Elements of Computer They look like a small gear shift level set in a box.

Elements of Computer
Computers are deeply ingrained in every part of our lives. It Touch Sensitive Screen
has been used at different sectors in our society. With this, Are devices that allow you to use a computer by
there is a need to understand the elements of computers and touching the surface of its video display screen.
how it works. This lesson will cover all necessary things Such screen emit a grid of infrared beams, sound waves,
you need to know about elements of a computer. or a slight electric current, which is broken when the
screen is touched.
ELEMENTS
HARDWARE Light pen
SOFTWARE A light pen is a device similar to a touch screen, but is
DATA facilitated by use of a special light sensitive pen instead
PEOPLEWARE of the finger. The advantage of using a pen is that more
accurate screen input is possible than with a touch
Hardware screen.
It includes all physical devices and materials in a
computer system. Graphics tablet
Hardware A graphics or digitizing tablet consists of a tablet
Computer systems connected by a wire to a stylus or puck. A stylus is a
pen-like device with which the user "sketches" an image.
Computer peripherals
Digitizing tablets are used primarily in design and
Telecommunications networks engineering.
Hardware Components Voice Recognition
Input devices It converts a person's speech into digital code by comparing
Output devices the electrical patterns produced by the speaker's voice with a
Storage devices set of prerecorded patterns stored in the computer.
The Central Processing Unit Operators train the system to recognize their voices by
repeating each word in the vocabulary about ten times.
Input devices
These are designed for data entry operations. Scanner
Translate data into a form that the computer can process. Converts text, drawings, and photographs into digital form
They read and transmit data to the main memory of the that can be stored in a computer system and then manipulated,
computer. output, or sent via modem to another computer. The system
It allows direct human or machine communications while scans each image--color or black and white--with light and
other require data to be recorded on an input medium. breaks the image into light and dark dots or color dots, which
are then converted to digital code.
Keyboard versus Direct Entry
Keyboard entry devices ~ input comes by typing a Bar-code reader
“source document” into the computer. Photoelectric scanners that translate the bar-code
Direct entry devices ~ input comes in directly in symbols into digital code.
machine-readable form, no keyboard. Another scanning device reads bar codes, the vertical
zebra-striped marks you see on most manufactured retail
products.
Keyboard
The most widely used device for entering data and text Optical Character Recognition
into computer systems. Uses a device that reads preprinted characters in a particular
It is a peripheral modelled after the typewriter keyboard. font (typeface design) and converts them to digital code.
Keyboards are designed for the input of text and Examples of the use of OCR characters are utility bills and
price tags on department-store merchandise, billing operations
characters, and also to control the operation of the
of credit card companies, banks and oil.
computer.
Mark-Recognition & Character-Recognition Devices
Electronic Mouse Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR)
A mouse is an input device used to move cursor on the It reads the strange-looking numbers printed at the bottom of
screen, as well as to issue commands and make icon and checks.
menu selections.
It is called a mouse primarily because the cord on early models Optical Mark Recognition (OMR)
resembled the rodent's tail, and also because the motion of the It uses a device that reads pencil marks and converts them into
pointer on the screen can be mouse like… computer-usable form.

Trackball
A trackball is a pointing device consisting of a ball
housed in a socket containing sensors to detect
rotation of the ball about two axes—like an
upside-down mouse, but with the ball sticking out
more. The user rolls the ball with their thumb, Magnetic Stripe
fingers, or the palm of their hand to move a cursor. A form of magnetic data entry that helps computer reads
credit cards. The dark magnetic stripe on the back of the
credit and debit cards is the same iron oxide coating as
on magnetic tape.
Joystick
These are often used to control games, and usually have Other Input devices
one or more push-buttons whose state can also be read Digital camera, PC camera, Web camSensor
by the computer. Human Biology systems
Output devices o Line printer
The component of computer system that gives out to the user o Page printer
the results of the processed data.
The Information is transmitted from the CPU to this output
device, where is then printed or recorded. According to operation
o Impact
Softcopy versus Hardcopy o Non-impact
Softcopy ~ data that is shown on a display screen or is in
audio or voice form. This kind of output is not tangible;
it cannot be touched. According to style
Hardcopy ~ Printed output. The principal examples are
printouts, whether text or graphics, from printers. Examples of Printer
Impact printers can produce a page, a line, or a character
Display Screens at a time. Large computers use line printers. The main
also variously called monitors, CRTs, or simply drawback to line printers is that they can produce only
screens--are output devices that show programming text--no graphics.
instructions and data as they are being input and A dot-matrix printer contains a print head of small
information after it is processed. pins, which strike an inked ribbon against paper, forming
characters or images.
Types of Display Screen
A CRT or cathode-ray tube
Flat-panel displays Examples of Printer
 Non-impact printers form characters and images
Types of Display Screen without making direct physical contact between
A CRT for cathode-ray tube, is a vacuum tube used printing mechanism and paper.
 Two types of non-impact printers often used
as a display screen in a computer or video display
with microcomputers are laser printers and ink-
terminal. jet printers.
Types of Display Screen Types of Non-Impact
Flat-panel displays are made up of two plates of glass Laser printer uses the principle of dot-matrix printers of
with a substance in between them, which is activated in creating images with dots. These images are created on a
different ways. drum, treated with a magnetically charged ink-like toner
(powder), and then transferred from drum to paper.
Flat Panel Display Technology
Liquid crystal display (LCD).
Plasma display Types of Non-Impact
Electroluminescent Ink-jet printers spray small, electrically charged droplets
Gas-plasma display of ink from four nozzles through holes in a matrix at
high speed onto paper.
Screen Clarity Thermal printers use colored waxes and heat to produce
Whether CRT or flat-panel display, screen clarity images by burning dots onto special paper.
depends on three qualities: resolution, dot pitch, and
refresh rate. Plotter
Is like a printer, produces hard-copy output. Plotters,
Resolution which produce high-quality color graphics, are usually
The image sharpness of a display screen is called its categorized by whether they use pens or electrostatic
resolution; the more pixels there are per square inch, the charges to create images.
finer the level of detail attained. They are used in applications such as architecture and
engineering.
Dot Pitch
Is the amount of space between the centers of adjacent
pixels; the closer the dots, the crisper the image.

Audio Speaker
Audio speaker is a second type of soft copy. New computer
systems have such good audio systems that it is possible to
listen to music while you work, have the computer tell you
when the printer needs paper, play games that include sound,
or compose music on the computer.
Refresh rate
is the number of times per second that the pixels are
recharged so that their glow remains bright.
Storage Devices
Computer systems have two main types of storage
Printer devices – primary and secondary.
An output device that prints characters, symbols, and
perhaps graphics on paper or another hardcopy medium. Primary Storage
 memory, main memory, internal memory, or RAM.
 working storage that holds (1) data for processing, (2)
Classification
instructions for processing the data, (3) processed data
According to the amount of information printed at a that is waiting to be sent to an output or secondary storage
time. device.
o Character serial printer  temporary and volatile (contents are lost when power is
turned off).
 are instructions on using a software package or user’s
manual.
Capacity
The amount of information that can be stored on the
medium. DATA
Data is more than the raw material of
Primary Storage information systems. The concept of data resources
Types of Primary Storage has been broadened by managers and information
RAM (non-permanent) systems professionals. They realized that data
Programs and data can be stored here for the computer’s constitute a valuable organizational resource.
use.
Volatile: All information will be lost once the computer FORMS OF DATA
shuts down. Alphanumeric data - composed of numbers and
alphabetical and other characters that describe business
ROM (permanent) transactions and other events and entities.
Contents do not change.
Text Data, consisting of sentences and paragraphs
CMOS (Complimentary MetalOxide Semiconductor) used in written communications,
Special type of RAM, which uses less power than normal. Image data such as graphic shapes and figures, and
Audio data, the human voice and other sounds, are
Secondary Storage also important forms of data.
Is use when there is a need to keep information for later
use. It can store large amounts of data and retain even PEOPLEWARE
when the computer is turned off. - are required for the operation of all information
Hard disk, Diskette, CD-ROM, Magnetic tape
systems. These people resources include end users and
Information system specialists.
The CPU
Central Processing Unit ( CPU )
Often referred to as the “brain” of the computer.
Responsible for controlling all activities of the computer
system.

Motherboard ~ The place where most of the electronics

Major Components
1. Arithmetic and Logic Unit (Computations
performed)
Accumulator (Results of computations kept
here)
2. Control Unit (Has two locations where numbers are
kept)
Instruction Register (Instruction placed here
for analysis)
Program Counter (Which instruction will be
performed next?)
3. Instruction Decoding Unit (Decodes the instruction)

SOFTWARE
It includes all sets of information processing
instructions. This generic concept of software includes
not only the sets of operating instructions called
programs, which direct and control computer
hardware, but also the sets of information processing
instructions needed by people, called procedures. So
even information systems that don’t use computers
have a software resource component.

SOFTWARE RESOURCES
Systems Software -enables the applications to interact
with the computer and manage its internal resources. It
consists of several programs, the most important of
which is the operating system or OS. The OS is the
master control program, which gives the user an
interactive control over the computer.

Application Software -used to perform a general or

Procedures – which are operating instructions for the