Remarks CHAPTER - 2

INPUT/OUTPUT DEVICES AND OTHER HARDWARE

OBJECTIVES OF THIS LESSON
This lesson is aimed to make you understand the basic concepts of peripheral devices as well as
important hardware components as under:
 Input/Output concepts
 Input devices
o Commonly used input devices such as Keyboards, Mouse, Joysticks, Trackballs,
Touch Screens, Light Pens, Touch Pad, Digitizer, Voice Systems and Scanners
 Output devices
o Commonly used output devices such as Monitors, Printers and Plotters
 Other important hardware such as -
o Motherboard, RAM, Video Card, Digital storage, Power Supply Unit, Expansion
cards, Sound Card, Network card, etc.
STRUCTURE OF THIS LESSON
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Input Devices
2.2.1 Keyboards
2.2.2 Mouse
2.2.3 Joysticks
2.2.4 Trackballs
2.2.5 Touch Screens
2.2.6 Light Pens
2.2.7 Touch Pad
2.2.8 Digitizer
2.2.9 Voice Systems
2.2.10 Scanners
2.3. Output Concepts
2.4 Output Devices
2.4.1 Monitors
2.4.2 Printers
2.4.2.1 Types OF Printers
2.4.2.2 Character Printers
Basic of Computers 23

2.4.2.3 Daisy-Wheel Printer Remarks

2.4.2.4 Dot-Matrix Printer
2.2.4.5 Line Printers
2.4.2.6 Page Printers
2.4.2.7 Laser Printer
2.4.2.8 Inkjet Printer
2.4.3 Plotter
2.4.3.1 Drum Plotter
2.4.3.2 Flatbed Plotter
2.4.3.3 The Inkjet Plotter
2.4.3.4 Led Plotter
2.4.4 Projector
2.5 Other Hardware

Summary of the Lesson

Self Assessment Questions and Exercises
2.1 INTRODUCTION
A computer peripheral is any external device that provides input and output for the computer. For
example, a keyboard and mouse are input peripherals, while a monitor and printer are output
peripherals. Computer peripherals, or peripheral devices, are sometimes called "I/O devices" because
they provide input and output for the computer. Some peripherals, such as external hard drives,
provide both input and output for the computer.
2.2 INPUT DEVICES
An input device is any hardware device that sends data to the computer, without any input devices, a
computer would only be a display device and not allow users to interact with it, much like a TV.
Following continuing research in the field of computer hardware, we have a large number of input
devices. Recall that before data can be processed by the computer, they must be translated into
machine-readable form and entered into the computer by an input device.
Here, we list a variety of input devices:
 Punched Cards and Card Readers
 Keyboards
 Joysticks
 Trackballs
 Mouse
 Touch Screens
 Light Pens
24 I/O Devicces & Other Harrdware

Remarrks  Touch Pad

 Digitizzer
 Voice Systems
S
 Key to Magnetic Media
M
 Financcial Transacttion Terminaals
 Machin
ne Vision Syystems
 Sourcee Data Input
 Magneetic-ink Charracter Recoggnition (MICR
R)
 Magneetic Strips
 Opticaal Recognition
 Point-oof-Sale Term
minals
 Barcod
de reader
 Digitall camera
 Microp
phone
 MIDI keyboard
k
 Mousee (pointing deevice)
 Remotte
 Scanneer
 Webcam
m
Few popular and coommonly usedd input devicees are briefly described beelow.
2.2.1 Keyboards
A keybboard is one of the today's most comm mon and fam miliar input device. A keeyboard's prim mary
functio
on is to act as an input deevice. The coomputer keybboard is usedd to enter text informationn into
the com
mputer, as whhen you type the contents of
o a report.

Figuree 2.1: Keybooards

2.2.2 Mouse
fo more thann 20 years. The mouse usually
Mousee is a pointinng device andd it has been around us for
ns one to thhree buttons; as the user rolls it on a flat surfacce, the mousse controls cuursor
contain
movemment on the sccreen. When the user presses one of thee buttons, thhe mouse eitther marks a pplace
on the screen or maakes selectioons from dataa on the screeen.
Basic of Computers 25

Different types of mouse are shown in Fig. 2.2. Remarks

(a) Simple Mouse (b) Cordless Mouse (c) Ball-point Mouse

Fig. 2.2: Different Types of Mouse
Advantages
 It is simple device and very easy to use.
 It is not that very expensive.
 It moves the cursor faster than the arrow keys of keyboard do.
Disadvantages
 The movement of the cursor is not very sensitive to movement of mouse.
 If the contact between wheels and mouse pad is lost, the cursor does not move.
2.2.3 Joysticks
A joystick is also a pointing device. It is used to move the cursor position on a CRT screen. Its
function is similar to a mouse, except that with a mouse the cursor stops moving as soon as you stop
moving the mouse. A joystick is a stick which has spherical ball at its lower end as well as at its upper
end. A joystick uses a lever to control the position of the cursor. It internally translates the lever
position and speed with which the joystick is moved into digital signals that are sent to the computer
to control the cursor movement. Most joysticks include two buttons called triggers.

Fig. 2.3: Joystick

Joysticks are used for Computer games but they are also used occasionally for CAD/CAM systems
and other applications.
2.2.4 Trackballs
Trackball is another pointing device. A trackball is a mouse lying on its back. A trackball uses a hard
sphere to control cursor movement. The ball can be rotated by hand in any direction. The associated
electronic circuitry detects the direction and speed of spin. The trackball translates the sphere's
26 I/O Devicces & Other Harrdware

Remarrks directiion and speedd of rotation innto digital siggnal used to control
c the currsor. The infoormation is seent to
the CP
PU for initiating further neccessary actionn.
Differeent types of Trackball
T are shown in Figg. 2.4.

(a)) (b)
b)

(c)
F 2.4: Varrious Types off Trackballs
Fig.
2.2.5 Touch Screeens
A toucch screen is basically
b a dissplay screen which
w can ideentify the occuurrence and position
p of a ttouch
inside the display region. The wordw normallyy refers to a toouch or tap too the display of
o the gadgett by a
finger or hand. Touuch screens can also identtify added inaactive objectss, such as a sttylus. Howevver, if
the objject identifiedd is active, ass with a light pen, the phraase touch screeen is normallly irrelevant.. The
facility
y to interact directly
d with a display normmally specifiees the existencce of a touch screen.

Figure 2.5: Touch Screeen Monitor

Such touch
t screen displays
d can be
b connected to computerss, laptops, PD
DAs, cell phonnes etc. Theyy also
project an importannt function in the blueprint of digital.
2.2.6 Light Pens
A ligh
ht pen is simiilar to a mouuse, except thhat with a lighht pen we caan move the pointer
p and sselect
objectss on the display screen byy directly poiinting to the object
o with thhe pen. It is a pen like deevice
which is connected to the machinne by a cable.
Basic of Computers 27

Light pens are shown in Fig. 2.6. Remarks

Fig. 2.6: Light Pens

2.2.7 Touch Pad
A small, touch-sensitive pad is used as a pointing device on some portable computers. By moving a
finger or other object along the pad, we can move the pointer on the display screen. The touch pad is
related to the touch screen, but activated by different means. The touch pad uses pressure-sensitive
materials to record data at the point where the pad is touched. Many appliances around the home,
such as microwave ovens, use touch pads for programming time or temperature.

Fig. 2.7: Touch Pad Using a Point-device

2.2.8 Digitizer
A digitizer, or graphics tablet, is similar to a light pen; however, instead of drawing on the screen,
a separate tablet is used on which a special stylus is moved. Input tablets or digitizer tablets or
graphical tablets are typically found in CAD terminals or engineering workstations, etc.
Digitizers are also called Digitizing Tablets, Graphics Tablets, Touch Tablets, or simply Tablets. Top-
view of digitizer along with tablet is shown in Fig. 2.8.
28 I/O Devicces & Other Harrdware

Remarrks

Fig. 2.8: Digitizer

D Witth Tablet
2.2.9 Voice System
ms
Audio input providdes direct annd “user frienndly” meanss of inputtingg data and innstructions too the
compuuter. Recentlyy, a number of Voice Daata Entry (V VDE) systemss have been developed. V Voice
recogn
nition is one of
o the newestt, most compplex input techhniques usedd to interact with
w the compputer.
The usser inputs dataa by speakingg into a microophone.
2.2.10 Scanners
Scanneer is a kind off input devicee that can readd text or printted paper andd translates thhe informationn in a
convennient form to be understoood by the com mputer. All kiinds of scannned documentts using an opptical
scanneer gets conveerted in the form of bit-map and thuus it does noot distinguishh between texxt or
graphiics. In order to
t edit text read
r by an opptical scannerr, we need ann OCR system m to translate the
image into ASCII format.
f Almosst all optical scanners
s soldd today come along
a with OC CR packages.
There are six distinct types of sccanners:
 handheeld
 flatbed
 sheetfeed
 photo drum,
d and
 slide.
Each of
o these stylees has its ownn practical appplications annd limitations. Theoreticallly, you couldd also
include digital cameeras as a typee of scanner.
Flatbed (or simple)) and Hand-hheld scanners are the mostt popular scaanners in maxximum use. T
These
are sho
own in Fig. 2.9
2 (a) and (b)) respectivelyy.

(aa) (b
b)
Basic of Computers 29

Remarks

(c) (d)
(a) to (c) Flatbed Scanners (d) Hand-held Scanner
Fig. 2.9: Types of Scanners
2.3. OUTPUT CONCEPTS
The output devices receive results and other information from the computer and provide it to the
users. Output is the process of translating data in machine-readable form into a form understandable
to humans or readable by other machines.
In today's information society, people require clear, legible and output. Output that can be understood
by humans can be categorized as:
 Hard copy
 Soft copy
Hard copy is the output, such as paper, that can be read immediately or stored and read later.
It is relatively stable and permanent form of output. Soft copy is usually a screen-displayed output. It
is transient form of output and is lost when the computer is turned off. But if the data needed to create
the soft copy have been saved on disk or tapes, the soft copy can be reproduced on the screen
anytime.
2.4 OUTPUT DEVICES
Any peripheral that receives or displays output from a computer. An inkjet printer is a good example
of an output device that can make a hard copy of anything on a computer. Below is a listing of all the
different computer output devices found on a computer:
 Flat panel
 Monitor
 Printer
 Projector
 Sound card
 Speakers
 Video card
30 I/O Devices & Other Hardware

Remarks An output device is any piece of computer hardware equipment used to communicate the results of
data processing carried out by an information processing system (such as a computer) to the outside
world.
Examples of output devices:
 Monitors
 Printers
 Plotters
 Speakers
 Headphones
 Voice Response Systems
Most of the computer output devices are common to home as well as office environments. At the
same time, there are some devices, which are not as commonly available. Having said that, let’s take
a look at computer output devices list.
2.4.1 Monitors
A computer display is also called a display screen or video display terminal (VDT). A monitor is a
screen used to display the output. Images are represented on monitors by individual dots called pixels.
A pixel is the smallest unit on the screen that can be turned on and off or made different shades. The
density of the dots determines the clarity of the images, the resolution.
Types of Computer Monitors
The computer monitor (also known as a VDU or Visual Display Unit) is the most common computer
output device. For desktop computers, cathode ray monitors (CRT) are gradually being replaced by
flat-screen monitors such as the Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD) and Thin Film Transistor (TFT)
displays used with laptop computers because they use less power and take up less space.
2.4.2 Printers
A printer is a peripheral which produces a text and/or graphics of documents stored in electronic
form, usually on physical print media such as paper or transparencies. Many printers are primarily
used as local peripherals, and are attached by a printer cable or, in most new printers, a USB cable to
a computer which serves as a document source. Some printers, commonly known as network
printers, have built-in network interfaces, typically wireless and/or Ethernet based, and can serve as a
hard copy device for any user on the network. Individual printers are often designed to support both
local and network connected users at the same time. There are several printer technologies, the most
common of which are:
 the daisy wheel printer
 the dot-matrix printer (also called impact matrix printer)
 the inkjet printer and the bubble jet printer
 the laser printer
Today, daisy wheel printers and matrix printers are hardly ever used.
Basic of Computers 31

2.4.2.1 Types of Printers Remarks

A printer is an output device that produces a hard copy of data. The resolution of printer output is
expressed as DPI. Printers can be classified into different types in several ways.
First, the printers can be divided into three categories by the way they print.
 Serial Printers: Also called a character printer. Print a single character at a time. They are
usually inexpensive and slow.
 Line Printers: Print a line at a time. They are expensive and very fast. Line printers use a
band, a chain, etc.
 Page Printers: Also called a laser printer. Print a page at a time. They usually use a laser to
produce page images. Quality is best. This is a little bit expensive, but the price of the
personal laser printer is decreasing. The price range of the personal laser printer is around
$400, today.
Second, printers can be classified into two forms according to the use of a hammer.
 Impact Printers: Hammer hits ribbons, papers or print head. Dot-matrix and daisy-wheel
printers are the example. Noisy.
 Nonimpact Printers: They do not have the hammer and do not hit. An example is an ink-jet
and laser printer.
So, let's take a closer look at the various types of printers.
2.4.2.2 Character Printers
They are used to print only one character at a time. A typewriter is an example of a character printer.
Some of character printers are described below.
2.4.2.3 Daisy-Wheel Printer
Daisy-Wheel Printer prints typewriter-like very high quality characters. However, they are slower and
less reliable than dot-matrix printers. Microcomputer users seldom use this printer, because the better
dot-matrix printers and inexpensive laser printers are available today. The speeds of daisy-wheel
printers range from 30 to 60 characters per second (cps).

Figure 2.14: A daisy-wheel print wheel

2.4.2.4 Dot-Matrix Printer
The dot-matrix printer allows you to print documents on paper thanks to the "back and forth"
motion of a carriage housing a print head.
32 I/O Devicces & Other Harrdware

Remark
ks Dot-m
matrix printerss are printerss that write characters annd form grapphic images using
u one orr two
columns of tiny doots on a printt head. The dot
d hammer moving
m serially across thee paper strikees an
inked--ribbon and crreates imagess on paper.
 The print head
h travels from
f side to side across thhe paper andd is made up of numerous pins
which are pushed
p out to form the shappe of each chharacter.
 The pins hiit an ink ribboon against thee paper so the characters arre printed out.
 The paper isi usually conntinuous withh holes down each side andd perforationss so the pages can
be easily seeparated by teearing.
Because the pins make
m an imppact against thhe paper the characters can
c be printedd through several
layers of self-carbonating paper to produce duuplicate copiees.

Figure 2.15: Dot Matrix Pins

An animation show wing how heaad of a 21 piin dot-matrix printer movees across thee paper, firingg the
pins th
hat strike the ink against thhe paper.
Chara
acter Matrix Printer
Chara acter matrix printers are a category of computer printers (typically impact printers)
p that pplace
characcters from a fixed
f characteer set anywhhere onto a fixxed grid of possible
p locattions on the ppage.
Examp ples of these are daisy whheel printers,, golf ball priinters, chain printers, andd band printerrs. A
characcter printer priints one charaacter at a timee.
2.2.4.5
5 Line Printters
Line printers,
p as thhe name impllies, print an entire
e line of text at a timee. The line prrinter is a forrm of
high speed impact printer in whhich one line of type is prrinted at a tim me. They are mostly assocciated
with th
he early days of computingg, but the techhnology is stiill in use. Prinnt speeds of 600
6 to 1200 llines-
per-miinute (approxximately 10 too 20 pages perr minute) werre common.

Figure 2.16:: IBM 1403 liine printer

B
Basic of Computters 33

D
Designs Remarks
F
Four principall designs exissted:
 Drum
D printers
 Chain
C (train) printers
p
 Band
B Printers
2
2.4.2.6 Page Prin
nters
These are thee very high sp
T peed non imppact printers. They can prroduce docum ments at speeds of over
2
20,000 lines per minute. Electronics, xerography,
x lasers, and other
o technoloogies have made
m these
h
high-volume systems possible. Thesee techniquess called elecctro-photograaphic techniqques have
d
developed froom the paper copier
c technoology. Page prrinters can prooduce pages of
o output at a rate equal
to a photo coppier.
2
2.4.2.7 Laser Prin
nter
Laser printerss are page prin
L nters that prinnt one page att a time. It is a non-impact printer. A lasser printer
is a printer thhat uses the electro-photoggraphic methood used in a copy machinne. A laser prrinter is a
c
common type of computer printer that raapidly producces high qualiity text and grraphics on plaain paper.

Figure 2.17: Th
he basic comp
ponents of a laser
l printerr
The laser priinters producce quality priint-outs inexppensively at a high print speed. Howeever, these
T
p
printers are mostly
m used in professional and semi-proofessional setttings becausee of their highh cost.
2
2.4.2.8 Inkjet Priinter
IInk-jet is a prrinter mechannism that spraays one or moore color of innk at high sppeed onto the paper and
p
produces highh-quality prinnting. This printer
p also produces
p coloor printing asa well as hiigh-quality
image. That iss, ink-jet prin
nters can be ussed for varietyy of color priinting at a relaatively low coost. Ink-jet
p
printing has tw
wo methods: Continuous stream methodd and drop-onn- demand meethod.
I
Inkjet printingg, like laser prrinting, is a non-impact
n meethod.

Figgure 2.18: Ink

k Jet Printerr
34 I/O Devicces & Other Harrdware

Remarrks 2.4.3 Plotter

Plotterrs were the first
f type of printer
p that could
c print with
w color andd render grapphics and fulll-size
engineeering drawinngs. As a rulle, plotters arre much morre expensive than printerrs. They are most
frequeently used forr CAE (compputer-aided enngineering) applications,
a s
such as CADD (computer-aaided
design
n) and CAM (computer-aid
( ded manufactturing). Hewleett-Packard iss the leading vendor of plootters
worldw wide.
Plotters are divideed into four types:
t
1. Dru
um plotters
2. Flattbed plotters
3. Inkjjet plotters
4. LED
D plotters
2.4.3.1
1 Drum Plottter
A drum plotter is pen
p plotter thhat wraps thee paper arounnd a drum wiith a pin feedd attachment.. The
drum then
t rotates the paper as pens
p move acrross it and drraw the imagee. It was the first
f output deevice
used to
o print graphiics and large engineering drawings.
d

Figure 2.19: A drum plotter

2.4.3.2
2 Flatbed Plotter
A flat--bed plotter is a mechaniccal drafting deevice used wiith many CAD D programs for f designers.. The
paper remains statiionary on a fllat surface whhile a pen mooves across itt horizontallyy and verticallly. A
flatbed
d plotter is alsso known as Table
T Plotter..

Figure 2.20: Flatbed Plotter

B
Basic of Computters 35

2
2.4.3.3 The Inkjet
I Plotterr Remarks
This is the thhird kind of Plotter
T P whichh is called ass the Inkjet plotter.
p The innkjet plotter creates an
image by sprraying small droplets of inki onto a piiece of paperr. A popular choice for advertising
a
a
agencies and graphic desiggners, inkjet plotters are used
u generallyy for large ouutputs, such as
a banners
a billboardss and large sig
and gns often seenn on roadsidees.

Figgure 2.21: In
nkjet plotter
IIn Today's woorld, virtually
y all inkjets create
c color. Low-end inkkjets make thee most of thee three ink
c
colors (cyan, magenta and d yellow), buut finally creaate a complexx black that is often mudd-spattered.
F
Four-color inkkjets make usse of the blackk ink created for pure blackk printing aloone.
2
2.4.3.4 Led Plotter
P
LED plotters are also calleed as Electrosstatic plotterss. It works sim
L milar to Laseer Printers exccept that it
u LED as the
uses t heat sourcce instead of Laser.
L

Fiigure 2.22: LED

L plotter
2
2.4.4 Projeector
Projectors aree display deviices that project a computter created im
P mage. The com
mputer sends the image
d to the viddeo card whicch then sendss the video im
data mage to the projector. They are typicallly used for
p
presentations or for viewin
ng videos.
An output devvice that can take
A t the display of a compuuter screen annd project a laarge version of
o it onto a
f surface. Projectors
flat P aree often used in meetings annd presentatioons so that evveryone in thee room can
v
view the preseentation. In th
he picture to the
t right, are a ViewSonicc projector and an examplee of what a
36 I/O Devicces & Other Harrdware

Remarrks projector may look like. Projectoors used withh computers are
a small deviices that are rarely
r much laarger
than a toaster and tyypically weiggh a few pounnds.

Figure 2.23: Projeector

2.5 OTHER HARDWARE
H E
Compu uter hardwaree is the colleection of physical parts off a computer system. Apaart from compputer
case, monitor,
m keyyboard, mousse, printers, plotters,
p etc., it also inclludes all thee parts insidee the
compuuter case, succh as the harrd disk drive,, motherboardd, video cardd, and many others. Compputer
hardware is what yoou can physiccally touch. Few such com mputer hardwaare devices annd componentts are
discussed as under.
Motheerboard
The motherboard
m is the main circuit
c boardd of a compuuter. It contaiins the centraal processingg unit
(CPU)), the Basic Innput/Output System
S (BIOOS), memory, mass storagee interfaces, serial
s and parrallel
ports, expansion sloots, and all thhe controllerss for standardd peripheral devices
d like thhe keyboard, disk
drive and
a display sccreen.

Figure 2.24:
2 Motherrboard
The chhipset and otther motherbooard circuitryy are the "sm marts" of the motherboardd. Their job is to
direct traffic and coontrol the flow
w of information inside thee computer.
The chhipset is a criitical part of any
a computerr, because it plays
p a big role in determinning what sorrts of
featurees the computter can suppoort.
CPU
The ceentral processsing unit (CP
PU), also callled a processor, is locatedd inside the computer
c casse on
the motherboard. It I is sometimmes called thhe brain of the
t computerr, and its jobb is to carryy out
B
Basic of Computters 37

ccommands. Whenever
W you
u press a keey, click the mouse, or start
s an appliication, you'rre sending Remarks
instructions too the CPU.

Fig. 2.25: Processor

The CPU is generally a two-inch ceramic squaree with a silicoon chip locatted inside. The chip is
T
u
usually aboutt the size of a thumbnail. The CPU fits into the motherboard's
m CPU sockett, which is
c
covered by thee heat sink, an
a object thatt absorbs heatt from the CPU
U.
A processor'ss speed is meeasured in megahertz
m (M
MHz), or miillions of innstructions peer second;
a gigahertzz (GHz), or billions of instructions per secondd. A faster processor
and p caan execute
instructions more
m quickly. However, the actual speed of the compputer depends on the speeed of many
d
different compponents—nott just the proccessor. There are 2 main chhip manufactuurers, Intel annd AMD.
R
RAM
Random Acccess Memory
R y (RAM) is a critical peerformance component
c foor computerss. When a
c
computer booots up, opens a program, and
a then openns a file, it looads these eleements into RAM
R to do
the work.

Figure 2.266: RAM

IIn general, yoou want to hav
ve as much RAM
R in your computer as you can afforrd. If you aree running a
3 bit operatinng system, th
32 hen each program can makke use 2GB too 3 GB of RAAM. If you haave a 64bit
O then eachh program can
OS, n use as muchh RAM as youu have availabble.
V
Video Card
A video card or Graphics Processing Unit U (GPU) is the part off the computter that conneects to the
m
monitor. The GPU takes th he video imagge and puts it in a form thatt can be displlayed on the monitor.
m In
m
most laptops, this is built into the systtem and cannnot be replaced. In most desktop
d compputers, the
G
GPU fits into a slot on the motherboard,, and can ofteen be upgradeed.
38 I/O Devicces & Other Harrdware

Remarrks Digita
al storage
Every computer needs a storagee device to stoore the operaating system, programs andd files. In thee vast
majoriity of cases, this is providded by one oro more hardd drives. Mosst computers have at leastt one
internaal hard drive, and they havve the capabiliity to connectt to external drives.
d

Figuree 2.27: Hard Disk

Most computers
c alsso have the ability
a to readd and write opptical disc likke CD, DVD or Blu-ray. T
These
are useed for loadingg data and proograms on andd off the commputer.
Digital storage is a critical parrt of any commputer system
m, and usingg storage prooperly can bee the
differeence betweenn keeping youur photos andd losing them
m. For more innformation, take the coursse on
digitall storage and backups.
b
Powerr Supply Uniit
The po
ower supply unit in a com mputer converrts the poweer from the wall
w outlet to thet type of power
needed
d by the compputer. It sendss power throuugh cables to the motherbooard and otherr componentss.

Figure 2.288: Power Sup

pply Unit
Expan
nsion cards
Most computers haveh expansioon slots on the
t motherbooard that alloow you to adda various ttypes
of exp
pansion cardss. These are sometimes
s caalled PCI (peeripheral com
mponent inteerconnect) caards.
You may
m never have to add anny PCI cards because mosst motherboarrds have builtt-in video, soound,
networrk, and other capabilities. However, if you want to boost the perrformance of your computter or
updatee the capabilitties of an oldder computer, you can alwaays add one or
o more cardss. Below are ssome
of the most commoon types of exppansion cardss.
Sound
d Card
The soound card, also
a called ann audio cardd, is responsibble for what you hear inn the speakers or
headphhones. Most motherboardds have integrrated sound, but you can upgrade to a dedicated sound
card fo
or higher-quaality sound.
B
Basic of Computters 39

N
Network cardd Remarks
The network card allows your computter to commuunicate over a network andd access the Internet.
T I It
c either coonnect with an
can a Ethernet cable
c or throough a wireleess connectionn (often calleed Wi-Fi).
M
Many motherrboards have built-in netw
work connectioons, and a neetwork card can
c also be addded to an
e
expansion slott.
B
Bluetooth carrd
Bluetooth is a technology
B y for wireleess communiccation over short distancces. It's often used in
c
computers to communicatte with wirelless keyboards, mice, andd printers. Itt's often buillt into the
m
motherboard or included in
i a wireless network caard. For commputers that don't
d have Blluetooth, a
U adapter, called a dong
USB gle, can be puurchased.

Figure 2.29: Dongle

SUM
MMARY OF THE
T LESSO
ON
Y learnt thee following in
You n this lesson:
 An in
nput device is
i any hardwaare device thaat sends dataa to the compputer, withoutt any input
devicees, a computer would onlly be a displaay device andd not allow users
u to interaact with it,
muchh like a TV.
 A keyyboard is onee of the todaay's most com mmon and faamiliar input devices. A keyboard's
k
primaary function iss to act as an input device.
 Mousse is a pointin
ng device and it has been arround us for more
m than 20 years
 A joyystick is also a pointing deevice. It is useed to move thhe cursor possition on a CR
RT screen.
Its funnction is simiilar to a mouuse, except thaat with a mouuse the cursor stops movinng as soon
as youu stop moving g the mouse.
 A touuch screen is basically
b a dissplay screen which
w can ideentify the occcurrence and position
p of
a toucch inside the display
d regionn.
 Scannner is a kindd of input deevice that cann read text or
o printed paaper and trannslates the
inform
mation in a co
onvenient form
m to be underrstood by the computer.
 Hard copy is the output,
o such as
a paper, that can be read immediately
i o stored and read later.
or
It is relatively
r stab
ble and permaanent form of
o output. Sofft copy is usuually a screenn-displayed
outpuut.
 Any peripheral
p thaat receives orr displays outtput from a coomputer. An inkjet printerr is a good
exampple of an outpput device thhat can make a hard copy ofo anything onn a computer.
40 I/O Devices & Other Hardware

Remarks  The computer monitor (also know as a VDU or Visual Display Unit) is the most common
computer output device.
 A printer is a peripheral which produces a text and/or graphics of documents stored in
electronic form, usually on physical print media such as paper or transparencies.
 A printer is an output device that produces a hard copy of data. The resolution of printer
output is expressed as DPI. Printers can be classified into different types in several ways.
 Plotters were the first type of printer that could print with color and render graphics and full-
size engineering drawings.
 Computer hardware is the collection of physical parts of a computer system. Apart from
computer case, monitor, keyboard, mouse, printers, plotters, etc., it also includes all the parts
inside the computer case, such as the hard disk drive, motherboard, video card, and many
others.
SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES
1. What are input devices?
2. What do you mean by keyboard?
3. Explain the concept of mouse?
4. Explain the speech recognition system in detail?
5. What do you mean by digital camera?
6. Explain the working of scanners?
7. What do you mean by output devices?
8. What are printers? Explain the various types of printers in detail?
9. Explain the various types of plotters?
10. What do you mean by monitor?
11. Explain the various types of monitors?
12. What do you mean by projector?
13. State the necessities of Input and Output devices.
14. What are the reasons for the visual display unit to be more popular than punched card reader?
15. What is a Keyboard? How does a simple keyboard differ from an ergonomically designed
keyboard?