Any data or instruction entered into the computer is known as INPUT.

An input device helps you to communicate with the computer. To enter information and issue commands, you use input devices. Examples of input devices:
Keyboard Mouse Scanner Microphone Digital Camera and Web Camera

The keyboard is the most common and widely used input device. It is made up of buttons called 'keys'. The keys are arranged into sections:
Alphabet keys (A-Z) Function or F keys (F1, F2, F3) Numeric keys (one set above the alphabet keys and a numeric keypad on the right) Arrow keys Command keys (insert, delete, home, end, page up/down)

The graphical user interfaces (GUIs) in use today require some kind of device for positioning the on-screen cursor. Typical pointing devices are: mouse, trackball, touch pad, track point, graphics tablet, joystick, and touch screen.

A mouse is an input devices that fits comfortably under the palm of your hand. A mouse is a pointing device. We use mouse to control the movement of the mouse pointer on the screen and to make selections from the screen. The bottom of a mouse is flat and contains a mechanism that detects the movement of a mouse.

optical mouse Mouse in which the ball is replaced by an optical system (light-emitting diode and sensor); it has no movable parts.
wheel mouse Mechanical or optical mouse that contains a scroll wheel. cordless mouse Mechanical or optical mouse connected to the computer by infrared or radio signals.

The joystick is a vertical stick which moves the graphic cursor in a direction the stick is moved. It typically has a button on top that is used to select the option pointed by the cursor. Joystick is used as an input device primarily used with video games, training simulators and controlling robots.

A scanner is a light-sensing input device that reads printed text and graphics and then translates the results into a form the computer can use.
The image or text can be saved or changed on the computer.

Bar Code Reader

A bar code is a set of lines of different thicknesses that represent a number. Bar Code Readers are used to input data from bar codes. Most products in shops have bar codes on them. A bar code reader uses an optical scanning process to decode information contained in bar codes.

Optical Scanner
Equipment that converts a documents graphics or texts into digital data.

Optical scanner

Bar code reader

Stylus is an input device consisting of a thin stick that uses pressure to enter information or to click and point Styluses are used with:
PDAs
Tablet

PCs Graphics tablets

p. 5.135 Fig. 5-6

2003 The McGraw-Hill Companies

It is a pen shaped device used to select objects on a display screen. It is quite like the mouse (in its functionality) but uses a light pen to move the pointer and select any object on the screen by pointing to the object. Users of Computer Aided Design (CAD) applications commonly use the light pens to directly draw on screen.

 It

allows the user to operate/make selections by simply touching the display screen. Common examples of touch screen include information kiosks, and bank ATMs.

Microphone
Device that converts electric pulses into broadcast or recorded sounds.

A microphone allows you to record your voice to the computer. It also lets you speak to other people using computers or even on the telephone. A microphone is also called a mic.

Web camera
Miniature digital camera used to transmit video images in real time or for videoconferencing over the Internet.

Digital camcorder
Portable video camera in which the recording tape is replaced by a processor, which records and stores sounds and images in digital format.

Digital camera
Camera that contains a sensor and a microprocessor rather than film; it records and stores images in digital form, which can then be viewed on a screen.

Computer is fed with a lot of data to be processed and organised. The data that has been processed into a useful form is called OUTPUT. Output is the result we get through output devices. Examples of output devices are:
Monitor Printer Speaker Headphone

A monitor is an output device similar to a television screen. It is used to display text and graphics.

TYPES OF MONITORS: video monitor Device with a cathode ray surface that displays computer-generated graphics and texts visually.

LCD was introduced in the 1970s and is now applied to display terminals also. Its advantages like low energy consumption, smaller and lighter have paved its way for usage in portable computers (laptops).

CRT stands for cathode ray tubes. Despite the fact that it is the cheapest monitor available it is becoming less popular. It consists of an electron gun that shoots electrons against phosphor particles. They are used in environments where space is not an issue.

Advantages Cheaper than TFT monitors.

Disadvantages Difficult to life and move around

Produce better quality images as opposed to a TFT

Emit harmful radiation (small quantity)

Screen on the monitor can be viewed from a number of angles.

They have a flickering screen; this can cause headaches and eye strain.

TFT stands for thin film transistor. These monitors can also be called LCDs. LCD stands for liquid crystal display. The screen consists of thousands of miniature transistors. These transistors are activated by the processor. Each pixel is formed from RGB (Red, Green and Blue). Used when only 1 person needs to see the screen.

Advantages
Easy to move and carry around.

Disadvantages

Limited angle of viewing

Inconsistency of colour when viewed from different angles.

Produce less glare (reduced eye strain)

Emits less radiation as opposed to CRT

Videos may blur More expensive than CRT

A printer

is a device that prints output to a page. Printers are commonly categorized by the way they create print characters Printers come in color or simply black and white.

Most businesses have laser printers since the quality is better. Printers can be connected to the computer or networked using a print server. Two basic print technologies are: Impact printers Non-impact printers

These

printers can produce a page, a line, or a character at a time.

It

is used for printing backup copies print quality is poor.

of large amounts of stored data.

Its

Impact printers use the typewriting printing mechanism wherein a hammer strikes the paper through a ribbon in order to produce output. Dot-matrix and Character printers fall under this category.

Most

widely used printers for personal computers. Can produce both text and graphics with good print quality. Most popular non-impact printers are laser printers and inkjet printers.

They

are also called bubble jet

printers.
They

are the least expensive and

most popular non-impact printers.

It

work by forming an image that is

composed of tiny dots, but the dots are

much smaller.
They
They

also print in color.

are inexpensive and produce

excellent output but they are slow.

INKJET PRINTER

Advantages High quality printout

Disadvantages They are slow if you need to print more than one page.

Fast if you are only printing one page

More expensive to run because the ink cartridges dont last very long.

Cheaper than other printers

Long print jobs may be difficult because the ink cartridge may run out.

Are more mobile as opposed to other printers.

These

work like photocopy machines.

A laser

beam creates electrical

charges on a rotating print drum.

These

charges attract tones, which

are transferred to the paper and fused to its surface by a heating process.

LASER PRINTER

Advantages

Disadvantages

Fast output
Running costs are cheaper Large print jobs can be done quickly Quality is high Toner cartridges last longer; so laser printers can be used on longer print runs.

Limited in size of paper.

Initial costs are high. First page may be slow to print.

Plotters are used to print graphical output on paper. It interprets computer commands and makes line drawings on paper using multicoloured 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 areas for plotters.

Advantages Large printouts can be produced High quality graphic output.

Disadvantages Slow

Filled areas of colour are difficult to produce.

Expensive

A speaker allows you to hear the sound generated by your computer. Speaker produces sound or music.

Headphone is used to listen to music and sounds. Headphone usually have strap that rests on top of the head and a pair of speakers over both ears.

Headsets

are a combination of speakers and microphone. A headset is used mostly for gamers, but it is a great tool for communicating with family or friends over the Internet using software.

Headsets

retrieve sound just like

speakers, but the attached

microphone, which is an input device,

can be used for recording sound.

THANKS