CHAPTER 2

Input and Output Devices

2.0 Objectives
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Input Devices
2.3 Output Device
2.4 Summary
2.5 Check Your Progress - Answers
2.4 Questions for Self - Study.
2.7 Suggested Readings

2. 0 OBJECTIVES

After studying this chapter, you will be able to:

 Explain the definition of peripheral devices
 Differentiate input and output devices
 Describe different types of input devices: keyboards, mouse, touchpad, light pen, joy
stick, trackball, touchscreen, digitizers and scanners, and output devices: monitor,
printers, plotter, and projector.
 Explain the different uses of input devices: keyboards, mouse, touchpad, light pen, joy
stick, trackball, touchscreen, digitizers and scanners, and output devices: monitor,
printers, plotter, and projector.
 Discuss the common peripheral devices, their physical appearances and the mode of
operation of these devices. The student would be able to use these devices in the practical
efficiently

2.1 INTRODUCTION
A computer peripheral is a device that is connected to a computer but it’s not
part of the computer architecture. The devices which are a means of communication
between the computer and the outside world are called as peripheral devices.
A peripheral is a device that is use to put information into or get information out
of the computer.
Those peripheral devices which supply information i.e. data and programs from
the outside world to the computer are the input devices. Those peripheral devices which
give information from the computer to the user or store them in secondary storage
devices, like floppy disks or tapes for future use are called output devices.
The processors which are required to convert the input data into machine readable
form and to convert the output generated by the computer into human readable form are
known as input/output (I/O) interfaces. There are two concepts related to the way in
which data is input to the computer:

1. On-line Data Input: Here data is directly transferred to the computer

2. Off-line Data Input: - Here the data is not immediately transferred to the computer.
2.2 INPUT DEVICES
An input device is a piece of hardware used to provide data to a computer used for
interaction and control. It allows input of raw data to the computer for processing
2.2.1 Keyboard
One of the primary input devices used to input data and commands. It has
function keys, control keys, arrow keys, keypad and the keyboard itself with the letters,
numbers and commands.  Keyboards are connected to the computer through USB or
Bluetooth.  A laptop keyboard is more compact than a desktop keyboard to make the
laptop smaller and lighter.  Smartphones and tablets use on-screen keyboard to input
messages and select commands.

Advantages of the keyboard:

 It is very easy to use a keyboard
 It offers a number of facilities
 Editing or changing the input data is very easy with the help of the keyboard
 It is relatively Inexpensive

Figure 2.1 Keyboard

2.2.2 Mouse
Mouse is another input device which is commonly found connected with the
computers. It is basically a pointing device which works on the principle of Point and
Click. When the mouse is moved on the mouse pad, a light beam underneath reflect to
give motion to the pointer on the screen. The mouse is used in windows-based programs,
where the user can run the commands by pointing the objects with the help of pointer and
clicking the buttons on the mouse.
Most of the latest mice, these days, include a wheel in the middle of two buttons
that help us to scroll through documents more easily. We use our forefinger to move the
wheel to scroll up or down in a document.
Nowadays cordless mouse is very popular. It does not have wires. It either uses
Bluetooth technology to sends the data through the air to a receiver, usually plugged in
USB port of the computer.
 Figure 2.2 Mouse

The various types of mouse:

 Mechanical mouse

Figure 2.3 Mechanical Mouse

 Optical mouse
Optical mouse uses red light to track the movement of mouse for moving the pointer
on the computer screen. This type of mouse is more accurate and reliable than the
traditional mouse.

Figure 2.4 Optical Mouse

2.2.3 Touchpad
Also known as a track pad, a touchpad is a common substitute for a computer
mouse. It is essentially a specialized surface that can detect the movement of a user's
finger and use that information to direct a pointer and control a computer. Touchpads
were first introduced for laptops in the 1990s, and it's now rare to find a laptop without
one.
 Figure 2.5 Touch Pad

2.2.4 Light Pen

Light pen is another pointing type input device. It is a pen shaped device which
can be used by directly pointing the objects on the screen. It can also be used for making
drawings directly on the monitor screen.

Figure 2.6 Light Pen

2.2.5 Joy Stick

Joysticks are commonly used to control characters and vehicles in computer video
games. Essentially, a joystick is a handle that pivots on a base and sends its angle or
direction to the computer as data. Many video gaming joysticks feature triggers and
buttons that can be pressed to use weapons or projectiles in games.

Figure 2.7 Joy Stick

2.2.6 Track Ball
A trackball is similar to a mouse but is mounted in a fixed position. The user spins
the ball with fingers to move the pointer on the screen.
A Trackball technology was used in earlier laptop computer which is now replaced with
track-pad.
 Figure 2.8 Track ball

2.2.7 Touch screen:

. As the name suggests, a touch screen is a touch-sensitive monitor screen that reacts to
fingers moving across it. Touch screens are particularly common in portable devices,
such as tablets, palmtops, laptops, and smartphones

Figure. 2.9 Touch Screen

2.2.8 Digitizer

Also known as digitizers, graphic tablets are input devices used for converting
hand-drawn artwork into digital images. The user draws with a stylus on a special flat
surface as if they were drawing on a piece of paper. The drawing appears on the
computer screen and can be saved, edited, or printed. While scanners can only create
digital images from drawings, graphic tablets offer greater control and versatility for
artists by allowing them to see their drawing appear live on their monitor as they create it.
 Figure 2.10 Digitizer

2.2.9 Scanner
Is an input device that reads an image and converts it into a digital file. A
scanner is connected to a computer through USB.  There are different types of
scanners:

 Flatbed scanner – uses a flat surface to scan documents

Figure 2.11 Flatbed scanner

 Sheet fed scanner – like a laser printer where paper is fed into the scanner

Figure 2.12 Sheet fed scanner

 Handheld scanner – the scanner is dragged over the page to be scanned

Figure 2.13 Handheld scanner

 Card scanner – for scanning business card

 Figure 2.14 Card Scanner
.

Check your Progress

Fill in the blanks
1. __________ a pointing device which work to the principle of point and click.
2. __________it has a key made up of letters numbers, symbols, and function keys.
3. __________it is use to a hard sphere to control cursor movement.
4. __________it is able to directly enter text and images into the computer memory.
5. __________it converts a graphical or pictorial data into digital form which can be
directly entered and stored in computer.
6. __________a touch panel that is transparent plate which is fitted over the CRT.
7. __________it is mainly use in video games application.
8. __________this data is directly transferred to the computer.
9. __________this data is not immediately transferred to the computer.
10. _________ it is commonly substitute for a computer mouse.
2.3 OUTPUT DEVICES
An output device is a piece of computer hardware that receives data from a
computer and then translates that data into another form. That form may be audio, visual,
textual, or hard copy such as a printed document.
The output device allows the computer 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:

2.3.1 Monitor
This is the most common output device connected with the computer to display
the processed information. It looks like a TV and is also known as VDU (Visual Display
Unit). Pictures are displayed by using a large number of very small dots on screen called
pixels. The number of pixels that a monitor can show on its screen is referred to as the
resolution of the screen.
Types of monitor:
1. Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Monitor
 Which use electrons to transmit the image they manage to capture by
means of an antenna, as you will see these are the first designs that were
used by the industry, among its features highlight the heavy components
as well as the robust proportions.
 It is the pioneering technology used in the first monitors, which you will
easily recognize since they were the ones that transmitted the image in
black and white.

Figure 2.15 CRT

2. Liquid crystal Display (LCD) Monitor

 Usually find this installed in laptops and hand-held computers. The
technology used is different from that of the CRT. LCD uses tiny capsules
filled with liquid crystals. When the molecule of the liquid is subjected to
an electronic field, the liquid crystals align and light reflects off them.

3. Light-emitting diodes (LED) Monitors

 Led monitors are the latest type of monitors in the market today. Like
LCD, it is again a flat panel display making use of light-emitting diodes
for back lightning instead of cold cathode fluorescent (CCFL) back-
lightning use in LCDs
 Figure 2.16 LED

2.3.2 Printers:
This is an important output device of the computer system. It gives a printed
output of the results that appears on the monitor screen. Printed output is also called Hard
Copy output because unlike monitor, this output can be preserved even if the computer is
switched off.

Printers are classified as:

a) Impact Printer
b) Non-Impact Printer

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.

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 to form the individual
characters. This printer is noisy with a low print quality. Its speed is measured in
CPS (Characters per Second).

Figure. 2.17 Dot Matrix Printer

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. 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.

Figure 2.17 Daisy Wheel Printer

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 of data are to be printed.
 Fig 2.18 Line printer

Types of Line Printers

 Drum printers

This consists of a metallic cylinder. On the surface of this drum there are
characters in bands. Each column or band on the drum contains all the characters.
Opposite to each band there is a hammer located behind the paper. The drum rotates at a
fast rate. The hammer strikes the paper along with the inked ribbon and produces the
output. One line is printed in each revolution of the printer.

Figure 2.19 Drum Printer

 Chain printers

In the chain printers there is one print hammer for each print position on a line. There
is a fast-moving chain called the print chain. When this chain rotates, the print hammer
and the inked ribbon strike the paper against the proper character on the chain.

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, Desk Jet printers.
 1. 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. The output of the ink jet printer is of a superior quality. Also, it
is possible to obtain coloured 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.

Figure 2.20 Ink Jet Printer

2. 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.

Figure 2.21 Laser Printers

 3. Thermal printer
It is a low to medium resolution printer that produces a printed image by selective
heating coated thermal paper, when the paper passes over the thermal print head.

Figure 2.22 Thermal printer

2.3.3 Plotter:

Plotter is an output device used in applications where printouts of graphs

and drawings are required. Plotters are of two types:

1) Flatbed plotter:
It is a mechanical drafting devise used with many CAD programs foe designers.
The paper remains stationary on a flat surface while a pen moves across it horizontally
and vertically. This plotter may use several different pen colours to create the graphics.
The size of the graphic is limited to the size of the flatbed plotter’s surface.

Figure 2.23 Flatbed plotter

2) Drum Plotter: (roller plotter)

A drum plotter is a pen that wraps the paper around a drum with pin feed
attachment. The drum rotates the paper as pen moves across it and draw the image. It was
the first output device use to print graphics and large engineering drawings.
2.3.4 Projector
As its name suggests, this output device "projects" computer images onto a wall
or screen. Projectors are typically used for presentations, watching movies, or as a
teaching aid, as they enable an entire roomful of people to see images generated by a
single computer. Modern projectors usually connect to the computer via an HDMI cable
or VGA
Check your Progress

Answer in brief.

a. What is printer? Give its two types.

......................................................................................................................
b. What are the types of impact printers?

......................................................................................................................
c. Differentiate impact and non-impact

............................................................................................................
d. The two types of line printers are:

.....................................................................................................................

e. What is an impact printer? Name one impact printer.

.......................................................................................
 2.4 SUMMARY

The devices of the computer system which are a means of communication

between the computer system and the outside world are called as peripheral devices.
Those devices which accept data from the user are input devices, and those devices that
give information from the computer to the user or store it in secondary storage devices
for later use are output devices.
Input Output Interfaces are the processors which convert the data input by the
user into a form which can be understood by the computer and also convert output
generated by the computer into a human readable form. Data can be entered in the
computer directly i.e. online or after first preparing it and entering later i.e. offline.

The various input devices are:

1. Keyboard - is the most commonly used device for on line data entry. It is very easy to
use, inexpensive and allows on-line data editing.
2. Mouse -is a pointing device used along with a keyboard to control cursor movement,
select data etc. Light pen, joystick and track ball are also similar devices used for cursor
control.
3. Touchpad- Also known as a track pad, a touchpad is a common substitute for a computer
mouse
4. Light pen- Light pen is another pointing type input device. It is a pen shaped device
which can be used by directly pointing the objects on the screen. It can also be used for
making drawings directly on the monitor screen.
5. Joystick- Joysticks are commonly used to control characters and vehicles in computer
video games. Essentially, a joystick is a handle that pivots on a base and sends its angle
or direction to the computer as data
6. Trackball- A trackball is similar to a mouse but is mounted in a fixed position. The user
spins the ball with fingers to move the pointer on the screen.
7. Touchscreen- a touch screen is a touch-sensitive monitor screen that reacts to fingers
moving across it. Touch screens are particularly common in portable devices, such as
tablets, palmtops, laptops, and smartphones
8. Digitizer - This converts pictorial data into a digital form which can be directly entered
and stored in a computer.
9. A scanner can directly enter text and images into computer memory using light source or
magnetic ink recognition.

Output Devices:
The common output devices are:
1. Monitor-most common output device connected with the computer to display the
processed information. It looks like a TV and is also known as VDU (Visual
Display Unit).
 Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Monitor
 Liquid crystal Display (LCD) Monitor
 Light-emitting diodes (LED) Monitors


2. Printer- these are of two types: Impact and Non-impact.

 Impact printers produce output on paper and use a hammer to strike a
3. character against a ribbon.
Non-impact printers use thermal, chemical, electrostatic and inkjet
technologies to produce output. Some of the commonly used printers are dot
matrix, Line printers, Drum printers, Ink jet printers and laser printers.

4. Plotter- Plotters are mainly use for output of graphs and drawings. The common
plotters are Flat Bed Plotters and Drum Plotters.

Flat Bed Plotters

It is a mechanical drafting devise used with many CAD programs foe
designers. The paper remains stationary on a flat surface while a pen moves
across it horizontally and vertically. This plotter may use several different pen
colors to create the graphics. The size of the graphic is limited to the size of the
flatbed plotter’s surface.
Drum Plotters
A drum plotter is a pen that wraps the paper around a drum with pin feed
attachment. The drum rotates the paper as pen moves across it and draw the
image. It was the first output device use to print graphics and large engineering
drawings.
5. Projector
As its name suggests, this output device "projects" computer images onto
a wall or screen. Projectors are typically used for presentations, watching movies,
or as a teaching aid, as they enable an entire roomful of people to see images
generated by a single computer. Modern projectors usually connect to the
computer via an HDMI cable or VGA

2. 4 QUESTIONS FOR SELF - STUDY

1. Define: Peripheral Devices, Input Devices, Output Devices

2. Write Short notes on: Keyboard, Optical Scanner, Plotter.
3. What are impact printers? Describe any two types of impact printers.
4. What is
5. Describe the various types of computer terminals.

2.7 SUGGESTED READINGS

 Computer Fundamentals

Concepts, Systems & Applications – P.K Sinha

References

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