an index is created for integration into document management
software systems.
A specialized form of document scanning is book scanning. Technical difficulties arise
from the books usually being bound and sometimes fragile and irreplaceable, but some
manufacturers have developed specialized machinery to deal with this. Often special
robotics are used to turn the pages automatically.
[edit] Infrared cleaning
Main article: Infrared cleaning
Infrared cleaning is a technique to remove dust and scratches from film. Most modern
scanners incorporate this feature. Infrared cleaning works by scanning the film with
infrared light. From this, it is possible to detect dust and scratches that cut off the infrared
light and they can then be automatically removed based on their position, size, shape and
surroundings.
Scanner manufacturers usually have their own name attached to this technique. For
example, Epson, Nikon, Microtek and others use Digital ICE [1] developed by Applied
Science Fiction (which was subsequently purchased by Kodak, and renamed as Kodak's
Austin Development Center), while Canon uses its own FARE (Film Automatic
Retouching and Enhancement) system.
Webcam
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A Creative webcam
A web camera (or webcam, real camera) is a real-time camera (usually, though not
always, a video camera) whose images can be accessed using the World Wide Web,
instant messaging, or a PC video calling application.
Web-accessible cameras typically involve a digital camera which uploads images to a
web server, either continuously or at regular intervals. This may be achieved by a camera
attached to a PC, or by dedicated hardware. Videoconferencing cameras typically take the
form of a small camera connected directly to a PC. Analog cameras are also sometimes
used (often of the sort used for closed-circuit television), connected to an video capture
card and then directly or indirectly to the internet.
History
Started in 1991, the first webcam was pointed at the Trojan room coffee pot in the
computer science department of Cambridge University. This webcam is now defunct, as
it was finally switched off on 22 August 2001. The final image captured by the camera
can still be viewed at the webcam's homepage [1].
As with many new technologies, webcams and webcam chat found early commercial
adoption and aggressive technology advancement through use by the pornography
industry. The adult industry required 'live' images and requested a Dutch developer to
write a piece of software that could do this without requiring web browser plugins. This
led to the birth of the 'live streaming webcam', which is still available in various forms
today.
[edit] Web-accessible cameras

This Axis camera can be connected directly to a network or the internet, via an RJ45
connector on its rear. Users can access the picture by connecting to an onboard HTTP
server.
In addition to use for personal videoconferencing, it was quickly realised that World
Wide Web users enjoyed viewing images from cameras set up by others elsewhere in the
world. While the term "webcam" refers to the technology generally, the first part of the
term ("web-") is often replaced with a word describing what can be viewed with the
camera, such as a nestcam or streetcam.
Today there are thousands of webcams that provide views into homes, offices and other
buildings as well as providing panoramic views of cities (Metrocams) and the
countryside. Webcams are used to monitor traffic with TraffiCams, the weather with
WeatherCams and even volcanoes with VolcanoCams.
[edit] Software
Webcams connected to PCs can act as web-accessible cameras with certain software; the
software uploads pictures to an FTP server, from which they can be made accessible to
anyone, over the web.
Usually, this kind of software is programmed to work with almost every webcam. This
software can be configured in many ways, and will often include options for image size
and quality, overlaying logos, and time stamping images. Many different programs to do
this are available, some of them free and open source.
[edit] Videoconferencing
As webcam capabilities have been added to instant messaging text chat services such as
Yahoo Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), Windows Live Messenger, and
Skype, one-to-one live video communication over the internet has now reached millions
of mainstream PC users worldwide. Increased video quality has helped webcams
encroach on traditional video conferencing systems. New features such as lighting, real-
time enhancements (retouching, wrinkle smoothing and vertical stretch) can make users
more comfortable, further increasing popularity. Features and performance vary between
programs.
[edit] Video security
Webcams are being used for security purposes. Software is available allowing PC-
connected cameras to watch for movement and sound, recording both when they are
detected; these recordings can be saved to the computer, e-mailed or uploaded to the
internet. In one well-publicised case [1] a computer e-mailed out images as the burglar
stole it, allowing the owner to give police a clear picture of the burglar's face even after
the computer had been stolen.
[edit] Games
The EyeToy is a color digital camera device for the PlayStation 2, which allows players
to interact with games using motion, colour detection and other means.
The Xbox Live Vision Camera is a camera designed for the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live,
and can also be used for gaming applications like the EyeToy.
PC webcams can also be used for gaming applications using simple motion detection
algorithms. Webcam games for PCs are available as either standalone executables, or
they can even be played inside of a web browser window using Adobe Flash.
[edit] Other applications
In astrophotography, webcams are a popular tool among amateurs (see also amateur
astronomy) for speckle imaging or lucky imaging techniques. The webcam is attached to
a telescope via a custom-made adaptor, and usually used in conjunction with barlow
lenses and IR/UV cut-off filters. The video feed from the camera is then uploaded to a
computer for processing.
[edit] Technology
Webcams typically include a lens, an image sensor, and supporting circuitry.
Webcams typically include a lens, an image sensor, and some support electronics.
Various lenses are available, the most common being a plastic lens that can be screwed in
and out to set the camera's focus. Image sensors can be CMOS or CCD, the former being
dominant for low-cost cameras, but CCD cameras do not necessarily outperform CMOS-
based cameras in the low cost price range. Consumer webcams usually offer a resolution
in the VGA region, at a rate of around 25 frames per second. The higher resolution of 1.3
Megapixel is also available from the brands Microsoft, Kinamax, Sabrent, Logitech, and
Vije.
Support electronics is present to read the image from the sensor and transmit it to the host
computer. The camera pictured to the right, for example, uses a Sonix SN9C101 to
transmit its image over USB. Some cameras - such as mobile phone cameras - use a
CMOS sensor with supporting electronics 'on die', i.e. the sensor and the support
electronics built on a single silicon chip, to save space and manufacturing costs.
[edit] Privacy
Some 'trojan horse' programs can allow malicious hackers to activate a computer's
camera without the user's knowledge, providing the hacker with a live video feed from
the unfortunate user's camera. Cameras such as Apple's iSight include lens covers to
thwart this. Other webcams, such as the Logitech Communicate STX, have a built-in
LED that lights up whenever the camera is active.
In mid-January 2005 some search engine queries were published in an on-line forum[2]
which allow anyone to find thousands of Panasonic- and Axis-made high-end web
cameras accessible through the web. Many such cameras are running on default
configuration, which does not require any password login or IP address verification,
making them visible to anyone.