Input output devices

1. INPUT DEVICES
In computing, an input device is a peripheral (piece of computer hardware equipment) used to provide
data and control signals to an information processing system such as a computer or information appliance.
Examples of input devices include keyboards, mouse, scanners, digital cameras and joysticks.
Keyboard
Keyboard is the most common and very popular input device which helps in inputting data to the
computer. The layout of the keyboard is like that of traditional typewriter, although there are some
additional keys provided for performing additional functions.
Keyboards are of two sizes 84 keys or 101/102 keys, but now keyboards with 104 keys or 108 keys are
also available for Windows and Internet.
Mouse
Mouse is most popular pointing device. It is a very famous cursor-control device having a small palm
size box with a round ball at its base which senses the movement of mouse and sends corresponding
signals to CPU when the mouse buttons are pressed.
Generally it has two buttons called left and right button and a wheel is present between the buttons.
Mouse can be used to control the position of cursor on screen, but it cannot be used to enter text into the
computer.
Advantages
 Easy to use
 Not very expensive
 Moves the cursor faster than the arrow keys of keyboard.

2. Joystick
Joystick is also a pointing device which is used to move cursor position on a monitor screen. It is a stick
having a spherical ball at its both lower and upper ends. The lower spherical ball moves in a socket. The
joystick can be moved in all four directions.
The function of joystick is similar to that of a mouse. It is mainly used in Computer Aided Designing
(CAD) and playing computer games.
LightPen
Light pen is a pointing device which is similar to a pen. It is used to select a displayed menu item or
draw pictures on the monitor screen. It consists of a photocell and an optical system placed in a small
tube. When the tip of a light pen is moved over the monitor screen and pen button is pressed, its
photocell sensing element detects the screen location and sends the corresponding signal to the CPU.

3. TrackBall
Track ball is an input device that is mostly used in notebook or laptop computer, instead of a mouse.
This is a ball which is half inserted and by moving fingers on ball, pointer can be moved. Since the
whole device is not moved, a track ball requires less space than a mouse. A track ball comes in various
shapes like a ball, a button and a square.
Scanner
Scanner is an input device which works more like a photocopy machine. It is used when some
information is available on a paper and it is to be transferred to the hard disc of the computer for further
manipulation. Scanner captures images from the source which are then converted into the digital form
that can be stored on the disc. These images can be edited before they are printed.
MagneticInkCardReader(MICR)
MICR input device is generally used in banks because of a large number of cheques to be processed
every day. The bank's code number and cheque number are printed on the cheques with a special type of
ink that contains particles of magnetic material that are machine readable. This reading process is called
Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR). The main advantages of MICR is that it is fast and less
error prone.

4. OpticalCharacterReader(OCR)
OCR is an input device used to read a printed text. OCR scans text optically character by character,
converts them into a machine readable code and stores the text on the system memory.
BarCodeReaders
Bar Code Reader is a device used for reading bar coded data (data in form of light and dark lines). Bar
coded data is generally used in labelling goods, numbering the books etc. It may be a hand held scanner
or may be embedded in a stationary scanner. Bar Code Reader scans a bar code image, converts it into an
alphanumeric value which is then fed to the computer to which bar code reader is connected.

5. OpticalMarkReader(OMR)
OMR is a special type of optical scanner used to recognize the type of mark made by pen or pencil. It is
used where one out of a few alternatives is to be selected and marked. It is specially used for checking
the answer sheets of examinations having multiple choice questions.
OUTPUT DEVICES
Computer output devices are used to provide information for a user in different forms. The formats
include visual, audio and digital. A CPU is responsible for processing the instructions and the devices are
responsible in outputting the processed information in different formats depending on the type of output
device we have.
Monitors
Monitors, commonly called as Visual Display Unit (VDU), are the main output device of a computer. It
forms images from tiny dots, called pixels that are arranged in a rectangular form. The sharpness of the
image depends upon the number of pixels.
There are two kinds of viewing screen used for monitors.
 Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT)
 Flat- Panel Display
1) Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT) Monitor
The CRT display is made up of small picture elements called pixels. The smaller the pixels, the better
the image clarity, or resolution. It takes more than one illuminated pixel to form whole character, such as
the letter ‘e’ in the word help.
A finite number of characters can be displayed on a screen at once. The screen can be divided into a
series of character boxes - fixed location on the screen where a standard character can be placed. Most
screens are capable of displaying 80 characters of data horizontally and 25 lines vertically. There are
some disadvantages of CRT:
 Large in Size

6.  High power consumption
2) Flat-Panel Display Monitor
The flat-panel display refers to a class of video devices that have reduced volume, weight and power
requirement in comparison to the CRT. You can hang them on walls or wear them on your wrists.
Current uses of flat-panel displays include calculators, video games, monitors, laptop computer, graphics
display.
The flat-panel display is divided into two categories:
 Emissive Displays - The emissive displays are devices that convert electrical energy into light.
Example are plasma panel and LED (Light-Emitting Diodes).

7.  Non-Emissive Displays - The Non-emissive displays use optical effects to convert sunlight or
light from some other source into graphics patterns. Example is LCD(Liquid-Crystal Device)
Speaker
Computer speaker is the other output device which is used to hear a sound played by a computer.
Speakers can be built in with the motherboard or comes as a separate part. It connects with the
computer speaker with a cable.
Unlike the old speaker’s types, modern speakers come with USB connection which does both
functions – connection and power supply. The built in speakers can be heard through a headphone,
if you don’t want to buy the independent speaker set. Headphone is also an output device used to
hear music from digital portable players, such as MP3 players, IPods and stuff like that. It is
designed to fit into an ear. It is also used mostly to play computer games and chat online.
Printers
Printer is an output device, which is used to print information on paper.
There are two types of printers:
 Impact Printers
 Non-Impact Printers
a) Impact Printers

8. The impact printers print the characters by striking them on the ribbon which is then pressed on the
paper.
Characteristics of Impact Printers are the following:
 Very low consumable costs
 Very noisy
 Useful for bulk printing due to low cost
 There is physical contact with the paper to produce an image
These printers are of two types
 Character printers
 Line printers
(i) Character Printers
Character printers are the printers which print one character at a time.
These are further divided into two types:
 Dot Matrix Printer(DMP)
 Daisy Wheel
(ii) Line Printers
Line printers are the printers which print one line at a time.

9. These are of further two types
 Drum Printer
 Chain Printer
b) Non-impact Printers
Non-impact printers print the characters without using ribbon. These printers print a complete page at a
time so they are also called as Page Printers.
These printers are of two types
 Laser Printers
 Inkjet Printers
Characteristicsof Non-impact Printers
 Faster than impact printers.
 They are not noisy.
 High quality.
 Support many fonts and different character size.
1) Laser Printers

10. These are non-impact page printers. They use laser lights to produce the dots needed to form the
characters to be printed on a page.
ADVANTAGES
 Very high speed
 Very high quality output
 Give good graphics quality
 Support many fonts and different character size
DISADVANTAGES
 Expensive.
 Cannot be used to produce multiple copies of a document in a single printing.
2) Inkjet Printers
Inkjet printers are non-impact character printers based on a relatively new technology. They print
characters by spraying small drops of ink onto paper. Inkjet printers produce high quality output with
presentable features.
They make less noise because no hammering is done and these have many styles of printing modes
available. Color printing is also possible. Some models of Inkjet printers can produce multiple copies of
printing also.
ADVANTAGES
 High quality printing
 More reliable
DISADVANTAGES
 Expensive as cost per page is high
 Slow as compared to laser printer

11. MAJOR COMPONENTS OF COMPUTER
The internal architectural design of computers differs from one system model to another. However, the
basic organization remains the same for all computer systems. The following five units (also called "The
functional units") correspond to the five basic operations performed by all computer systems.
Input Unit
Data and instructions must enter the computer system before any computation can be performed on the
supplied data. The input unit that links the external environment with the computer system performs this
task. Data and instructions enter input units in forms that depend upon the particular device used. For
example, data is entered from a keyboard in a manner similar to typing, and this differs from the way in
which data is entered through a mouse, which is another type of input device.
In short, an input unit performs the following functions.
1. It accepts (or reads) the list of instructions and data from the outside world.
2. It converts these instructions and data in computer acceptable format.
3. It supplies the converted instructions and data to the computer system for further processing.
Output Unit
The job of an output unit is just the reverse of that of an input unit. It supplied information and results of
computation to the outside world. Thus it links the computer with the external environment. As computers
work with binary code, the results produced are also in the binary form. Hence, before supplying the
results to the outside world, it must be converted to human acceptable (readable) form.
In short, the following functions are performed by an output unit.
1. It accepts the results produced by the computer which are in coded form and hence cannot be
easily understood by us.
2. It converts these coded results to human acceptable (readable) form.
3. It supplied the converted results to the outside world.
Storage Unit

12. The data and instructions that are entered into the computer system through input units have to be stored
inside the computer before the actual processing starts. Similarly, the results produced by the computer
after processing must also be kept somewhere inside the computer system before being passed on to the
output units.
In short, the specific functions of the storage unit are to store:
1. All the data to be processed and the instruction required for processing (received from input
devices).
2. Intermediate results of processing.
3. Final results of processing before these results are released to an output device.
Central Processing Unit (CPU)
The main unit inside the computer is the CPU. This unit is responsible for all events inside the computer.
It controls all internal and external devices, performs "Arithmetic and Logical operations". The control
Unit and the Arithmetic and Logic unit of a computer system are jointly known as the Central Processing
Unit (CPU).
The CPU is the brain of any computer system. In a human body, all major decisions are taken by the brain
and the other parts of the body function as directed by the brain. Similarly, in a computer system, all
major calculations and comparisons are made inside the CPU and the CPU is also responsible for
activating and controlling the operations of other units of a computer system.
Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU)
The arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) of a computer system is the place where the actual execution of the
instructions take place during the processing operations. All calculations are performed and all
comparisons (decisions) are made in the ALU. Data may move from primary storage to ALU and back
again as storage many times before the processing is over. After the completion of processing, the final
results which are stored in the storage unit are released to an output device. The arithmetic and logic unit
(ALU) is the part where actual computations take place.
Control Unit
The control unit acts as a central nervous system for the other components of the computer. It manages
and coordinates the entire computer system. It obtains instructions from the program stored in main
memory, interprets the instructions, and issues signals that cause other units of the system to execute
them. The control unit directs and controls the activities of the internal and external devices. It interprets
the instructions fetched into the computer, determines what data, if any, are needed, where it is stored,

13. where to store the results of the operation, and sends the control signals to the devices involved in the
execution of the instructions.
MEMORY AND ITS TYPES
Random Access Memory (RAM)
It is the internal memory of the CPU for storing data, program and program result. It is read/write
memory which stores data until the machine is working. As soon as the machine is switched off, data is
erased. RAM is volatile, i.e. data stored in it is lost when we switch off the computer or if there is a power
failure. Hence a backup uninterruptible power system (UPS) is often used with computers. RAM is small,
both in terms of its physical size and in the amount of data it can hold.
Types ofRAM
 Static RAM
The word static indicates that the memory retains its contents as long as power is being supplied.
However, data is lost when the power gets down due to volatile nature. SRAM chips use transistors and
no capacitors. Transistors do not require power to prevent leakage, so SRAM need not have to be
refreshed on a regular basis. SRAM is used as cache memory and has very fast access.
 Dynamic RAM
DRAM, unlike SRAM, must be continually refreshed in order to maintain the data. This is done by
placing the memory on a refresh circuit that rewrites the data several hundred times per second. DRAM is
used for most system memory because it is cheap and small. All DRAMs are made up of memory cells
which are composed of one capacitor and one transistor.
Read Only Memory (ROM)
ROM chips are used not only in computers, but in most other electronic items as well. Because data is
fully incorporated at the ROM chip's manufacture, data stored can neither be erased nor replaced. This
means permanent and secure data storage. However, if a mistake is made in manufacture, a ROM chip
becomes unusable. The most expensive stage of ROM manufacture, therefore, is creating the template. If

14. a template is readily available, duplicating the ROM chip is very easy and affordable. A ROM chip is also
nonvolatile so data stored in it is not lost when power is turned off. ROM is a semiconductor memory that
is capable of operating at electronics speed.
Types ofROM
 PROM
Short for programmable read-only memory, a memory chip on which data can be written only
once. Once a program has been written onto a PROM, it remains there forever. Unlike RAM,
PROMs retain their contents when the computer is turned off. The difference between a PROM
and a ROM (read-only memory) is that a PROM is manufactured as blank memory, whereas a
ROM is programmed during the manufacturing process. To write data onto a PROM chip, you
need a special device called a PROM programmer or PROM burner. The process of programming
a PROM is sometimes called burning the PROM.
 EPROM
Acronym for erasable programmable read-only memory, and pronounced ee-prom, EPROM is a
special type of memory that retains its contents until it is exposed to ultraviolet light. The
ultraviolet light clears its contents, making it possible to reprogram the memory. To write to and
erase an EPROM, you need a special device called a PROM programmer or PROM burner.
 EEPROM
Short form of electrically erasable programmable read-only memory. The EEPROM is
programmed and erased electrically. It can be erased and reprogrammed about ten thousand
times. Both erasing and programming take about 4 to 10 ms (millisecond). In EEPROM, any
location can be selectively erased and programmed. EEPROMs can be erased one byte at a time,
rather than erasing the entire chip. Hence, the process of re-programming is flexible but slow.
Advantages of ROM
The advantages of ROM are as follows:
 Non-volatile in nature
 These cannot be accidentally changed
 Cheaper than RAMs
 Easy to test
 More reliable than RAMs
 These are static and do not require refreshing
 Its contents are always known and can be verified