INPUT AND OUTPUT

Ideaz Unlimited MKCL

Input devices

Input devices are the hardware used to translate words, sounds, images and actions that people understand into a form that the system unit can process.

Examples of input devices

Keyboard Pointing devices Scanning devices Image capturing devices Audio input devices

Keyboard

Most common ways to input data is keyboard. It converts numbers, letters, and special characters that people understand into electrical signals. These signals are sent to and processed by the system unit.

Common types of keyboards

Traditional keyboards Flexible keyboards Ergonomic keyboards Wireless keyboards PDA keyboards

Features of keyboard

Windows key : displays the Start menu Spacebar : enters blank spaces between the characters Navigation keys : control the cursor or insertion point on the screen Numeric keypad : enters numbers and arithmetic symbols and controls cursor or insertion point. Function keys : shortcut for specific tasks. F1 key displays online Help Escape key : typically cancels a selection or procedure.

Toggle keys : Caps Lock key, scroll key, num key are toggle keys. They turn a feature on or off. Combination keys : Ctrl, Shift, Alt, are combination keys which perform an action when held down in combination with another key.

Pointing devices
Pointing devices provide a comfortable interface with the system unit by accepting pointing gestures and converting them into machine readable input. Example : Mouse Joystick Touch screen Light pen Stylus

Mouse

A mouse controls a pointer that is displayed on the monitor. The mouse pointer usually appears in the shape of an arrow. A mouse may have one, two or three buttons which are used to select command options and to control the mouse pointer on the screen. Some mouse have a wheel button that can be rotated to scroll through information displayed on the monitor.

Mechanical mouse

Optical mouse

Cordless or wireless mouse

Trackball

Touch surfaces or touch pads

Pointing stick

Joystick

Touch screen

Light pen

Stylus

Scanning devices

Scanning devices convert scanned text and images into a form that the system unit can process. Types of scanning devices:
Optical scanner Bar code readers Character and mark recognition devices

Optical scanners

It accepts documents consisting of text and / or images and converts them to machine readable form They recognize light, dark and coloured areas that make up individual letters or images.

Two types of optical scanner

Flatbed scanner Portable scanner

Bar code readers

Used mostly at grocery stores. They are either handheld wand readers or platform scanners. Contain photoelectric cells that scan or read bar codes or the vertical zebra striped marks printed on product containers.

Character and mark recognition devices

These are scanners that are able to recognize special characters and marks. Three types of these devices are:
MICR OCR OMR

MICR

Magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) used by banks to automatically read the unusual numbers on the bottom of cheques and deposit slips. A special purpose machine known as reader / sorter reads these numbers and provides input that allows bank to efficiently maintain customer account balances.

OCR

Optical character recognition (OCR) uses special pre-printed character that can be read by a light source and changed into machine readable code. Eg: handheld wand reader. Used in departmental store.

OMR

Optical mark recognition also called mark sensing. An OMR device senses the presence or absence of a mark, such as a pencil mark. OMR is often used to score multiple choice tests such as Aptitude test, etc.

Image capturing devices

An optical scanner can make a digital copy of a photograph. Image capturing devices create or capture original images. Examples of image capturing devices
Digital camera Digital video camera

Digital camera

They are similar to traditional cameras except that images are recorded digitally on a disk or in the cameras memory rather than on film and then downloaded or transferred to you computer.

Digital video camera

They record motion digitally on a disk or in the cameras memory. Web cameras are specialized digital video cameras that capture images and send them to a computer for broadcast over the internet.

Audio input devices

Audio input devices convert sounds into a form that can be processed by the system unit. Audio input can take many forms including the human voice and music.

Voice

Voice recognition systems use a microphone, a sound card and special software. These systems allow users to operate computers and to create documents using voice commands.

Using the Language bar, you can switch between voice command mode and dictation mode. Voice command mode allows the user to select menu items, toolbars and dialogs box options. Dictation mode allows the user to dictate text directly into a word document.

Music

Musical instrument digital interface or MIDI is a standard that allows musical instruments to connect to the system unit using a special MIDI port. MIDI devices are specialized musical instruments that provide input in the form of encoded digital signals representing musical sounds.

MIDI devices can be used to create, record and play back musical composition. The most commonly used MIDI devices :
Electronic keyboard MIDI violins Guitars cellos

Output devices

Output devices are any hardware used to provide or to create output. They translate information that has been processed by the system unit into a form that humans can understand.

Example of output devices

Monitors
Printers Audio

output

Monitors

Most frequently used output device. Also known as display screens or video display unit. Output is often is referred to as soft copy. Monitors vary in size, shape and cost.

Features of monitor

Important characteristic of monitor is its clarity. Clarity refers to the quality and sharpness of the displayed images. Other features include
Resolution Dot pitch Refresh rate size

Resolution

It is one of the most important features. Images are formed on a monitor by a series of dots or pixels (picture elements) Resolution is expressed as a matrix of these dots or pixels.

Dot Pitch

It is the distance between each pixel. New monitors have a dot pitch of 0.31 mm or less. The lower the dot pitch the clearer the images produced.

Refresh rate

Indicates how often a displayed image is updated or redrawn on the monitor. Most monitors operate at a rate of 75 Hertz, which means that the monitor is redrawn 75 times each second. The faster the refresh rate, the better the quality of images displayed.

Size

Size is measured by the diagonal length of a monitors viewing area. Common sizes are 15, 17, 19 and 21 inches. The smaller the monitor size the better the quality of images displayed.

Types of monitors

Cathode ray tube Flat panel monitor Other monitors

Cathode Ray Tube

Flat panel monitor

Two types of flat panel monitors

Passive matrix or dual scan monitors Active matrix or thin film transistors (TFT)

Other monitors

E-books Data projectors High definition Television (HDTV)

PRINTERS

Printers translate information that has been processed by the system unit and present the information on paper. Printer output is called hard copy.

Features

Features of a printer include

Resolution Color capability Speed Memory

Types of printers

Ink jet printers Laser printer Thermal printer Other printers

Ink jet printers

Inkjet printers spray ink at high speed on the surface of paper. Produces letter quality image. Most widely used. Reliable, quiet and relatively inexpensive cartridges. Prints 17 to 19 pages per minute of black only output and 13 to 15 pages per minute of colour output.

Laser printer

Uses technology similar to xerox machine. Uses a laser light beam to produce images with excellent letter and graphics quality. More expensive than ink jet printers. Faster and used in applications requiring high quality output.

Categories of laser printer Personal laser printer : do not support colour, are less expensive and used by single users. Prints 15 to 17 pages a minute. Shared laser printer : support colour, are more expensive and used (shared) by a group of users. Prints over 50 pages a minute.

Thermal printer

Uses heat elements to produce images on heat sensitive paper. Earlier these printers were only used in scientific labs to record data. Nowadays colour thermal printers are used to produce very high quality colour artwork and text.

Other printers

Include

Dot matrix printer Plotters Photo printers Portable printers

Audio output devices

These devices translate audio information from the computer into sounds that people can understand. Most widely used audio output devices are speakers and headphones.

Combination input and output devices

Include
Fax machine Multifunction device Internet telephone Terminals

Fax machine

Also known as facsimile transmission machine. To send a fax, these devices scan the image of a document converting the light and dark areas into a format that can be sent electronically over standard telephone lines. To receive a fax, these devices reverse the process and print the document using signals received from the telephone line.

Multifunctional devices

Also known as all in one devices Combine the capability of a scanner, printer, fax and copy machine. Require less space Disadvantage is the quality and functions are not good as those of separate single purpose devices.

Internet Telephone

Used for sending and receiving voice communication. Operate like a traditional telephone. Telephony is the transmission of telephone calls over computer Networks. Also known as Internet telephony. Uses internet rather than traditional communication lines to support voice communication.

Three approaches are

Computer to computer communication Computer to traditional telephone communication traditional telephone to traditional telephone communication

Terminals

Terminal is an input and output device that connects you to a mainframe or other type of computer called a host computer or server. Four kinds of terminals
Dumb terminal Intelligent terminal Network terminal Internet terminal

Dumb terminal

It can be used to input and receive data, but it cannot process data independently. It is used to gain access and to send information to a computer. Such a terminal is used by airline reservation clerks to access a mainframe computer for flight information

Intelligent terminal

It is a microcomputer with communication software and a telephone hookup (modem) or other communication links. These connect the terminal to the larger computer or to the internet. Popular type is Net PC. These are low cost and have only one type of secondary storage (an internal hard disk drive), a sealed system unit and no expansion slots.

Network terminal

Also known as thin client or network computer, is a low cost alternative to an intelligent terminal. Most network terminals do not have a hard disk drive and must rely on a host computer or server for application and system software.

Internet terminal

Also known as web terminal or web appliance. Provides access the internet and displays web pages on a standard television set. They offer internet access without a micro computer. Used almost exclusively at home.