Chapter 7: Input and Output
Input Devices
Input devices are hardware components that allow you to enter data and instructions
into a computer or mobile device. They are your way of communicating with the
computer.
Keyboards
• Keyboard: This is an input device that contains keys you press to enter data and
instructions into a computer or mobile device. It's the most common way to type
text and numbers.
• QWERTY Keyboard: This is the standard keyboard layout used in most English-
speaking countries. It's named after the first six letters in the top row of letters.
• On-screen Keyboard: This is a virtual keyboard that appears on a touch screen.
You tap the keys on the screen instead of pressing physical keys.
• Ergonomic Keyboard: This is a specially designed keyboard that is shaped to
reduce strain on your wrists and hands, helping to prevent injuries from long-term
typing.
Pointing Devices
Pointing devices allow you to control a pointer (like an arrow) on the screen and select
items by clicking or tapping.
Mouse
• Mouse: This is a pointing device that fits comfortably under the palm of your hand.
You move it on a flat surface to control the pointer on the screen.
• Optical Mouse: This type of mouse uses a light sensor (LED) to detect movement.
It works on most surfaces and doesn't need a mouse pad.
• Laser Mouse: This mouse uses a laser sensor for more precise tracking than an
optical mouse. It can work on more surface types, including glass.
• Touch Mouse: This mouse responds to finger gestures on its surface, allowing you
to scroll, zoom, and navigate without clicking buttons.
Other Pointing Devices
• Trackball: This is a stationary pointing device with a ball on its top or side. You roll
the ball with your thumb, fingers, or palm to move the pointer on the screen.
• Touchpad (Trackpad): This is a small, flat, rectangular pointing device that is
sensitive to pressure and motion. You slide your finger across its surface to move
the pointer. It's commonly found on laptops.
• Pointing Stick: This is a small, pressure-sensitive pointing device shaped like a
pencil eraser. It's positioned between keys on a keyboard, often on laptops. You
push it in different directions to move the pointer.
Touch Screens
• Touch Screen: This is a touch-sensitive display device. You interact with it by
touching areas of the screen with your finger, a stylus, or another object. Touch
screens are common on smartphones, tablets, and some computers.
Pen Input
• Pen Input: This involves using a stylus or digital pen to write, draw, or make
selections on a flat surface, often a screen or a special tablet.
• Stylus: This is a pen-like tool used to interact with touch screens or graphics
tablets. It can be more precise than using your finger.
• Digital Pen: This is an advanced stylus that can capture handwriting and convert it
to digital text or preserve it as a drawing.
• Graphics Tablet (Digitizer): This is an electronic plastic board that detects and
converts movements of a stylus or digital pen into signals that are sent to the
computer. Artists and designers often use these for precise drawing and design
work.
Motion, Voice, and Video Input
Motion Input
• Motion Input (Gesture Recognition): This technology allows users to control on-
screen elements using hand movements or gestures in the air, without touching
anything. It's used in gaming consoles like the Xbox Kinect and some smart TVs.
Voice Input
• Voice Input: This is the process of entering information into the computer by
speaking into a microphone.
• Voice Recognition (Speech Recognition): This is the computer or mobile device's
ability to understand spoken words and convert them into text or commands.
Examples include Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant.
Audio Input
• Audio Input: This is the process of entering any sound into the computer, including
speech, music, and sound effects.
• Music Production Software: These are programs that allow users to record,
compose, mix, and edit music and sounds on a computer.
Video Input
• Video Input: This is the process of capturing moving images (video) and storing
them on a computer or mobile device's storage.
• Webcam: This is a type of digital video camera that connects to a computer and
enables users to:
◦ Capture video and still images
◦ Send email messages with video attachments
◦ Live broadcast images over the Internet
◦ Make video calls
• Videoconference: This is a meeting between two or more people in different
locations who use a network or the Internet to transmit audio and video data so
they can see and hear each other in real-time.
Scanners and Reading Devices
Scanner
• Scanner: This is a light-sensing input device that reads printed text and graphics
and then converts them into a digital form that the computer can process.
• Flatbed Scanner: This type of scanner works similarly to a copy machine, but
instead of creating a paper copy, it creates a digital file of the document in the
computer's memory.
Optical Reader
• Optical Reader: This is a device that uses a light source to read characters, marks,
and codes, then converts them into digital data that a computer can process.
Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
• OCR (Optical Character Recognition): This is technology that can read text
characters from images and convert them into editable digital text that you can
modify on a computer.
Optical Mark Recognition (OMR)
• OMR (Optical Mark Recognition): This technology reads hand-drawn marks such
as small circles or rectangles. It's commonly used for processing test answer
sheets, surveys, and voting ballots.
Bar Code Reader
• Bar Code Reader (Bar Code Scanner): This device uses laser beams to read bar
codes.
• Bar Code: This is an identification code made up of vertical lines and spaces of
different widths, or a two-dimensional pattern of dots and squares. Each pattern
represents different information, like a product's price or identification number.
• QR Code (Quick Response Code): This is a square-shaped coding system that can
store information both vertically and horizontally. It can hold much more
information than a traditional bar code and can be read by smartphone cameras.
RFID
• RFID (Radio Frequency Identification): This technology uses radio signals to
communicate with a small tag placed in or attached to an object.
• RFID Reader: This device reads information stored on RFID tags using radio waves.
RFID can track many things, including:
◦ Inventory in stores and warehouses
◦ Assets like equipment
◦ People (through ID cards)
◦ Animals (through implanted chips)
Magstripe Reader
• Magstripe Readers: These devices read the magnetic stripe found on the back of
cards such as:
◦ Credit cards
◦ Debit cards
◦ ATM cards
◦ Employee ID cards
◦ Hotel key cards
MICR
• MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition): These devices read text that has
been printed with special magnetized ink.
• MICR Reader: This device converts MICR characters into a form the computer can
process. The banking industry primarily uses MICR for processing checks, as the
magnetic ink makes the numbers readable even if the check is damaged or dirty.
Data Collection Device
• Data Collection Device: This is a device that gathers data directly at the location
where a transaction or event takes place. Examples include handheld computers
used in warehouses to track inventory or in retail stores to check prices.
Output Devices
Output devices are hardware components that convey information from a computer or
mobile device to one or more people. They show you the results of the computer's work.
Displays
• Display (Monitor): This is an output device that visually shows text, graphics, and
video information. The information shown on a display is sometimes called soft
copy because it's temporary and disappears when you turn off the device.
Display Technologies
• LCD (Liquid Crystal Display): This technology uses a liquid compound to present
information on a display device. LCD screens are thin, lightweight, and energy-
efficient.
• LED (Light-Emitting Diode): This technology uses a layer of LEDs (light-emitting
diodes) for backlighting the display, resulting in better color reproduction and
contrast than traditional LCD displays.
• OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode): This technology uses organic molecules
that produce their own light when electricity is applied. OLED displays can be very
thin and provide excellent color and contrast.
Display Quality Factors
Display quality depends on several important factors:
* Resolution: This is the number of horizontal and vertical pixels (tiny dots) that make
up the display. Higher resolution means sharper, clearer images.
* Response Time: This is the time in milliseconds that it takes to turn a pixel on or off.
Lower response times are better for fast-moving images like games or videos.
* Brightness: This is the amount of light a monitor produces, measured in nits or cd/
m². Higher brightness is useful in bright environments.
* Contrast Ratio: This is the difference in light intensity between the brightest white
and the darkest black the display can produce. Higher contrast ratios provide more vivid
images.
Printers
• Printer: This is an output device that produces text and graphics on a physical
medium, usually paper. The printed information is called hard copy because it's a
permanent, physical form of output.
Nonimpact Printers
• Nonimpact Printers: These printers create characters and graphics on paper
without physically touching or striking the paper.
Ink-jet Printer
• Ink-jet Printer: This type of nonimpact printer creates characters and graphics by
spraying tiny drops of liquid ink onto paper. It's popular for home use because it's
relatively inexpensive and can print in color.
Photo Printer
• Photo Printer: This is a specialized color printer designed to produce photo-lab-
quality pictures. It often uses special photo paper and multiple ink colors for high-
quality results.
Laser Printer
• Laser Printer: This is a high-speed, high-quality nonimpact printer that creates
images using a laser beam and powdered ink called toner. Laser printers are fast
and produce very sharp text and graphics.
Impact Printers
• Impact Printers: These printers create characters and graphics by striking a
mechanism against an inked ribbon that physically contacts the paper.
Dot-matrix Printer
• Dot-matrix Printer: This is an impact printer that produces printed images when
tiny pins on a print head strike an inked ribbon. The pins create patterns of dots
that form characters and simple graphics. These printers are older technology but
still used in some businesses for multi-part forms.
Printer Features
Important printer characteristics include:
* Print Speed: This is measured in pages per minute (ppm) and indicates how fast the
printer can produce pages.
* Print Quality: This is measured in dots per inch (dpi). Higher dpi means sharper, more
detailed printouts.
* Memory: Printers have built-in memory to store print jobs while they're being
processed.
* Duplex Printing: This is the ability to automatically print on both sides of the paper,
saving paper and creating professional-looking documents.
Audio Output Devices
• Speakers: These are audio output devices that generate sound. They convert
electrical signals from the computer into sound waves you can hear.
• Headphones: These are speakers designed to cover or be placed over your ears.
They provide private listening and often better sound quality than built-in
speakers.
• Earbuds (Earphones): These are small speakers that rest inside your ear canal.
They're portable and provide private listening, commonly used with mobile
devices.
Data Projectors
• Data Projector: This is a device that takes the text and images displaying on a
computer screen and projects them onto a larger screen or wall so that an
audience can see the content clearly. They're commonly used in classrooms,
meeting rooms, and for presentations.
What is Input?
• Input: This refers to any data and instructions that you enter into the memory of a
computer or mobile device. It's the raw information the computer receives.
Keyboard Details
Most desktop computer keyboards have several sections:
* Typing Area: The main part with letters, numbers, and symbols.
* Numeric Keypad: A section with numbers arranged like a calculator.
* Function Keys: Keys (F1, F2, etc.) that perform special functions.
* Navigation Keys: Keys like arrow keys, Home, End, Page Up, Page Down for moving
around documents.
Display Connections
Today’s monitors use a digital signal to produce a picture. To display the highest
quality images, a monitor should plug into:
* DVI port: Digital Visual Interface port.
* HDMI port: High-Definition Multimedia Interface port.
* DisplayPort: A digital display interface.
Types of Televisions as Displays
• Digital Television (DTV): Home users sometimes use a digital television as a
display for their computers.
• HDTV (High-Definition Television): This is the most advanced form of digital
television, offering a much higher resolution picture.
• Smart TV: This is an Internet-enabled HDTV, meaning it can connect to the internet
to stream content, browse the web, and run apps.
Other Printer Types
• All-in-one Printer (Multifunction Printer): This is a single device that combines
the functions of a printer, scanner, copier, and sometimes a fax machine.
• 3-D Printer: This type of printer uses a process called additive manufacturing to
create a three-dimensional object. It builds the object layer by layer by adding
material, unlike traditional manufacturing that removes material.
• Thermal Printer: This printer generates images by pushing electrically heated pins
against heat-sensitive paper. They are often used for receipts and labels.
• Mobile Printer: This is a small, lightweight, battery-powered printer that allows
users to print from a mobile device while on the go.
• Label Printer: This is a small printer that prints on adhesive-type material (labels)
that can be placed on various items.
• Plotters: These are specialized printers used to produce high-quality, large-format
drawings, such as architectural blueprints or engineering designs.
• Large-format Printers: These printers create photo-realistic quality color prints,
often used for posters, banners, and signs.
Other Output Devices
• Interactive Whiteboard: This is a touch-sensitive device, similar to a dry-erase
board, that displays the image from a connected computer screen. You can interact
with the image directly on the board.
• Force Feedback Devices: Joysticks, wheels, gamepads, and motion-sensing game
controllers can be considered output devices when they include force feedback.
This technology sends resistance or vibrations back to the device in response to
actions of the user, making games feel more realistic.
Assistive Technology Input and Output
• Assistive Technology: These are devices and software designed to help people
with disabilities use computers and other technology.
• Braille Printer (Embosser): This is a printer that outputs text in Braille, a tactile
writing system used by people who are visually impaired.
• Head-mounted Pointer: This device allows users to control the computer cursor
by moving their head, often used by individuals with limited hand mobility.
