JOMO KENYATTA UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE AND
TECHNOLOGY
EEC2102: COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Presented by
Dr. Linus A. Aloo, PhD
References
Course Text Books
1. Campbell, J., Ciampa, M., Freund, S. M., Frydenberg, M., Sebok, S., Vermaat, M. E., Clemens, B. (2022).
2. Discovering Computers: Digital Technology, Data, and Devices. Cengage Learning: ISBN-10: 0357675363 ISBN-13:
9780357675366
3. Parsons, J. J. (2023). New perspectives on computer concepts 2016, comprehensive (21st ed.). Cengage Learning, Asia.
ISBN-13: 9780357674611
References Textbooks and Materials
1. Nagpal, D. P. (2008). Computer fundamentals. S. Chand Publishing. ISBN: 8121923883.
2. Microsoft Office documentation; support site, https://support.office.com
3. Microsoft Windows documentation; [online], Available: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/b/software-
support
4. Stallings W., (2010) Computer Organization and Architecture: Designing for Performance, Prentice Hall 10th
Edition
5. Performing with Computers by Iris Blanc.
9/16/2024 EEC 2102-Computer Systems Lecture Notes by Dr. L.A. Aloo 1
WEEK 3: CHAPTER 3: INPUT DEVICES AND OUTPUT DEVICES
Chapter Objective
The objectives of this sub-topic are to:
i. Expose the students to those components that make up the input unit and the output unit.
ii. Enable students get deeper understanding of the functions of the input and the output
unit.
iii. Guide the students on the type of input unit and output unit suitable to a particular
computing environment.
iv. Expose the students to the most common multimedia devices that are used in computer
systems.
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WEEK 3: CHAPTER 3: INPUT DEVICES AND OUTPUT DEVICES
3.3. OUTPUT DEVICES
The output device enables the compute to communicate with the outside world by accepting
data from the computer and transforming it into user readable form.
The various types of output devices are :
3.3.1 Printers:
A printer produces the output from the computer on the paper.
It is the most commonly used output device.
The printers produce a hard copy i.e. a permanent copy of the results which can be stored and
read later. Printers are classified as :
a) Impact Printer
b) Non Impact Printer
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WEEK 3: CHAPTER 3: INPUT DEVICES AND OUTPUT DEVICES
3.3. OUTPUT DEVICES
3.3.1 Printers:
a) Impact Printer
Impact printers are similar to typewriters.
They use hammer to strike a character against an inked ribbon and the impact of the hammer
causes the image of the character to be printed on paper. E.g. Dot matrix printers, line printers,
daisy wheel printers,
Advantages of impact printers:
Their functioning is relatively easy
Multiple copies can be produced at the same time with the help of carbon paper.
Impact printers are noisy in operation and are subject to wear and tear of mechanical parts.
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WEEK 3: CHAPTER 3: INPUT DEVICES AND OUTPUT DEVICES
3.3. OUTPUT DEVICES
3.3.1 Printers:
Types of impact printers :
1) Dot Matrix Printers
Dot matrix printer prints each
character as a pattern of dots.
The printer has a printer head with a
matrix of pins (needles).
Typical heads have a matrix of 7 rows
and 9 columns.
These pins produce a pattern of dots Fig. 3.8 A dot matrix printer, a daisy wheel and a daisy wheel
printer
to form the individual characters.
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WEEK 3: CHAPTER 3: INPUT DEVICES AND OUTPUT DEVICES
3.3. OUTPUT DEVICES
3.3.1 Printers: Dot Matrix Printers
These printers are relatively low in cost and print at speeds of 50-500 characters per second.
The programmer can also define the shape of characters for this printer.
Therefore it is possible to print many special characters, characters in various sizes as well as charts and
graphs on such printers. Dot matrix printers are very commonly used in most computer systems.
2) Daisy Wheel Printer :
These printers are also called as letter quality printers.
These printers have a daisy wheel with a number of petals.
A character is embossed on each wheel.
There is a motor which spins the wheel at a fast rate.
When the desired character is brought to the correct position, a hammer strikes the petal to produce the
output. Thus these printers are impact printers.
9/16/2024 EEC 2102-Computer Systems Lecture Notes by Dr. L.A. Aloo 6
WEEK 3: CHAPTER 3: INPUT DEVICES AND OUTPUT DEVICES
3.3. OUTPUT DEVICES
3.3.1 Printers
2) Daisy Wheel Printer :
The letter quality of these printers is much superior as compared to the dot matrix printers.
But they are slow and typically print in the range of 10-50 characters per second.
3) Line Printer:
Line printers are very fast printers which print at speed of 200-2500
lines per minute.
These printers are impact printers and normally have 132 print
positions per line.
Different types of character set are available for different printers.
Line printers are normally used in applications where large volumes
Fig 3.9 A Line printer
of data are to be printed.
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WEEK 3: CHAPTER 3: INPUT DEVICES AND OUTPUT DEVICES
3.3. OUTPUT DEVICES
3.3.1 Printers (ii) Chain printers
3) Line Printer: In the chain printers there is one print
The two types of line printers are :
hammer for each print position on a
(i) Drum printers
line.
This consists of a metallic cylinder.
There is a fast moving chain called the
On the surface of this drum there are characters in bands.
print chain.
Each column or band on the drum contains all the characters.
When this chain rotates, the print
Opposite to each band there is a hammer located behind the
hammer and the inked ribbon strike
paper. The drum rotates at a fast rate.
the paper against the proper character
The hammer strikes the paper along with the inked ribbon and
on the chain.
produces the output.
One line is printed in each revolution of the printer.
9/16/2024 EEC 2102-Computer Systems Lecture Notes by Dr. L.A. Aloo 8
WEEK 3: CHAPTER 3: INPUT DEVICES AND OUTPUT DEVICES
3.3. OUTPUT DEVICES
3.3.1 Printers
b) Non Impact Printer
They use thermal, chemical, electrostatic and inkjet technologies for printing as against the
hammer mechanism of impact printers. E.g. Laser printers, DeskJet printers.
Ink Jet Printer:
Ink jet printer is a non impact printer.
It prints characters by spraying ink from tiny nozzles onto the paper.
A special type of ink which has a high iron content is used.
This ink is charged electrically when it comes out of the nozzle.
This ink is absorbed by the paper and dries instantly.
9/16/2024 EEC 2102-Computer Systems Lecture Notes by Dr. L.A. Aloo 9
WEEK 3: CHAPTER 3: INPUT DEVICES AND OUTPUT DEVICES
3.3. OUTPUT DEVICES
3.3.1 Printers
Ink Jet Printer:
The output of the ink jet printer is of a superior
quality.
Also it is possible to obtain colored output.
A number of character styles and sizes are
available.
However, being a non impact printer it is not
possible to prepare carbon copies with this printer.
Fig 3.10 An Ink Jet Printer
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WEEK 3: CHAPTER 3: INPUT DEVICES AND OUTPUT DEVICES
3.3. OUTPUT DEVICES
3.3.1 Printers
Laser Printers :
These printers are used where a very superior quality output is desired.
The image is created on a photo sensitive drum; with a laser beam.
The laser is turned on and off when it moves back and forward across the drum.
It leaves a negative charge on the drum to which a positively charged black toner powder sticks.
When the paper rolls by the drum, the ink is transferred to the paper.
Laser printers have a buffer memory to store entire pages and hence their speed is very fast.
The biggest advantage of these printers is that no mechanical movement is involved, therefore
they are noiseless in operation. However there are comparatively expensive
9/16/2024 EEC 2102-Computer Systems Lecture Notes by Dr. L.A. Aloo 11
WEEK 3: CHAPTER 3: INPUT DEVICES AND OUTPUT DEVICES
3.3. OUTPUT DEVICES
3.3.2 Plotter :
A plotter is an output device used in applications where
printouts of graphs and drawings are required.
Plotters are of two types :
1) Flat bed i.e. X-Y plotter:
This plotter plots on a paper which is fixed on a rectangular
flatbed table.
One recording pen moves in the x direction and one in the y
direction to plot on the paper.
Color plotting is al so possible by using pens of different
colors. Fig 3.11 plotter
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WEEK 3: CHAPTER 3: INPUT DEVICES AND OUTPUT DEVICES
3.3. OUTPUT DEVICES
3.3.2 Plotter :
2) Drum Plotter:
In this plotter the paper on which the output is to be obtained, is placed over a drum.
The drum rotates back and forth to produce motion.
The pen is mounted horizontally across the drum and the horizontal motion of the pen is achieved with the
help of the pen holder.
The drum and the holder move simultaneously to produce output. Multi-coloured printing is possible by
changing the pens.
The speed of plotters is very slow.
Therefore normally the output is first sent to some secondary storage device like a magnetic tape and then
directed to the plotter.
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WEEK 3: CHAPTER 3: INPUT DEVICES AND OUTPUT DEVICES
3.3. OUTPUT DEVICES
3.3.3 Video Display Terminal:
• CRT:
An electron beam is moved across a
phosphor coated screen to produce the
image.
The CRT can be monochrome or colored.
Fig 3.12 : Screen - Flat Panel Display & Monitor
This screen normally has 25 lines and 80
characters.
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WEEK 3: CHAPTER 3: INPUT DEVICES AND OUTPUT DEVICES
3.3. OUTPUT DEVICES
3.3.3 Video Display Terminal:
• Flat Panel Display :
The most common flat panel display is the Liquid Crystal Display (LCD).
This does not have a picture tube. The other type of display is the gas plasma screen.
• The Video Display Terminal:
The most popular output device in direct access processing is the Video Display
Terminal.
These terminals display information instantaneously.
The monitor and the keyboard together are called a terminal.
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WEEK 3: CHAPTER 3: INPUT DEVICES AND OUTPUT DEVICES
3.3. OUTPUT DEVICES
3.3.3 Video Display Terminal:
The types of terminals are :
Intelligent Terminal: This type of
Dumb Terminal:
terminal also has an inbuilt
This is a combination of a keyboard and monitor which
microprocessor which can
can send or receive data, but cannot process the data.
be programmed by the user. These
Smart Terminal: A smart terminal has an inbuilt
terminals also have limited
microprocessor. It can perform arithmetic, logic and
processing capability.
control functions. They also have some memory capacity.
They can communicate with other
So they can store the data before sending to the processor.
terminals and processors.
They can also control the cursor movement.
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WEEK 3: CHAPTER 3: INPUT DEVICES AND OUTPUT DEVICES
3.3. OUTPUT DEVICES
COM devices are normally used in application
3.3.4 Computer Output Microfilm (COM):
where there are large volumes of data.
This technology is used to record the computer
COM devices are much faster than the normal
output as microscopic filmed images. printers.
Information is recorded on a roll of microfilm. Also since the size of these films is very small
A microfilm recorder displays the information the space required for storage is very less as
onto a screen. compared to printed output.
An inbuilt camera then takes pictures of this However since COM systems are highly
sophisticated they are relatively expensive and
information.
are mainly used where there are high volumes
A microfilm reader is used to view this
of data.
information.
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CHAPTER 3: INPUT DEVICES AND OUTPUT DEVICES
3.4. MULTIMEDIA DEVICES 3.4.2. Optical Disk Drive Overview
3.4.1. Multimedia Overview
There are many types of
multimedia devices-this chapter
focuses on:
Optical drive technologies
Sound cards
Cameras
Speakers
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CHAPTER 3: INPUT DEVICES AND OUTPUT DEVICES
3.4.3 BenQ CD Drive Front Panel Controls 3.3.4 Inside a CD Drive
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CHAPTER 3: INPUT DEVICES AND OUTPUT DEVICES
3.4.5 Optical Drive Interfaces
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CHAPTER 3: INPUT DEVICES AND OUTPUT DEVICES
3.4.6 ODDs and Discs Preventive Maintenance
3.3.7 Motherboard Audio Ports
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CHAPTER 3: INPUT DEVICES AND OUTPUT DEVICES
3.4.8 Installing Sound cards 3.3.9. Scanners
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CHAPTER 3: INPUT DEVICES AND OUTPUT DEVICES
3.4.10 Installing and Configuring Other Peripheral devices
3.3.11. Other Multimedia devices
3.3.12. Multimedia Storage
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WEEK 3: CHAPTER 3: INPUT DEVICES AND OUTPUT DEVICES
Revision 3.2
1. Define: Peripheral Devices, Input Devices, Output Devices
2. Write Short notes on: Punched Cards, Keyboard, Optical Scanner,
Plotter.
3. What are impact printers? Describe any two types of impact printers.
3. What is COM?
5. What is a terminal? Name any two types of terminals.
6. Describe the various types of computer terminals.
END OF WEEK 4 LECTURE
9/16/2024 EEC 2102-Computer Systems Lecture Notes by Dr. L.A. Aloo 24
