OUTPUT DEVICES

What is an output device?

• An output device is any piece of computer
hardware equipment used to communicate
the results of data processing carried out by
an information processing system (such as a
computer) to the outside world.
 The output devices are:
• Monitor
• Speaker
• Headphone
• Printer
• Plotter
• Projector
 1.Monitor

• Monitor is a TV like device that display

information.
• It can display text as well as graphic
images in color or black & white while
based on monitor type.
• Monitors are classified on the basis of
color and signals.
 Based on color
• Monochrome: It display two colors, one on
the foreground and one on the background.
The colors can be black and white, green and
black or amber and black.
• Gray-scale: Special type of monochrome
monitor capable of displaying different shades
of gray.
• Multi-Color: They are called RGB monitors,
they accept three separate signals-Red, Green
and Blue.
• A multi-color monitor can display any color.
 Based on signals
• Digital monitor: It accepts digital signals
rather than analog.
• The term digital refers to the type of input
received from the video adapter.
• Digital monitors are fast and produce clear
images.
• Eg: Flat-panel display which uses Liquid Crystal
Display technology.
• Analog monitor: This is the traditional type of
color display that has been used for years in
televisions.
• In reality all monitors based on CRT(Cathode
Ray Tube) technology are analog.
• The monitor consumes much space.
 CRT(Cathode Ray Tube)
• A CRT works by moving an electron beam back
and forth across the back of the screen.
• Each time the beam makes a pass across the
screen, it lights up phosphor dots on the inside
of the glass tube, thereby illuminating the active
portions of the screen.
• By drawing many such lines from the top to the
bottom of the screen, it creates an entire screen
of images.
The screen is coated on the inside surface with dots of chemicals called
phosphors. When a beam of electrons hits a dot, the dot will glow. 
On a color monitor these phosphor dots are in groups of three: Red, Green,
and Blue. This RGB system can create all the other colors by combining
what dots are glow.
There are 3  signals that control the 3 electron beams in the monitor, one for
each RGB color. Each beam only touches the dots that the signal tells it to
light. All the glowing dots together make the picture that you see. The human
eye blends the dots to "see" all the different colors.
A shadow mask blocks the path of the beams in a way that lets each beam
only light its assigned color dots
 LCD(Liquid Crystal Display)
LCD displays use two sheets of polarizing
material with a liquid crystal solution between
them.
An electric current passed through the liquid
causes the crystals to align so that light cannot
pass through them.
Each crystal, therefore, is like a shutter, either
allowing light to pass through or blocking the light
 2.Sound card and Speakers
– Sound cards enable the computer to output sound
through speakers.
– Speakers are required to listen to music and video
CD/DVD sound.
– This also allow us to listen to the computer
generated sound.
– Some monitors have built in speakers.
 3.Headphones
• Headphones give sound output from the
computer.
• They are similar to speakers, except they are
worn on the ears so only one person can hear
the output at a time.
 4. Printer
• A printer is a device that prints text or
illustrations on paper.
• There are many types of printers and they are:
• Daisy-wheel
• Dot-Matrix
• Ink-Jet printer
• Laser
• LED
• Thermal
 A. Daisy- wheel printer
• It works like a ball head type writer.
• They are printers of letter-quality type.
• It cannot print graphic images.
• They are noisy and slow.
• The flat, circular printers printing element
contains all text and numeric characters. The element
spins rapidly, pausing only to allow the printing hammer
time to strike the character against the ribbon
or paper.
 B. Dot-Matrix printer
• They are the first printers used with personal
computers.
• It creates image by striking pins against an ink
ribbon.
• By activating these pins in different
combinations , printer produce different
characters on paper.
• Dot matrix printers are inexpensive
 B. Dot-Matrix printer
Dot matrix printers normally have 9 or
24 pins arranged in the form of a
matrix.
To print a character on the paper, the
built-in microprocessor activates the
appropriate pins in the print head to
move forward and hit the printer
ribbon, which is placed against a
paper.
As a result, the shape of the character
appears on the paper.
Dot matrix printers form the shape of
characters by a number of dots and
not with the character shape itself;
therefore the print quality of these
printers is low.
• Speed of these printers are
measured in characters per
second(CPS).
• The speed can vary from about 50-
500CPS.
• Disadvantage of this printer is its
print quality and the loud noise
during processing.
 C. Ink-Jet printer
• These printers create image by spraying jet of ink on the paper surface
and hence the name.
• Ink is emitted from nozzles while they pass over media. The operation of
an inkjet printer is easy to visualize: liquid ink in various colors being
squirted onto paper and other media, like plastic film and canvas, to build
an image.
• A print head scans the page in horizontal strips, using the printer's motor
assembly to move it from left to right and back again, while the paper is
rolled up in vertical steps, again by the printer
• The speed of these printers is measured in pages per minute(PPM).
• It produce very high quality printouts on any surface.
• It can be used to get multicolor print outs.
• It provides a resolution of 300 dots per inch.
Disadvantage:
• Per page printing cost of these printers is very high.
• They cannot be used to take multiple carbon copies.
Advantage:
• Since it require smaller mechanical parts, it is
popular as portable printers.
• It provides an inexpensive way to print full color
documents.
• Low cost
• Reasonably fast
 D. Laser Printer
• Laser printer utilizes a laser beam to produce an
image and hence the name.
• It is also called page printers.
• Laser printer are expensive.
• Speed is measured in Pages Per Minute or PPM.
• It produce very high quality print and print unlimited
variety of fonts.
• It cannot be used to take multiple carbon printouts.
How does a laser printer work?
• The laser light produces the image on a
drum.
• The laser light alters the electrical charge
on a drum whenever it hits.
• The drum is rolled through a reservoir of
toner, which is picked by the charged
portions of the drum.
• Finally the toner is transferred to the
paper through a combination of heat and
pressure.
 E. LED Printer
• They are similar to laser printer but uses liquid crystals or light
emitting diodes rather than a laser.
• It utilize a LED panel that recreates the image on a negatively
charged drum. The areas where the light hits the drum become
less charged, which attracts toner. The printer then transfers the
toner from the drum to the paper and applies intense heat to
fuse the toner to the paper
 F. Thermal Printer
• It produce image by pushing
electrically heated pins against
special heat sensitive paper.
• They are inexpensive and are used in
calculators and many fax machines.
• They produce low quality print.
 5. Plotter
• Very often it might be required to create high
quality visuals on paper, which cannot be obtained
using a printer. For this purpose, a plotter is used.
A plotter is an output device that is used to create
presentation visuals, charts, graphs, tables and
diagrams.

• It is used to draw pictures on paper based on

commands from a computer.
• Plotters differ from printers in that they draw lines
using a pen.
• They can produce continuous lines.
• Plotters are used in engineering applications.
• They are more expensive than printers.
 Types of Plotters
•Drum Plotter
• The Flat bed plotter
•The Inkjet Plotter

Flat bed Plotter: The paper is held

stationary while the arm and the pens
move over it. This is called a flat-bed
plotter.
This is the plotter type which can
successfully use several colored pens
for the purpose so that the effect is
different from the regular.
Here the size of the plot is limited only
by the size of the flat bed.
 Types of Plotters
Drum Plotter: The pen is motioned on a single axis track while
the paper itself moves on a cylindrical drum which is also
rotating back and forth in a perfect bid to add another axis to the
same. That's the reason why the size of the graph is limited only
by the width of the drum and can be of any length.
Drum Plotters are used to produce continuous output, such as
plotting earthquake activity
 Types of Plotters
Ink Jet Plotter: The inkjet plotter creates an image
by spraying small droplets of ink onto a piece of
paper.

A popular choice for advertising agencies and

graphic designers, inkjet plotters are used
generally for large outputs, such as banners and
billboards and large signs often seen on
roadsides.

They are available in thermal or piezoelectric

models.
Thermal inkjet plotters use heat to apply droplets
of ink, while piezoelectric plotters use charged
crystals to apply the ink.
Inkjet plotters tend to produce better quality
graphics than other types of plotters
 6. Projector

• A projector is a device that enables an image, such

as a computer screen, to be projected onto a flat
surface.
• These devices are commonly used in meetings and
presentations as they allow for a large image to be
shown so everyone in a room can see.
THANK YOU