Output Units

 This unit allows the user to get information from the computer as human acceptable language.
Example: Monitor, Printer.
 An output device is any peripheral that receives data from a computer, usually for display,
projection, or physical reproduction.
 This unit is allows the user to get information from the computer as human acceptable language in
two ways such as follows:
 Soft Copy Output: The resulted information can be seen on the screen of a monitor or
any display device. Example: Computer Desktop Screen
 Hard Copy Output: The resulted information can be seen with printed or plotted form
on any hard material like paper. Example: Printed Paper.
Printer
A printer is an external output device that takes data from a computer and generates output in the form
of graphics / text on a paper".
There are two types of printers.
I. Impact printers
An impact printer makes contact with the paper. It usually forms the print image by pressing an inked
ribbon against the paper using a hammer or pins. Following are some examples of impact printers.
 Dot-Matrix Printers
 Daisy-Wheel Printers
 Line Printers
 Drum Printers
 Chain Printers
 Band Printers
1. Dot-Matrix Printers
 The dot-matrix printer uses print heads containing from 9 to 24 pins.
 These pins produce patterns of dots on the paper to form the individual characters.
 The 24 pin dot-matrix printer produces more dots that a 9 pin dot-matrix printer, which results in
much better quality and clearer characters.
 The pins strike the ribbon individually as the print mechanism moves across the entire print line
in both directions, i-e, from left to right, then right to left, and so on.
 The user can produce a color output with a dot-matrix printer (the user will change the black
ribbon with a ribbon that has color stripes).
 Dot-matrix printers are inexpensive and typically print at speeds of 100-600 characters per
second.

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 2. Daisy-wheel printers
 In order to get the quality of type found on typewriters, a daisy-wheel impact printer can be
used.
 It is called daisy-wheel printer because the print mechanism looks like a daisy; at the end of
each “Petal” is a fully formed character which produces solid-line print.
 A hammer strikes a “petal” containing a character against the ribbon, and the character prints on
the paper.
 Its speed is slow typically 25-55 characters per second.
3. Line printers
 In business where huge amount of material are printed, the character-at-a-time printers are too
slow; therefore, these users need line-at-a-time printers.
 Line printers, or line-at-a-time printers, use special mechanism that can print a whole line at
once;
 they can typically print the range of 1,200 to 6,000 lines per minute.
 Drum, chain, and band printers are line-at-a-time printers.
3.1. Drum printer
 A drum printer consists of a solid, cylindrical drum that has raised characters in bands on its
surface.
 The number of print positions across the drum equals the number available on the page.
 This number typically ranges from 80-132 print positions.
 The drum rotates at a rapid speed.
 For each possible print position there is a print hammer located behind the paper. These
hammers strike the paper, along the ink ribbon, against the proper character on the drum as it
passes.
 This means that all characters on the line are not printed at exactly the same time, but the time
required to print the entire line is fast enough to call them line printers.
 Typical speeds of drum printers are in the range of 300 to 2000 lines per minute.

3.2. Chain printers

 A chain printer uses a chain of print characters wrapped around two pulleys.
 Like the drum printer, there is one hammer for each print position. Circuitry inside the printer
detects when the correct character appears at the desired print location on the page.
 The hammer then strikes the page, pressing the paper against a ribbon and the character located
at the desired print position.
 An impression of the character is left on the page.
 The chain keeps rotating until all the required print positions on the line have filled.
 Then the page moves up to print the next line.
 Speeds of chain printers range from 400 to 2500 characters per minute.
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 3.3. Band printers
 A band printer operates similar to chain printer except it uses a band instead of a chain and has
fewer hammers.
 Band printer has a steel band divided into five sections of 48 characters each.
 The hammers on a band printer are mounted on a cartridge that moves across the paper to the
appropriate positions.
 Characters are rotated into place and struck by the hammers.
 Font styles can easily be changed by replacing a band or chain.
II. Non-impact printers
Non-impact printers do not use a striking device to produce characters on the paper; and because these
printers do not hammer against the paper they are much quieter. Following are some non-impacted
printers.
 Ink-jet printers
 Laser printers
1. Ink-jet printer
 Ink-jet printers work in the same fashion as dot-matrix printers in the form images or characters
with little dots. However, the dots are formed by tiny droplets of ink.
 Ink-jet printers form characters on paper by spraying ink from tiny nozzles through an electrical
field that arranges the charged ink particles into characters at the rate of approximately 250
characters per second.
 The ink is absorbed into the paper and dries instantly. Various colors of ink can also be used.
 One or more nozzles in the print head emit a steady stream of ink drops.
 Droplets of ink are electrically charged after leaving the nozzle.
 Several manufacturers produce color ink-jet printer.
Advantage of Inkjet Printer
 Low cost.
 Easy to use.
 Reasonably fast.
 High quality of output, and is capable of printing fine and smooth details.
 It does not require time to heat the machine.
 Quieter than dot matrix printer.
 They do not have a large buffer, so printing is done at a bit at a time.
 This printer was capable of printing in different colour.
 Good for printing pictures.
 Are very lightweight and take up less place.

Disadvantage of Inkjet Printer

 The print head is less durable, prone to clogging and damage.
 It is expensive to replace ink cart cartridges.
 Ink bleeding, ink carried sideways casing blurred effects on some papers.
 Not good for high volume printing.

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  Printing speed is not as fast as compared to laser printers.
 Cannot use highlighter marker on inkjet printouts.
 Slow output if there are several copies needed.
 Moisture also affects the printing system.

2. Laser printer
 A laser printer works like a photocopy machine.
 Laser printers produce images on paper by directing a laser beam at a mirror which bounces the
beam onto a drum.
 The drum has a special coating on it to which toner (an ink powder) sticks.
 Using patterns of small dots, a laser beam conveys information from the computer to a
positively charged drum to become neutralized.
 From all those areas of drum which become neutralized, the toner detaches. As the paper rolls
by the drum, the toner is transferred to the paper printing the letters or other graphics on the
paper.
 A hot roller bonds the toner to the paper.
 Laser printers use buffers that store an entire page at a time.
 When a whole page is loaded, it will be printed.
Advantages of Laser Printer
 The speed of laser printers is high
 Laser printers produce high-quality graphics & text as compared to other printers.
 Laser printers are quite and do not produce disturbing sounds.
 They are also capable to produce color prints.
Disadvantages of Laser Printer
 The main disadvantage of Laser printer is its cost, they are relatively costly as compared to
other printers.
 The maintenance, repair & servicing charges are also high of these printers.
 Laser printers emit small amount of ozone and are dangerous to health and the atmosphere.
Monitor

 It is an output device that displays video images and text.

 It is also referred to as a screen, display, video display, video screen. video display terminal
(VDT) and video display unit (VDU)
 A monitor is made up of circuitry, a screen, a power supply, buttons to adjust screen settings, and
casing that holds all of these components
 The first computer monitor was part of the Xerox Alto computer system, which was released on
March 1, 1973.

 Computer monitors have at least one of the following types of monitor connectors to connect to
a computer such as DVI, HDMI, VGA, DisplayPort,Thunderbolt

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Different types of Monitor
1. Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)
 This monitor uses a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT). CRT tube creates an image on the screen using
a beam of electrons.
 CRT consists of one or more guns that fire a beam of electrons inside the screen.
 The screen is coated with very tiny Phosphor dots from inside.
 The beam of electrons repeatedly falls on the surface of screen. Every beam fall takes only a
fraction of second.
 CRT in color monitors consists of three guns. These guns generate red, green and blue (RGB)
colors. The other colors are generated with a combination of these three colors.
 Nowadays, most of the CRT monitors are replaced by Flat Panel Monitors.
2. Flat Panel Monitors
 Flat Panel Monitors take less space and are lightweight.
 These monitors use much less power than CRTs.
 It does not emit harmful radiations.
 It is much expensive than CRT.
 Notebook computers, PDA and cellular phones use flat panel monitors.
 Flat panel monitors are available in different sizes such as 15”, 17”, 18” & 19” etc.
 Flat panel display is made up of two plates of glass. These plates contain a substance between
them. The substance is activated in different ways.
 There are two types of technologies used in flat panel display screens.
2.1. Liquid Crystal Display
 Liquid crystal display screen contains a substance called liquid crystal.
 The molecules of this substance line up in such a way that the light behind the screens blocked
or allowed to create an image.
 LCD monitors use compact fluorescent tubes to illuminate and brighten the image on the screen
and produce good image quality, resolution and contrast levels.
 LCDs provide a sharper picture than CRTs and emit less radiation.
 LCD displays requires less power and take up less space than CRT.
Advantages of LCD monitors:
 The LCD can be made in large sizes of over 60 inch or 150 cm diagonal.
 It has no geometric distortion.
 It is very compact, thin, and light CRT displays.
 It does not affect by the magnetic fields.
 Due to low power consumption, small heat emitted during operation.
 It is much thinner than a CRT (cathode ray tube) monitor.
Disadvantages of LCD monitors:
 In high temperature environments,there is loss of contrast.

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  It is relatively bright but not suitable for very brightly environments.
 It consumed a lot of electricity which produce a lot of heat.
 It has individual liquid crystals which cannot complete all block of the backlight.

2.2. Light Emitting Diode (LED)

 Light Emitting Diode (LED) is an improved version of LCD monitor .
 The both monitors are based on the same display technology and provide better resolution.
 However, the difference comes on backlighting as LCD monitors use Cold Cathode Fluorescent
Light and LED monitors are based on light emitting diode.
 The backlighting impacts badly on the image and decreases its sharpness and brightness.
 There are the two types of LED monitors, such as WLED and RGB LED.
Advantages of LED monitors:
 It is a slim design.
 Brighter and sharper images.
 Better color and contrast quality for a sharper image.
 Flicker free images.
 Wider viewing angle.
 Lower power consumption.
 Longer lifespan and less environmental impact.
 More energy-efficient, making them cheaper to run overtime.
Disadvantages of LED monitors:
 LED lighting is more expensive than traditional lighting technologies.
 Contrast ratios are not consistent.
 LED can shift color due to age and temperature.
2.3. Gas Plasma Display
 Gas plasma display uses gas plasma technology.
 This technology uses a layer of gas between two glass plates.
 The gas release ultraviolet light when voltage is applied.
 The pixels on the screen glow due to this ultraviolet light and form an image.
 Plasma display is available in the sizes of upto 150 inches wide.
 It provides richer colors than LCD monitors but are more expensive. That is why, it is not
commonly used.
 It provides higher display quality.
 This type of monitor can hand directly on a wall.
3. Touch Screen Monitors
 Touch screen monitors are used for input as well as output.
 A touch screen is a special type of visual display unit.
 It has a grid of light beams or fine wires on the screen.
 It lets the user to interact with a computer by the touch of a finger rather than typing on a
keyboard or moving a mouse.
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  The user enters data by touching icons or menus identified on the screen.
 Most touch screen computers use sensors to detect touch of a finger.
 Touch screen is well suited for simple applications like ATM.
 It has also become common in department stores and supermarkets.
 There are different types of touch screen technology such as Resistive, Surface wave &
Capacitive.
Plotter
 A plotter is a printer designed for printing vector graphics.
 Instead of printing individual dots on the paper, plotters draw continuous lines.
 This makes plotters ideal for printing architectural blueprints, engineering designs, and
other CAD drawings.

 There are two main types of plotters – Drum plotters and Flatbed plotters, Ink jet plotters,
Electrostatic Plotters, Pen Plotters

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