Input & Output Devices

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Input Devices

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INPUT DEVICES In computer input devices is used provide data and signals to an information processing system such as computer. Input and output devices make up the hardware interface between a computer and a input device. There are many types of Input devices:

1. KEYBOARD A keyboard is a interface device which is represented as a layout of buttons. In computer a keyboard is like a typewriter style keyboard which is an arrangement of buttons or keys. It also acts as switches. Despite of the alternative input devices such as the mouse , touch screen , pen devices , voice recognition etc keyboard is the most commonly used and most versatile device used for direct input into computer. Earlier Herman Hollerith developed the first keypunch devices which soon evolved to include keys for text and number entry like normal typewriters. There are a number of different arrangements of alphabetic and numeric symbol on keys. The QWERTZ layout is widely used in Germany and much in Europe. The difference between it and QWERTY is that Y and Z are swapped or interchanged and most special characters such as brackets are replaced by diacritical characters. Wireless keyboards have become popular for their increased user freedom and easy to use.

2. MOUSE Mouse is the most commonly used input devices and pointing device that lets you select and move item on desktop. The Left mouse button is used more than the Right mouse button. A single Left click is used to select an item and when double clicking on that item activates the application. The Right click displays a list of menu or commands on the screen. Dragging and Dropping makes easy to move icons or item on the screen. Mouse is also used for drawing shapes like circle, square , rectangle etc.

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There are different types of Mouse:

A. Mechanical Mouse:

This is the type of mouse which has a metal or rubber ball on its lower side. The pointer on the screen moves according to the movement of the ball which is detected by the mechanical sensors which is in the mouse.

B.

Opto-Mechanical Mouse:

This type of the mouse is similar to the mechanical mouse. The difference is that it uses optical sensors to detect the movement.
C. Optical Mouse:

Optical Mouse does not have any mechanism. It is having laser technology which is used to detect the movement of the mouse. An optical mouse is more easyefficient and expensive than mechanical and optomechanical mouse.

3. SCANNER It is an input device that scans the text, documents, images etc. The scanned data was converted into digital images and shows on the computer screen. There are different types of scanner:
D. Drum Scanner:

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This is the most efficient and expensive scanner. Its uses a rotating glass to drum to scan. In the drum scanner the light from the object which is to scanned is split into separate red blue and green beams optically making image preside. This mechanism is called Photo Multiplier Tubes technology.

E.

Flatbed Scanner:

It looks like miniature printer with flip up cover protecting the glass window. In a flatbed Scanner the object to be scanned is placed face down on the glass of the scanner. It used charged coupled devices technology to read the entire area optically. Depending upon the size a flatbed scanner can fit the standard or any size of the document and cover allows scanning books, newspaper, articles, photos etc. This scanner is used in school, homes and offices.
F. Handheld Scanner:

It is a small manual scanner which is dragged over the surface of the image to be scanned. These scanners are operator by hand. It is difficult to operate this scanner. Bar code scanner is one of the most utilized hand held scanners.

4. BAR CODE READER It is an input device used for reading bar codes on the products. It is the combination of dark and light strips. A bar code consists of a light source, lens and a light sensor. It is a very useful device for billing application. There are many types of bar code readers:
G. Pen Type Reader

This type of reader consists of light source. To read the bar code the one holding the pen must move the tip of it across the bars at a relativity uniform speed.
H. Laser Scanners

Laser Scanners work the same way as pen type readers except that they use laser beam as the light source. In both pen reader and laser reader the light emitted by the reader is rapidly varied in brightness with a data

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pattern and detect only signals with the same modulated pattern.
I. CCD Reader

CCD reader use an array of hundreds of tiny light sensors lined up in a row in the head of the reader. Each sensor measures the intensity of the light sensor in the CCD reader is extremely small.

5. JOYSTICK A Joystick is an input device which allows the user to move an object on the screen. It is normally used in video games. It has a moving stick with some push buttons on it. In fact the stick movement is similar to gear of the car. The physical movements of the stick are sent to the computer as input to move the cursor or the object at different positions on the screen. A popular variation of the joystick used on the modem video games. Joystick is also used of controlling machines such as cranes, trucks, underwater, vehicles, wheelchairs etc. Joysticks originated as controls for aircraft ailerons and elevators, and are first known to have been used as such on Louis Bleriot's Bleriot VIII aircraft of 1908, in combination with a foot-operated rudder bar for the yaw control surface on the tail. The name Joystick is thought to originate with early 20th century French pilot Robert Esnault - Pelterie. There are also competing claims on behalf of fellow pilots Robert Loraine, and A.E Gorge. Loraine is cited by the Oxford English Dictionary for using the term Joystick in his diary in 1909 when he went to Pal to learn to fly at Bleriot's school. George was a pioneer aviator who with his colleague Job-ling built and flew a biplane at Newcastle in England in 1910. He is alleged to have invented the George Stick which became more popularly known as the joystick. The George and Job-ling aircraft control column is in the collection of the Discovery Museum in Newcastle upon Tyre, England.

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6. MICRO PHONE It is an input device used to record and store voice or any other sound into a computer generally as a . wav file. It is also used to record a narration in a power point presentation. Generally it is used to separate component for desktop but can be seen as an integrated component in some laptops. You can notice a special port in these computers where microphones can be connected. The sensitive transducer element of a microphone is called its element or capsule. A complete microphone also includes a housing, some means of bringing the signal from the element to other equipment, and often an electronic circuit to adapt the output of the capsule to the equipment being driven. A wireless microphone contains a radio transmitter. A microphone is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephone, tape recorders, karaoke systems, hearing aids, motion picture production, live and recorded audio engineering, FRS radios, megaphones, in radio and televisions broadcasting and in computers for recording voice, speech recognition, VoIP, and for non-acoustic purposes such as ultrasonic checking or knock sensors. Most microphones today use electromagnetic induction, capacitance change, piezoelectric generation, or light modulation to produce an electrical voltage signal from mechanical vibration.

7. LIGHT PEN It is a light sensitive pointing device commonly used to select or modify data on the screen. It allows the user to point on display object. It is similar to touch screen. It is very easy to use. A light pen is fairly simple to implement. Just like a light gun, a light pen works by sensing the sudden small change in brightness of a point on the screen when the electron gun refreshes that spot. By noting exactly where the scanning has reached at that moment, the X,Y position of the pen can be resolved. This is usually achieved by the light pen causing an interrupt, at which point the scan

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position can be read from a special register, or computed from a counter or timer. The pen position is updated on every refresh of the screen. The light pen found use during the early 1980s. It was notable for its use in the Fairlight CMI, and the BBC Micro. IBM PC compatible CGA,HGC and some EGA graphics cards featured a connector for a light pen as well. Even some consumer products were given light pens, such as the Thomson MO5 computer family as well as the Atari 8 bit home computers. Because the user was required to hold his or her arm in front of the screen for long periods of time or to use a desk that tilts the monitor, the light pen fell out of use as a general purpose input device. The first light pen was created around 1952 as part of the Whirlwind project at MIT.

8. DIGITAL CAMERA A digital camera is a camera that takes video or still photographs by recording images on an electronic image sensor. Most cameras sold today are digital and digital cameras are incorporated into many devices ranging from PDA and mobile phones to vehicles. Digital and film cameras share an optical system, typically using a lens with a variable diaphragm to focus light onto an image pickup device. The diaphragm and shutter admit the correct amount of light to the image, just as with film but the image pickup device is electronic rather than chemical. However, unlike film cameras, digital cameras can display images on a screen immediately after being recorded, and store and delete images from memory. Many digital cameras can also record moving video with sound. Some digital cameras can crop and stich pictures and performs other elementary image editing. It does not require any film roll like normal camera. A web cam is also a kind of digital camera connect to computer. It is used for video conferencing and online chatting.

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9. WEB CAM A web cam is a video camera that feeds its images in real time to a computer or computer network, often via USB, Ethernet, or WIFI. Their most popular use is the establishment of video links, permitting computers to act as videophones or video conference station. The common use as a video camera for the World Wide Web gave the web cam its name. Other popular uses include security surveillance, computer vision, video broadcasting, and for recording social videos. Web cams are known for their low manufacturing cost and flexibility, making them the lowest cost form of video telephony. They have also become a source of security and privacy issues, as some built-in web cams can be remotely activated via spy ware. First developed in 1991, a web cam was pointed at the Cambridge University Computer Science Department. The camera was finally switched off on August 22, 2001. The final image captured by the camera can still be viewed at its homepage. The oldest web cam still operating is Fog Cam at San Francisco State University, which has been running continuously since 1994. Web cams typically include a lens, an image sensor, support electronics, and may also include a microphone for sound. Various lenses are available, the most common in consumer-grade web cams being a plastic lens that can be screwed in and out to focus the camera. Fixed focus lenses, which have no provision for adjustment, are also available.

10. GAME CONTROLLER A game controller is a device used with games or entertainment systems to provide input to a video game, typically to control an object or character in the game. A controller is usually connected to a game console or computer by means of a wire or cord, although wireless controllers are also widespread. Input devices that have been classified as game controllers include keyboards, mice, game pads, joysticks, etc. Special purpose devices, such as steering wheels

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for driving games and light guns for shooting games, are also game controllers. Devices such as mice and keyboards can be emulated with a game pad through the use of programs such as Joystick. A game pad, also known as a joy pad, is the most common kind of game controller. They are held in both hands with thumbs and fingers used to provide input. Game pads can have a number of action buttons combined with one or more Omni-directional control sticks or buttons. Action buttons are generally handled with the digits on the right hand, and the directional input handled with the left. Game pads are the primary means of input on nearly all modern video game consoles. Due to the ease of use and precision of game pads, they have spread from their origin on traditional consoles to computers, where a variety of games and emulators support their input.

11. KINECT Kinect is a motion sensing input device by Microsoft for the Xbox 360 video game console and Windows PCs. Based around a web cam-style add-on peripheral for the Xbox 360 console, it enables users to control and interact with the Xbox 360 without the need to touch a game controller, through a natural user interface using gestures and spoken commands. The project is aimed at broadening the Xbox 360's audience beyond its typical gamer base. Kinect competes with the Wii Remote Plus and PlayStation Move with PlayStation Eye motion controllers for the Wii and PlayStation 3 home consoles, respectively. A version for Windows was released on February 1, 2012. Kinect was launched in North America on November 4, 2010,in Europe on November 10, 2010 in Australia, New Zeal and and Singapore on November 18, 2010 and in Japan on November 20, 2010. Purchase options for the sensor peripheral include a bundle with the game Kinect Adventures and console bundles with either a 4 GB15 16 17or 250 GB 18 Xbox 360 console and Kinect Adventures. After selling a total of 8 million units in its first 60 days, the Kinect holds the Guinness World Record of being the "fastest selling consumer electronics device".19 20 21 18 million units of the Kinect sensor had been shipped as of January 2012.

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Output Devices

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Output Devices The output device is used for printing the processed data in a user readable form. A computer can have several output devices attached to it. Some of the common output devices are: 1. MONITOR

Monitor is the most common output device. It is also called Visual Display Unit. It is just like television. Originally, computer monitors were used for data processing while television receivers were used for entertainment. From the 1980s onwards, computers have been used for both data processing and entertainment, while televisions have implemented some computer functionality. The common aspect ratio of televisions, and then computer monitors, has also changed from 4:3 to 16:9. The first computer monitors used cathode ray tubes. Until the early 1980s, they were known as video display terminals and were physically attached to the computer and keyboard. The monitors were monochrome, flickered and the image quality was poor. In 1981, IBM introduced the Color Graphics Adapter, which could display four colors with a resolution of 320 by 200 pixels. In 1984 IBM introduced the Enhanced Graphics Adapter which was capable of producing 16 colors and had a resolution of 640 by 350.

2. PRINTERS In computing, a printer is a peripheral which produces a text or graphics of documents stored in electronic form, usually on physical print media such as paper or transparencies. Many printers are primarily used as local peripherals, and are attached by a printer cable or, in most new printers, a USB cable to a computer which serves as a document source. Some printers, commonly known as network printers, have built-in network interfaces, typically wireless or Ethernet based, and can serve as a

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hard copy device for any user on the network. Individual printers are often designed to support both local and network connected users at the same time. In addition, a few modern printers can directly interface to electronic media such as memory cards, or to image capture devices such as digital cameras and scanners; some printers are combined with scanners or fax machines in a single unit, and can function asphoto copiers. Printers that include non-printing features are sometimes called multifunction printers , multi-function devices (MFD), or all-in-one (AIO) printers. Most MFPs include printing, scanning, and copying among their many features.

3. PLOTTER Plotters are used to print graphical output on paper. It interprets computer commands and makes line drawings on paper using multicolored automated pens. It is capable of producing graphs, drawings, charts, maps etc. Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) applications like CAD (Computer Aided Design) and CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing) are typical usage are Plotter. Pen plotters print by moving a pen or other instrument across the surface of a piece of paper. This means that plotters are restricted to line art, rather than raster graphics as with other printers. Pen plotters can draw complex line art, including text, but do so slowly because of the mechanical movement of the pens. They are often incapable of efficiently creating a solid region of color, but can hatch an area by drawing a number of close, regular lines. Plotters offered the fastest way to efficiently produce very large drawings or color highresolution vector-based artwork when computer memory was very expensive and processor power was very limited, and other types of printers had limited graphic output capabilities. Pen plotters have essentially become obsolete, and have been replaced by large-format inkjet printers and LED toner based printers. Such devices may still understand vector languages originally designed for plotter use, because in many uses, they offer a more efficient alternative to raster data.

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4. SPEAKER Computer speakers, or multimedia speakers, are speakers external to a computer that disable the lower fidelity built-in speaker. They often have a low-power internal amplifier. The standard audio connection is a 3.5 mm stereo jack plug often color-coded lime green for computer sound cards. A plug and socket for a twowire coaxial cable is widely used to connect analog audio and video components. Rows of RCA sockets are found on the backs of stereo amplifier and numerous A/V products. The prong is 1/8" thick by 5/16" long. A few use an RCA connector for input. There are also USB speakers which are powered from the 5 volts at 500 milliamps provided by the USB port, allowing about 2.5 watts of output power. Computer speakers range widely in quality and in price. The computer speakers typically packaged with computer systems are small, plastic, and have mediocre sound quality. Some computer speakers have equalization features such as bass and treble controls. The internal amplifiers require an external power source, usually an AC adapter. More sophisticated computer speakers can have a subwoofer unit, to enhance bass output, and these units usually include the power amplifiers both for the bass speaker, and the small satellite speakers.

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