Lecture 3

Input
Any information or data that is sent to a computer for processing is considered input. Input or
user input is most often sent to the computer using an input device. The picture is an example
of input being sent from the computer keyboard to the computer.
Input Devices:
1. Keyboard
2. Pointing Devices
3. Source Data Entry Devices
Keyboard:
The keyboard is the piece of computer hardware used to input text, characters, and other
commands into a computer or similar device. Even though the keyboard is an external
peripheral device in a desktop system (it sits outside the main computer housing).
Pointing Devices:
A pointing device, or sometimes called a pointing tool, is a hardware input device that allows
the user to move the mouse cursor in a computer program or GUI operating system.

 Mouse
 Pointing Stick
 Track Ball
 Touch Pad
 Touch screen
 Light Pen
 Digitizing Graphic Tablet
 Pen Based System
Mouse
A small handheld device which is moved across a mat or flat surface to move the cursor on a
computer screen.
Events:

 Left click
 Right click
 Drag
Pointing Stick
A pointing stick is an isometric joystick used as a pointing device, as with a touchpad or
trackball, typically mounted in a computer keyboard. Movements of the pointing stick are
echoed on the screen by movements of the pointer (or cursor) and other visual changes.
Track Ball:
An input device that looks like an upside-down mouse. The onscreen pointer is moved by
the trackball with a thumb or finger. A trackball requires less arm and wrist motion that a
regular mouse takes and therefore is often less stressful for the user to use.

Touch Pad
A touchpad is input device. A touchpad (also track pad) is an area that imitates (does the
same) functions of a computer mouse. There is no need of an external device like a mouse. The
user just runs over the small sensitive pad with one or more fingers. Touchpads are mostly
found on laptop computers.

Touch Screen
A touchscreen is an input and output device normally layered on the top of an electronic visual
display of an information processing system. A user can give input or control the information
processing system through simple or multi-touch gestures by touching the screen with a special
stylus or one or more fingers.
Light Pen:
A light pen is a light-sensitive computer input device, basically a stylus that is used to select
text, draw pictures and interact with user interface elements on a computer screen or monitor.

Digitizing graphic Tablet

An input device that enables you to enter drawings and sketches into a computer. A digitizing
tablet consists of an electronic tablet and a cursor or pen. ... The static nature of digitizing
tablets makes them particularly effective for tracing drawings.

Pen-Based System:
Pen-based computer, computer that uses pattern-recognition software to enable it to accept
handwriting as a form of input. A stylus, which may contain special electronic circuitry, is used to
write on the computer display or on a separate tablet.
Source Data Entry Devices
1. Scanning devices
a. Bar-code Reader
b. Mark- and character-recognition device
i. MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Reader)
ii. OMR (Optical Mark-Recognition)
iii. OCR (Optical Character-Recognition)
iv. Magnetic-stripe cards
v. Smart Cards
c. Fax Machine
d. Imaging System
e. Audio/Video Devices
i. Audio-input device
ii. Video-input device
iii. Digital camera
Scanning Devices
Bar-code Reader:
Bar codes are the vertical zebra-striped marks we find on most of the manufactured products in
the market. This bar code system is also called the “universal product code”. These are read by
bar-code readers, photoelectric scanners that translate the bar-code symbols into digital code,
which is then fed to the computers for further processing.
MICR:
MICR (magnetic ink character recognition) is a technology used to verify the legitimacy or
originality of paper documents, especially checks. Special ink, which is sensitive to magnetic
fields, is used in the printing of certain characters on the original documents.
OMR:
Optical mark recognition (also called optical mark reading and OMR) is the process of capturing
human-marked data from document forms such as surveys and tests. They are used to read
questionnaires, multiple choice examination paper in the form of lines or shaded areas.
OCR:
OCR (optical character recognition) is the recognition of printed or written text characters by a
computer. This involves photo scanning of the text character-by-character, analysis of the
scanned-in image, and then translation of the character image into character codes, such as
ASCII, commonly used in data processing.
Magnetic strip Cards:
A magnetic stripe card is a type of card capable of storing data by modifying the magnetism of
tiny iron-based magnetic particles on a band of magnetic material on the card. The magnetic
stripe, sometimes called swipe card, is read by swiping past a magnetic reading head.
Smart Cards:
Plastic card with embedded microprocessor chip, electronic memory, and a battery. Used for
information storage and management and authentication, it looks like, works like, and is of the
same size as a bank or credit card but may not have a magnetic stripe on its back.
Mobile sim cards and ATM card are good examples.
Fax Machine:
A fax machine is a device that is used to send documents electronically over a telephone
network. The transmissions it sends are called “faxes,” and these can be between two fax
machines, or between a fax machine and computer or online fax service that is equipped to
send and receive faxes.
Imaging System:
A system in which documents are scanned via document scanners, indexed based on a
unique value or set of values, and input into a database to be made available across a network
for access by a group of users.
Audio/Video Input Devices:
Audio input device:
Audio input devices are used to capture sound. In some cases, an audio output device can
be used as an input device, in order to capture produced sound. Audio input devices allow a
user to send audio signals to a computer for processing, recording, or carrying out commands.
Example: Microphone.
Video Input device:
Films and video images from VCR and camcorder are converted to digital form with the help of
a special digitizing card (video-capture card). It has two types:

 Frame-grabber video card: it can capture and digitize only a single frame at a time.
 Full-motion video card: Also known as adapters, can convert analog to digital signals
at the rate of up to 30 frames per second giving the effect of a continuously flowing
motion picture.
Digital Camera:
A digital camera or digicam is a camera that produces still, single-frame photographs that can
be stored in digital memory, displayed on a screen and printed on physical media.

Output Devices:
An output device is any device used to send data from a computer to another device or user.
Most computer data output that is meant for humans is in the form of audio or video. Thus,
most output devices used by humans are in these categories. Examples include monitors,
projectors, speakers, headphones and printers.
Types of output:
1. Softcopy output
2. Hardcopy output
3. Sound output
Softcopy output:
A soft copy (sometimes spelled "softcopy") is an electronic copy of some type of data, such as
a file viewed on a computer's display or transmitted as an e-mail attachment.
Display Screen:
A display device is an output device for presentation of information in visual form. When the
input information that is supplied has an electrical signal, the display is called an
electronic display.

 Resolution
 Size
 Color
 Video Display Adapter
Types of Screen:
CRT:
The cathode ray tube (CRT) is a vacuum tube that contains one or more electron guns and a
phosphorescent screen, and is used to display images. It modulates, accelerates, and deflects
electron beam(s) onto the screen to create the images. The images may represent electrical
waveforms (oscilloscope), pictures and others.
Flat Panel Displays:
A flat panel display is a television, monitor or other display appliance that uses a
thin panel design instead of a traditional cathode ray tube (CRT) design. These screens are
much lighter and thinner, and can be much more portable than traditional televisions and
monitors. LCD.
Hardcopy output:
A hard copy (or "hardcopy") is a printed copy of information from a computer. Sometimes
referred to as a printout, a hard copy is so-called because it exists as a physical object.
Printers:
A printer is a device that accepts text and graphic output from a computer and transfers the
information to paper, usually to standard size sheets of paper. Printers vary in size, speed,
sophistication, and cost. In general, more expensive printers are used for higher-resolution
color printing.
Types of Printers:

 Impact Printers
 Non-Impact Printers
Impact Printers:
Impact printer refers to a class of printers that work by banging a head or needle against an
ink ribbon to make a mark on the paper. This includes dot-matrix printers, daisy-
wheel printers, and line printers.
Dot-Matrix Printer:
This is a type of computer printing which uses a print head that moves back-and-forth, or in an
up-and-down motion, on the page and prints by impact, striking an ink-soaked cloth ribbon
against the paper, much like the print mechanism on a typewriter.
Daisy-wheel Printer:
The daisy wheel is a disk made of plastic or metal on which characters stand out in relief along the outer edge. To
print a character, the printer rotates the disk until the desired letter is facing the paper. Then a hammer strikes the
disk, forcing the character to hit an ink ribbon, leaving an impression of the character on the paper.

Line Printer:
A high-speed printer capable of printing an entire line at one time. A fast line printer can print
as many as 3,000 lines per minute. The disadvantages of line printers are that they cannot
print graphics, the print quality is low, and they are very noisy.
Non-Impact Printers:
Non-Impact Printers forms characters and images without making direct physical contact
between printing mechanism and paper.
There are three types in this category:
1. Laser Printer:
Laser printing is an electrostatic digital printing process. It produces high-quality text and
graphics (and moderate-quality photographs) by repeatedly passing a laser beam back
and forth over a negatively charged cylinder called a "drum" to define a differentially
charged image. The drum then selectively collects electrically charged powdered ink (toner),
and transfers the image to paper, which is then heated in order to permanently fuse the text
and/or imagery. As with digital photocopiers, laser printers employ a xerographic printing
process. Quality (ranging from 300dpi to 1200dpi).
2. Ink-jet Printer:
Inkjet printing is a type of computer printing that recreates a digital image by propelling
droplets of ink onto paper, plastic, or other substrates. Inkjet printers are the most
commonly used type of printer, and range from small inexpensive consumer models to
expensive professional machines.
3. Thermal Printer:
A printer that uses heat to transfer an impression onto paper. There are two kinds
of thermal printers: thermal wax transfer: a printer that adheres a wax-based ink onto
paper. A thermal print head melts wax-based ink from the transfer ribbon onto the
paper.
Plotter:
The plotter is a computer printer for printing vector graphics. In the past, plotters were used in
applications such as computer-aided design, though they have generally been replaced with
wide-format conventional printers. A plotter gives a hard copy of the output. It draws pictures on
a paper using a pen.
Types of Plotter:
Flatbed plotter:
A graphics plotter that contains a flat surface that the paper is placed on. The size of this
surface (bed) determines the maximum size of the drawing. A flatbed plotter is a
computerized plotter that works by using an arm that moves a pen over paper.
Drum Plotter:
A type of pen plotter that wraps the paper around a drum with a pin feed attachment.
The drum turns to produce one direction of the plot, and the pens move to provide the other.
The plotter was the first output device to print graphics and large engineering drawings.
Sound Output:
Speaker:
Speakers are one of the most common output devices used with computer systems. ...
Regardless of their design, the purpose of speakers is to produce audio output that can be
heard by the listener.