Fundamentals of Computers and IT - BCA 105

UNIT – 1

Input-output devices, Description of Computer Input Units,

Output Units
Learning Objectives
In this topic you will learn about:
▪ Input / Output (I/O) devices
▪ Commonly used input devices
▪ Commonly used output devices
▪ Other concepts related to I/O devices
 I/O Devices
▪ Provide means of communication between a
computer and outer world
▪ Also known as peripheral devices because they
surround the CPU and memory of a computer system
▪ Input devices are used to enter data from the outside
world into primary storage
▪ Output devices supply results of processing from
primary storage to users
Role of I/O Devices
 Input Devices
Input device :Allow user to enter data into
computer for processing
Types
• Human Data Entry Devices: Input devices
that required data to be entered manually to
the computer
Example: Keyboard, Pointing Devices
• Source Data Entry Devices : Input devices
used to enter source document directly to
the computer
Example :Audio input, video input, scanner
Commonly Used Input
Devices
▪ Keyboard devices
▪ Pointing devices
▪ Data scanning devices
▪ Digitizer
▪ Electronic cards based devices
▪ Speech recognition devices
▪ Vision based devices
 Keyboard Devices
▪ Most common input device
▪ Invented by Christopher Latham Sholes
▪ Allow data entry into a computer system by pressing
a set of keys (labeled buttons) neatly mounted on a
keyboard connected to a computer system
▪ 101-keys QWERTY keyboard is most popular
▪ It includes
➢ Typing keys (A,B,C…)
➢ Numeric Keys (1,2,3..)
➢ Functional keys (F1,F2,F3..)
➢ Special keys (space bar, backspace…)
➢ Control keys (Ctrl, Alt..)
Pointing Devices
▪ Used to rapidly point to and select a graphic
icon or menu item from multiple options
displayed on the Graphical User Interface
(GUI) of a screen
▪ Used to create graphic elements on the
screen such as lines, curves, and freehand
shapes
▪ Some commonly used pointing devices are
mouse, track ball, joy stick, light pen, and
touch screen
Mouse
• A small hand-held device that fits comfortably in a user’s palm and having two
or more buttons on its upper side. It is used to control and manipulate cursor
movement on monitor.
• Developed by Douglas Engalebart.
• Classification of mouse
➢Mechanical and Optical Mouse :
❑Mechanical mouse has a rubber ball on the bottom side that protrudes
when the mouse is move . It requires a smooth, dust free surface on which
mouse rolled.
❑Optical mouse uses a LED and sensor to detect the movement of
mouse.
➢One, Two and three button Mouse
➢Wired or Cordless Mouse
❑Wired: Connects computers through wire
❑Cordless : No wired connection
Mouse
➢Serial and Bus Mouse
❑Serial: plug into a serial port
❑Bus Mouse : require a special electronic card which
provides the special port to connect mouse with
computer.
Different ways to use mouse
➢Pointing
➢Left Click
➢Right Click
➢Double Click
➢Drag and Drop
Trackball
•It is similar to mechanical mouse with roller ball is on the
top
•Easy to use
•Inbuilt
•Come in various shape
 Joystick
It is a stick with its base
attached to a flexible
rubber sheath inside a
plastic cover. The plastic
cover contains the circuit
that detects the
movement of sticks and
sends the information to
computer
Electronic Pen
▪ Pen-based pointing device
▪ Used to directly point with it on the screen to
select menu items or icons or directly draw
graphics on the screen
▪ Can write with it on a special pad for direct
input of written information to a system
▪ Pressure on tip of a side button is used to
cause same action as right-button-click of a
mouse
▪ Example : Light pen, Writing pen with pad
Touch Screen
▪ Most simple, intuitive, and easiest to learn of
all input devices
▪ Enables users to choose from available
options by simply touching with their finger
the desired icon or menu item displayed on
the screen
▪ Most preferred human-computer interface
used in information kiosks (unattended
interactive information systems such as
automatic teller machine or ATM)
Data Scanning Devices
▪ Input devices that enable direct data entry into a
computer system from source documents
▪ Eliminate the need to key in text data into the
computer
▪ Due to reduced human effort in data entry, they
improve data accuracy and also increase the
timeliness of the information processed
▪ Demand high quality of input documents
▪ Some data scanning devices are also capable of
recognizing marks or characters
▪ Form design and ink specification usually becomes
more critical for accuracy
Image
▪ Input
Scanner
device that translates paper
documents into an electronic format for
storage in a computer
▪ Electronic format of a scanned image is its bit
map representation
▪ Stored image can be altered or manipulated
with an image-processing software
▪ Types
▪ Flatbed scanner: is like a copier machine consisting
of a box having glass plate on its top and a lid that
covers the glass plate
▪ Hand-Held scanner: portable and are placed over
the document to be scanned . Consist of LED
Bit map
Two common Types of Image
Scanners
 Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
Device
▪ Scanner equipped with a character recognition
software (called OCR software) that converts the bit
map images of characters to equivalent ASCII
codes
▪ Enables word processing of input text and also
requires less storage for storing the document as text
rather than an image
▪ OCR software is extremely complex because it is
difficult to make a computer recognize an unlimited
number of typefaces and fonts
▪ Two standard OCR fonts are OCR-A (American
standard) and OCR-B (European standard) 154
OCR working
 Optical Mark Reader (OMR)
▪ Scanner capable of recognizing a pre-specified
type of mark by pencil or pen
▪ Very useful for grading tests with objective type
questions, or for any input data that is of a choice or
selection nature
▪ Technique used for recognition of marks involves
focusing a light on the page being scanned and
detecting the reflected light pattern from the marks
Sample Use of OMR
Bar-code Reader
▪ Scanner used for reading (decoding) bar-
coded data
▪ Bar codes represent alphanumeric data by a
combination of adjacent vertical lines (bars)
by varying their width and the spacing
between them
▪ Scanner uses laser-beam to stroke across
pattern of bar code. Different patterns of bars
reflect the beam in different ways sensed by
a light-sensitive detector
▪ Universal Product Code (UPC) is the most
widely known bar coding system
An Example of UPC Bar
Code
Magnetic-Ink Character Recognition
(MICR)
▪ MICR is used by banking industry for faster processing of
large volume of cheques
▪ Bank’s identification code (name, branch, etc.), account
number and cheque number are pre-printed (encoded)
using characters from a special character set on all
cheques
▪ Special ink is used that contains magnetizable particles of
iron oxide
▪ MICR reader-sorter reads data on cheques and sorts
them for distribution to other banks or for further
processing
MICR Example
MICR Character Set (E13B Font)

▪ It consists of numerals 0 to 9 and four special

characters
▪ MICR is not adopted by other industries
because it supports only 14 symbols
Digitizer
▪ Input device used for converting (digitizing)
pictures, maps and drawings into digital form
for storage in computers
▪ Commonly used in the area of Computer
Aided Design (CAD) by architects and
engineers to design cars, buildings medical
devices, robots, mechanical parts, etc.
▪ Used in the area of Geographical Information
System (GIS) for digitizing maps available in
paper form
A Digitizer
Electronic-card Reader
▪ Electronic cards are small plastic cards
having encoded data appropriate for the
application for which they are used
▪ Electronic-card reader (normally connected
to a computer) is used to read data
encoded on an electronic card and transfer
it to the computer for further processing
▪ Used together as a means of direct data
entry into a computer system
▪ Used by banks for use in automatic teller
machines (ATMs) and by organizations for
controlling access of employees to physically
secured areas
Audio Input Devices
▪ Input device that allows a person to input
data to a computer system by speaking to it
▪ Today’s speech recognition systems are
limited to accepting few words within a
relatively small domain and can be used to
enter only limited kinds and quantities of data
▪ Microphone
Types of Audio Input Systems
▪ Single word recognition systems can
recognize only a single spoken words, such as
YES, NO, MOVE, STOP, at a time. Speaker-
independent systems are mostly of this type
▪ Continuous speech recognition systems can
recognize spoken sentences, such as MOVE
TO THE NEXT BLOCK. Such systems are
normally speaker-dependent
Uses of Audio Input Systems
▪ For inputting data to a computer system by a
person in situations where his/her hands are
busy, or his/her eyes must be fixed on a
measuring instrument or some other object
▪ For data input by dictation of long text or
passage for later editing and review
▪ For authentication of a user by a computer
system based on voice input
▪ For limited use of computers by individuals
with physical disabilities
Vision-Input Systems
▪ Allow computer to accept input just by
seeing an object.
▪ Input data is normally an object’s shape and
features in the form of an image
▪ Mainly used today in factories for designing
industrial robots that are used for quality-
control and assembly processes
▪ Video Camera and Digital Camera are used
to provide visual input
Output Devices

• Output devices provide output to the user,

which is generated after processing the input
data.
• The processed data, presented to the user
via the output devices could be text,
graphics, audio or video.
Commonly Used Output Devices

▪ Monitors
▪ Printers
▪ Plotters
▪ Screen image projector
▪ Voice response systems
Types of Output
▪ Soft-copy output
▪ Not produced on a paper or some material that can be
touched and carried for being shown to others
▪ Temporary in nature and vanish after use
▪ Examples are output displayed on a terminal/monitor
screen or spoken out by a voice response system
▪ Hard-copy output
▪ Produced on a paper or some material that can be
touched and carried for being shown to others
▪ Permanent in nature and can be kept in paper files or
can be looked at a later time when the person is not
using the computer
▪ Examples are output produced by printers or plotters on
paper
Monitors
▪ Monitors are the most popular output devices
used for producing soft-copy output
▪ Display the output on a television like screen
▪ Monitor associated with a keyboard is called
a video display terminal (VDT). It is the most
popular I/O device
 Types of Monitors
▪ Cathode-ray-tube (CRT) monitors look like a
television and are normally used with non-
portable computer systems
▪ LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) Flat-panel monitors
are thinner and lighter and are commonly used
with portable computer systems and also used
with non-portable desktop computer systems
because they occupy less table space
▪ LED monitors are the latest types of monitors.
These are flat panel, or slightly curved displays
which make use of light-emitting diodes for back-
lighting. Images with higher contrast, are more
durable than CRT or LCD monitors and very thin in
 Printers
Most common output devices for producing
hard-copy output
Types
Impact Printer : It makes contact with the paper.
It usually forms the print image by pressing an
inked ribbon against the paper. Impact printers
can be used for generating multiple copies by
using carbon paper or its equivalent
e.g. Dot-matrix
Non-Impact Printer : Don’t use a striking device
to produce characters on the paper . They are
much quieter . E.g. Laser , Injet
Dot-Matrix Printers
▪ Character printers that form characters and
all kinds of images as a pattern of dots
▪ Print many special characters, different sizes
of print and graphics such as charts and
graphs
▪ Slow, with speeds usually ranging between 30
to 600 characters per second
▪ Cheap in both initial cost and cost of
operation
Formation of Characters as a pattern
of dots
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNO
PQRSTUVWXYZ
0123456789-.,
&/$*#%@=(+)
A Dot Matrix Printer
Inkjet Printers
• Character printers that form characters and all
kinds of images by spraying small drops of ink on
to the paper
• Print head contains up to 64 tiny nozzles that can
be selectively heated up in a few micro seconds
by an integrated circuit register
• To print a character, the printer selectively heats
the appropriate set of nozzles as the print head
moves horizontally
• Can print many special characters, different
sizes of print, and graphics such as charts and
graphs
Inkjet Printers
▪ Non-impact printers. Hence, they cannot
produce multiple copies of a document in a
single printing
▪ Can be both monochrome and color
▪ Slower than dot-matrix printers with speeds
usually ranging between 40 to 300 characters
per second
▪ More expensive than a dot-matrix printer
Drum Printers
▪ Line printers that print one line at a time
▪ Have a solid cylindrical drum with characters
embossed on its surface in the form of circular
bands
▪ Set of hammers mounted in front of the drum
in such a manner that an inked ribbon and
paper can be placed between the hammers
and the drum
▪ Can only print a pre-defined set of characters
in a predefined style that is embossed on the
drum
▪ Impact printers and usually monochrome
Printing Mechanism of a Drum
Printer
Chain/Band Printers
▪ Line printers that print one line at a time
▪ Consist of a metallic chain/band on which all
characters of the character set supported by
the printer are embossed
▪ Also have a set of hammers mounted in front
of the chain/band in such a manner that an
inked ribbon and paper can be placed
between the hammers and the chain/band
Chain/Band Printers
▪ Can only print pre-defined sets of characters
that are embossed on the chain/band used
with the printer
▪ Cannot print any shape of characters,
different sizes of print, and graphics such as
charts and graphs
▪ Are impact printers and can be used for
generating multiple copies by using carbon
paper or its equivalent
▪ Are usually monochrome
▪ Typical speeds are in the range of 400 to 3000
lines per minute
Chain/Band Printers
Laser Printers
▪ Page printers that print one page at a time
▪ Consist of a laser beam source, a multi-sided mirror, a
photoconductive drum and toner (tiny particles of
oppositely charged ink)
▪ To print a page, the laser beam is focused on the
electro statically charged drum by the spinning multi-
sided mirror
▪ Toner sticks to the drum in the places the laser beam
has charged the drum’s surface.
▪ Toner is then permanently fused on the paper with
heat and pressure to generate the printer output
▪ Laser printers produce very high quality output having
resolutions in the range of 600 to 1200 dpi
Laser Printers
▪ Can print many special characters, different
sizes of print, and graphics such as charts and
graphs
▪ Are non-impact printers
▪ Most laser printers are monochrome, but
color laser printers are also available
▪ Low speed laser printers can print 4 to 12
pages per minute. Very high-speed laser
printers can print 500 to 1000 pages per
minute
▪ More expensive than other printers
A Laser Printers
Plotters
▪ Plotters are an ideal output device for
architects, engineers, city planners, and
others who need to routinely generate high-
precision, hard-copy graphic output of widely
varying sizes
▪ Two commonly used types of plotters are:
– Drum plotter, in which the paper on which
the design has to be made is placed over a
drum that can rotate in both clockwise and
anti-clockwise directions
– Flatbed plotter, in which the paper on
which the design has to be made is spread
and fixed over a rectangular flatbed table
A Drum Plotter
A Flatbed Plotter
Screen Image Projector
▪ An output device that can be directly
plugged to a computer system for projecting
information from a computer on to a large
screen
▪ Useful for making presentations to a group of
people with direct use of a computer
▪ Full-fledged multimedia presentation with
audio, video, image, and animation can be
prepared and made using this facility
 Voice Response Systems
▪ Voice response system enables a computer
to talk to a user
▪ Has an audio-response device that produces
audio output
▪ Such systems are of two types:
▪ Voice reproduction systems
▪ Speech synthesizers
 Voice Reproduction
Systems
▪ Produce audio output by selecting an
appropriate audio output from a set of pre-
recorded audio responses
▪ Applications include audio help for guiding
how to operate a system, automatic
answering machines, video games, etc.
Speech Synthesizers
▪ Converts text information into spoken
sentences
▪ Used for applications such as:
▪ Reading out text information to blind
persons
▪ Allowing those persons who cannot speak
to communicate effectively
▪ Translating an entered text into spoken
words in a selected language