Introduction to C Programming (MVJ22ESCK14E)

● Course Objectives:

● CLO 1. Elucidate the basic architecture and functionalities of a

Computer.
● CLO 2. Apply programming constructs of C language to solve the real-
world problems.
● CLO 3.Explore user-defined data structures like arrays, structures and
pointers in implementing solutions to problems.
● CLO 4. Design and Develop Solutions to problems using modular
programming constructs such as functions and procedures.

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 Introduction to C Programming (MVJ22ESCK14E)
THEORY
Module 1
● Introduction to C: Introduction to computers, input and output devices,
designing efficient programs. Introduction to C, Structure of C
program, Files used in a C program, Compilers, Compiling and
executing C programs, variables, constants, Input/output statements in
C.

Module 2
● Operators in C, Type conversion and typecasting.

● Decision control and Looping statements: Introduction to decision

control, Conditional branching statements, iterative statements, nested
loops, break and continue
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 Introduction to C Programming (MVJ22ESCK14E)
THEORY
Module 3
● Functions: Introduction using functions, Function definition, function
declaration, function call, return statement, passing parameters to
functions, scope of variables, storage classes, recursive functions.
● Arrays: Declaration of arrays, accessing the elements of an array,
storing values in arrays, Operations on arrays, Passing arrays to
functions.

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 Introduction to C Programming (MVJ22ESCK14E)
THEORY
Module 4
● Two dimensional arrays, operations on two-dimensional arrays, two-
dimensional arrays to functions, multidimensional arrays.
● Applications of arrays and introduction to strings: Applications of
arrays, case study with sorting techniques.
● Introduction to strings: Reading strings, writing strings, summary of
functions used to read and write characters. Suppressing input using a
Scan sets.

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 Introduction to C Programming (MVJ22ESCK14E)
THEORY
Module 5
● Strings: String taxonomy, operations on strings, Miscellaneous string
and character functions, arrays of strings.
● Pointers: Understanding the Computers Memory, Introduction to
Pointers, Declaring Pointer Variables.
● Structures: Introduction to structures.

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 Introduction to C Programming (MVJ22ESCK14E)
LAB
1. C Program to find Mechanical Energy of a particle using E = mgh+1/2
mv2.

2. C Program to convert Kilometers into Meters and Centimeters.

3. C Program To Check the Given Character is Lowercase or Uppercase or

Special Character.

4. Program to balance the given Chemical Equation values x, y, p, q of a

simple chemical equation of the type: The task is to find the values of
constants b1, b2, b3 such that the equation is balanced on both sides and
it must be the reduced form.

5. Implement Matrix multiplication and validate the rules of multiplication.

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 Introduction to C Programming (MVJ22ESCK14E)
LAB
6. Compute sin(x)/cos(x) using Taylor series approximation. Compare you
result with the built-in library function. Print both the results with
appropriate inferences.

7. Sort the given set of Numbers using Bubble sort.

8. Write functions to implement string operations such as compare,

concatenate, string length. Convince the parameter passing techniques.

9. Implement structures to read, write and compute average-marks and

the students scoring above and below the average marks for a class of N
students.

10. Develop a program using pointers to compute the sum, mean and
standard deviation
© of allUniversity
Oxford elements Pressstored in an
2012. All rights array of N real numbers.
reserved.
 Introduction to C Programming (MVJ22ESCK14E)

Course Outcomes: At the end of the course the student will be able to:

CO1: Elucidate the basic architecture and functionalities of a computer

and also recognize the hardware parts.

CO2: Apply programming constructs of C language to solve the real

world problem.

CO3: Explore user-defined data structures like arrays in implementing

solutions to problems like searching and sorting.

CO4: Explore user-defined data structures like structures, unions and

pointers in implementing solutions.

CO5: Design and Develop Solutions to problems using modular

programming constructs usingPress
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2012. All rights reserved.
 Introduction to

Computers

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 What is a Computer?

● A Computer can be defined as an electronic device that is

designed to accept data, performs the required mathematical
operation and logical operation at high speed and output the
result.
● A computer is a machine that takes instructions and performs
computations based on those instructions.
● The data that is given as an input to the computer can be text,
numerals, audio, video, image, etc.

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 Tasks of the computer

● Input: Sending the data and command to the computer is known

as input.
● Processing: Work done by the computer with the help of
processing hardware and software to produce results is known
as Processing.
● Output: The result displayed by the computer is called as
output.
● Storage: A place to save results inside or outside the computer
is known as storage.
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 Characteristics of Computers
● Speed
● Accuracy
● Automatic
● Diligence
● Memory
● No I.Q.
● Economical
● Versatile

Difference between Data and Information.

● Data is a raw fact. Information is a processed data.

● For Example, the date of birth is the data and calculating the age using
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the date of birth is a information.
Stored Program Concept:
All digital computers are based on the principle of stored program concept by Sir John Von
Neumann in the late 1940s.

A stored program architecture is a fundamental computer architecture wherein computer

executes the instructions that are stored in its memory.

Key Characteristics of Stored Program Concept are:

● Before any data is processed, instructions are read into memory.

● Instructions are stored in the computer’s memory for execution.

● Instructions are stored in binary form (using binary numbers 0s & 1s).

● Processing starts with the first instruction in the program, which is copied into a control
unit circuit. The control unit executes the instructions.

● Instructions are written by the users are performed sequentially until there is a break in
the current flow.

● Input / Output and processing operations are performed simultaneously. While data is
being read / written, the CPU executes another program in the memory that is ready for
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execution.
Types of Stored Program Computers
Shared Memory Architecture:

● A computer with Von Neumann Architecture stores data and instructions in the
same memory / main memory.
● There is a serial machine in which data and instructions are selected one at a
time.
● Data and instructions are transferred to and from memory through shared data
bus.
● Since there is a single bus to carry data and instructions, process of execution
becomes slower.

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Types of Stored Program Computers
Distributed Memory Architecture:

● Due to the disadvantage of Shared Memory architecture, Harvard University

proposed a stored program concept in which there was a separate memory to
store data and instructions.
● Instructions are selected serially from the instruction memory and executed in
the processor.
● When an instruction needs data, it is selected from the data memory and hence
the execution becomes faster.

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GENERATION OF COMPUTERS

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 GENERATION OF COMPUTERS
The word generation means the state of improvement in the product
development process. Similarly, computer generation refers to the
different advancements of new computer technology.

First Generation (1940-1956) Vacuum Tubes

The first generation computers used very large number of vacuum tubes
for circuitry and magnetic drums for memory.

UNIVAC and ENIAC computers are prime examples of first-generation

computing devices.
Universal Automatic computer(UNIVAC) / Electronic Numerical Integrator
and computer(ENIAC)

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Advantages: Fastest calculating device of their time
Disadvantages:
1. Dissipate a lot of heat
2. Consume a lot of electricity
3. Very bulky in size
4. These computers were frequently down due to hardware
failures.
5. These computers needed constant maintenance because of low
mean time between failures
6. Limited commercial use because these computers were difficult
to program
7. Very expensive

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Second Generation (1956-1963) Transistors

●The second generation computers were manufactured using transistors.

●While first generation computers were programmed using machine
language, second generation computers moved towards symbolic, or
assembly languages, which allowed programmers to specify instructions
in words.
●At this time, high-level programming languages like COBOL, FORTRAN,
ALGOL and SNOBOL were also being developed.
●Second generation computers were first to store instructions in memory,
which moved from a magnetic drum to magnetic core technology.
●Second generation computers were first developed for the atomic
energy industry.
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● COBOL – Common Business oriented language
● Fortran – Formula Translation
● ALGOL – Algorithmic Language
● SNOBOL – String oriented symbolic language

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Advantages:
1. Consumed less electricity and thus dissipated less heat as
compared to first generation computers
2. Faster, cheaper smaller and more reliable than first generation
computers
3. Could be programmed using assembly language and high level
languages
4. These computers had faster primary memory and a larger secondary
memory
Disadvantages:
1. Second generation computers were manufactured using transistors
that had to be assembled manually. This made commercial production
of computers difficult and expensive.

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Third Generation (1964-1971) Integrated Circuits

● The development of the integrated circuit was the hallmark of the third
generation of computers.
● These computers had few megabytes of main memory and magnetic
disks which could store few tens of megabytes of data per disk drive.
● High level programming languages like COBOL and FORTRAN were
standardized by ANSI
● Some more high level programming languages like PL/I PASCAL and
BASIC were introduced at this time.
● Third generation computers were the first to implement time sharing
operating systems.
● Input to these computers could now be provided using keyboards
and mouse. © Oxford University Press 2012. All rights reserved.
PL/I – Procedural , imperative computer
programming Language

PASCAL – Programming Language named

for blaise Pascal

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Advantages:
●Faster than second generation computers and could perform 1 million
transactions per second.
2. Smaller, cheaper and more reliable than their predecessors
3. These computers had faster and larger primary memory and secondary
storage
4. They were widely used for scientific as well as business applications
5. During this generation of computers, standardization of existing
high level languages and invention of new high level languages was done
6. These computers had time sharing operating system which allowed
interactive use of computer by one or more users simultaneously thereby
improving the productivity of the users.

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Fourth Generation (1971-1989) Microprocessors
●The microprocessor started the fourth generation of computers with thousands
of integrated circuits built onto a single silicon chip.
●Semi-conductor memories were used which were very fast, even the hard
disks became cheaper, smaller in size and larger in capacity.
●For input, floppy disks (in addition to magnetic tapes) were used to port data
and programs from one computer to another.
●During this period many new operating systems were developed like MS-DOS
MS-Windows UNIX and Apple’s proprietary operating system.
●Development of GUIs, the mouse and handheld devices.
●In this period, several word processing packages, spreadsheet packages and
graphics packages were introduced.

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Advantages:
1. Smaller, cheaper, faster and more reliable
2. Consumed less electricity and therefore dissipated less heat
3. They had faster and larger primary memory and secondary
storage
4. They could be used as general purpose computers.
5. GUIs enabled people to learn to work with computers very easily.
So the use of computers in both office and home became
widespread.
6. Networks allowed sharing of resources thereby efficient
utilization of computer hardware and software

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Fifth Generation (Present and Beyond) Artificial Intelligence

●The fifth generation computers are completely based on a new concept

of artificial intelligence.

● Although such computers are still in development, there are certain

applications like voice recognition which is widely being used today.

●In the fifth generation of computers the aim is to develop devices that
respond to natural language input and are capable of learning and self-
organization.

● The two most common are LISP( list Processing ) and

Prolog(Programming in Logic).
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CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTERS

Computers can be broadly classified into four categories based on their

speed, amount of data that they can hold, and price.

Classification of Computers

Super Computer Mainframe Computers Mini Computers Micro Computers

Dumb Intelligent
Terminal Terminal

Desktop Laptop Workstation Network Handheld

Cellular H/PC Pro

Network
Telephones
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CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTERS
1) Supercomputers:
• It is the fastest, most powerful, and most expensive computer.
• It was first developed in 1980s to process large amounts of data and
solve complex scientific problems.
• They use parallel processing technology and can perform trillion
calculations in a second.
• A single supercomputer can support thousands of users at same time.
• They are used for weather forecasting, nuclear energy research,
aircraft design, automotive design, online banking etc.
• Examples of supercomputers are: CRAY-1, CRAY-2, ETA A-10.

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CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTERS
2) Mainframe Computers:
• They are large scale computers but smaller than supercomputers.
• These are very expensive and need a very large clean room with air
conditioning, making them very costly to deploy.
• Mainframes can also support multiple processors.

Dumb terminals:
It consists of only monitor and keyboard and uses mainframe’s system
CPU and storage device.

Intelligent terminals:
It have their own processor and perform processing operations but do
not have their own storage space.
• Mainframe computers are typically used as servers on WWW.

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CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTERS
2) Mainframe Computers:
• They are large scale computers but smaller than supercomputers.
• These are very expensive and need a very large clean room with air
conditioning, making them very costly to deploy.
• Mainframes can also support multiple processors.

Dumb terminals:
It consists of only monitor and keyboard and uses mainframe’s system
CPU and storage device.

Intelligent terminals:
It have their own processor and perform processing operations but do
not have their own storage space.
• Mainframe computers are typically used as servers on WWW.
They are also used in organizations such as banks, airline companies,
universities where large number of people access the data frequently.

• Examples of Mainframe computers are: IBM S/390, Control Data CYBER

176, and Amdahl 580.
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CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTERS
3) Minicomputers:
• They are smaller, cheaper, and slower than mainframes.
• They are also called Midrange computers.
• The capabilities of these fall between mainframe and personal
computers.
• They are widely used in business, education, hospitals, government
organizations, etc.
• Some minicomputers are designed in such a way that it can be either
used by single user or multiple users.
• Single-user minicomputers are used for performing complex design
tasks.
• The first Minicomputer was introduced by Digital Equipment
Corporation in mid1960’s.

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CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTERS
4) Microcomputers:
 They are commonly known as PC’s.
 The first microcomputer was designed by IBM in 1981 and was named
as IBM-PC.

Desktop PCs:
 It is the most popular model of PC’s.

Laptops:
 They are small microcomputers that easily fit inside a briefcase.
 The memory and storage capacity of a laptop is almost equivalent to a
desktop computer.
 They also have hard disk drives.
 For input, laptops have built-in keyboard and touch pad.

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CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTERS
4) Microcomputers:
 Workstations:
• A workstation is nothing but a computer like a personal computer, but
with more powerful microprocessor and large, high resolution monitor
for better quality of pictures along with large amount of memory.

 Advantages: High Resolution, Accelerated graphics cards- they are

used in video editing and animations, Powerful machines and used for
architectural or engineering design.

 Disadvantages: Workstations are costly, Not Portable.

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 APPLICATIONS OF COMPUTERS

● Word Processing ● Geology

● Internet ● Astronomy
● Digital Audio or Video Composition ● Weather Forecasting
● Desktop Publishing ● Simulation
● Government ● Education
● Traffic Control ● Online Banking
● Legal System ● Industry and Engineering
● Retail Business ● Robots
● Sports ● Decision Support Systems
● Travel and Tourism ● Expert Systems
● Hospitals
● Business and Industry
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BASIC ORGANIZATION OF A COMPUTER

A computer is an electronic device which basically performs five major

operations which includes:
1) accepts data or instructions (input)
2) stores data
3) process data
4) displays results (output) and
5) controls and co-ordinates all operations inside a computer

Data and INPUT STORAGE OUTPUT Results

instructions

CPU
CONTROL UNIT

ARITHMETIC Flow of data and instructions

LOGIC UNIT
Control exercised by control unit

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INPUT AND OUTPUT

DEVICES

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INPUT DEVICES
An input device is used to feed data and instructions into the
computer. In the absence of an input device, a computer would have

only been a display device.

INPUT DEVICES

Keyboard Pointing Hand Held Optical Audio/Visual

Devices Devices Devices Devices
Mouse Pen Bar code readers
Track Ball Touch Screen Scanners
Track Pad Joystick OCR( optical character Recognition)
OMR( Optical mark Recognition)
MICR( Magnetic Ink Character Recognition )

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KEYBOARD

With a keyboard , the user can type a document, use keystroke shortcuts, access
menu, play games and perform numerous other tasks. Most keyboards have
between 80 and 110 keys which include:
●Typing keys
●Numeric keys
●Function keys
Advantages: Easy to use and cheap
Disadvantages:
Keyboard cannot be used to draw figures
The process of moving the cursor to some other position is very slow. Mouse and
other pointing devices are more apt for this purpose

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MOUSE
● The mouse is the key input device to be used in a graphical user interface (GUI).
The users can use mouse to handle the pointer easily on the screen to perform
various functions like opening a program or file.
● With mouse, the users no longer need to memorize commands, which was
earlier a necessity when working with text-based command line environment such
as MS-DOS.
Advantages:
Easy to use; Cheap; Can be used to quickly place the cursor
anywhere on the screen; Helps to quickly and easily draw figures;
Point and click capabilities makes it unnecessary to remember certain commands
Disadvantages:
Needs extra desk space to be placed and moved easily
The ball in the mechanical mouse must be cleaned to remove dust from it

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TRACKBALL
A trackball is a pointing device which is used to control the position of the cursor
on the screen. These are usually used in notebook and laptop computers where it
is placed on the keyboard. The trackball is nothing but an upside-down mouse
that rotates in place within a socket. The user rolls the ball to position the cursor
at an appropriate position on the screen and then clicks one of the buttons to
select objects or position the cursor for text entry.
Advantages:
Trackball provides better resolution; Occupies less space
Easier to use as compared to mouse as its use involves
less hands and arms movements
Disadvantage:
The trackball chamber is often covered with dust, so it must be cleaned regularly

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TOUCHPAD
A touchpad (or track pad) is a small, flat, rectangular stationary pointing device
with sensitive surface of 1.5 or 2 inches square. The user has to slide his finger
tips across the surface of the pad to point to a specific object on the screen.
The surface translates the motion and position of user’s fingers to a relative
position on the screen. There are also buttons around the edge of the pad that
work like mouse buttons. Touchpad is widely used in laptops and is built-in on the
keyboard.

Advantages:
Occupies less space
Easier to use as compared to mouse as its use involves
less hands and arms movements
It is built-in the keyboard, so no need to carry an extra device separately

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Joystick is a cursor control device widely used in computer games and CAD/CAM
applications. It consists of a hand-held lever that pivots on one end and transmits
its coordinates to a computer. It has one or more push-buttons, called
switches, whose position can also be read by the computer.

A stylus is a pen-shaped input device used to enter information or write on the

touch screen of a phone. Stylus is a small stick that can also be used to draw
lines on a surface as input to a computer, choose an option from a menu, move
the cursor to another location on the screen, take notes and create short
messages. The stylus usually slides into a slot built into the smart phone for that
purpose.

A touch screen is a display screen which can identify the occurrence

and position of a touch inside the display region. The user can touch
the screen either by his finger or by using a stylus. These displays
can be connected to computers, laptops, PDAs, cell phones etc.
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BARCODE READERS
A barcode reader (or price scanner or point-of-sale scanner) is a hand-held input
device which is used to capture and read information stored in a barcode. A
barcode reader consists of a scanner, a decoder, and a cable used to connect the
reader with a computer.
The barcode reader merely captures and translates the barcode into numbers
and/or letters. To make use of the information captured it must be connected to a
computer for further processing. For this purpose, the barcode reader is
connected to a computer through a serial port, keyboard port, or an interface
device called a wedge.
Advantages:
Cheap
Portable
Used to read data stored in bar codes
Handy and easy to use
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IMAGE SCANNER
●It is a device that captures images, printed text, handwriting from different
sources and converts it into a digital image for computer editing and display.

● Scanners come in hand-held, feed-in, and flatbed types.

●In the flat bed scanner, the object to be scanned is placed on a glass pane and a
sensor and light moves along the pane, reflecting off the image placed on the
glass.

●A hand image scanner has to be manually moved across an object or image to

be scanned. The scanner produces light from green LEDs which highlight and
scan the image onto a computer for further processing.

●Film scanners are usually used in photography and slides. The slide or negative
film is first inserted in strips of six or less frames into the film scanner, and then
moved across a lens and censor to capture the image.

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Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
OCR is the process of converting printed materials into text or word processing
files that can be easily edited and stored. The steps involved in OCR include:
● Scanning of the text character-by-character
● Analyzing the scanned-in image to translate the character image into character
codes (ex ASCII)
Advantages:
Printed documents can be converted into text files
Advanced OCR can recognize handwritten text and convert them into computer
readable text files Printed
OCR
Computer
readable
Documents Text files of
Technolog
size 2-3KB
Disadvantages: y
per page

Scans the documents and

OCR cannot recognize all types of fonts makes a bitmap of size 50-
150KB per page

Documents that are poorly types or have strikeover cannot be recognized

Very old documents when passed through OCR may not have an exact copy of the
text file.
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OPTICAL MARK RECOGNITION
OMR is the process of electronically extracting data from marked fields, such as
checkboxes and fill-infields, on printed forms. The optical mark reader is fed with
an OMR sheet to detect the presence of a mark by measuring reflected light
levels. The OM reader interprets this pattern marks and spaces and stores the
interpreted data in computer for storage, analysis and reporting.
The error rate for OMR technology is less than 1%.
It is used for applications in which large numbers of hand-filled forms have to be
quickly processed with great accuracy, such as surveys, reply cards,
questionnaires, ballots or sheets for multiple choice questions.
Advantages:
Optical mark readers works with a very fast speed. They can read
up to 9,000 forms per hour
They are accurate machines with error rates of just 1%

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Fourth Generation (1971-1989) Microprocessors
The microprocessor started the fourth generation of computers with thousands of integrated circuits built onto a single silicon chip.

MAGNETIC INK CHARACTER READER (MICR)

● MICR is used to verify the legitimacy or originality of paper documents,

especially checks.

● MICR consists of magnetic ink printed characters which can be recognized

by high speed magnetic recognition devices .

● The printed characters provides important information (like check number,

bank routing number, checking account number and in some cases the
amount of the check) for processing to the receiving party.

● MICR is widely used to enhance security, speed up the sorting of

documents and minimize the exposure to check fraud.

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Audio Devices
Audio devices are used to either capture or create sound. They enable computers
to accept music, speech or sound affects for recording and/or editing.
Microphone and CD player are examples of two widely used audio input devices.
Microphone feeds audio input to the computer. The computer must have a sound
card to convert analog signals generated through microphone into digital data so
that it can be stored in the computer. When the user wants to hear the pre-
recorded audio input, the sound card converts the digital data into analog signals
and sends it to the speakers.
Advantages:
Audio devices can be used by people who have visual problems; It is best used in
situations where users want to avoid i/p through keyboard or mouse
Disadvantages:
Audio input devices are not suitable in noisy places; With audio input devices it is
difficult to clearly distinguish between two similar sounding words like “sea” and
“see” © Oxford University Press 2012. All rights reserved.
Video Input Devices
Video input devices are used to capture video from the outside world into the
computer.
Digital camera is used to capture images or videos. It digitizes the image or video
and stores them on a memory card. The data can then be transferred to the
computer using a cable which connects computer to the digital camera.
Web cameras also capture videos which can be transferred via internet in real
time.
Advantages:
Video input devices are very useful for applications like video conferencing
Video input devices can be used to record memorable moments in one’s life
Video input devices can be used to check security
Disadvantages:
Videos and images captured using video input devices have a very big file size
and there must be compressed before being stored on the computer.
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CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTERS
OUTPUT
Computers canDEVICES
be broadly classified into four categories based on their speed, amount of data that they can hold and price.

Any device that outputs/gives information from a computer is called an output

device.
Output devices are electromechanical devices which accept digital data from the
computer and converts them into human understandable language.
SOFT COPY DEVICES
Soft copy output devices are those output devices which produce an electronic
version of an output. For example, a file which is stored on hard disk, CD, pen
drive, etc and is displayed on the computer screen (monitor).
Features of a soft copy output include:
The output can be viewed only when the computer is on.
The user can easily edit the soft copy output
Soft copy cannot be used by people who do not have a computer
Searching data in a soft copy is easy and fast.
Electronic distribution of a soft copy is cheaper. It can be done easily and quickly
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CATHODE RAY TUBE MONITORS

●CRT monitors work by firing charged electrons at a phosphorus film. When

electron hit the phosphor coated screen, it glows thereby enabling the user to see
the output.
●In a cathode ray tube, the "cathode" is a heated filament which is placed in a
vacuum created inside a glass "tube." The "ray" is a stream of electrons which
comes out from a heated cathode into the vacuum.
●The focusing anode focuses the stream of electrons to form a tight beam which
is then accelerated by an accelerating anode.
●This tight, high-speed beam of electrons flies through the vacuum in the tube
and hits the flat screen at the other end of the tube.
●This screen is coated with phosphor, which glows when struck by the beam,
thereby displaying the picture which the user sees on the monitor.

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 CATHODE RAY TUBE MONITORS

Schematic diagram of a Cathode Ray Tube

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LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY MONITORS

● LCD monitor is a thin, flat electronic visual display that uses the light
modulating properties of liquid crystals which do not emit light directly.
●LCD screens are used in a wide range of applications ranging from computer
monitors, television, instrument panels, aircraft cockpit displays, signage, to
consumer devices like such as video players, gaming devices, clocks, watches,
calculators, and telephones.
●Liquid crystal display technology is based on blocking light. The LCD consists
of two pieces of polarizing filters (or substrates) that contain a liquid crystal
material between them. A backlight creates light which is made to pass through
the first substrate. Simultaneously, the electrical currents cause the liquid crystal
molecules to align to allow varying levels of light to pass through to the second
substrate and create the colors and images are seen on the screen.

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LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY MONITORS

Schematic diagram of a Liquid Crystal Display Monitor

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PLASMA MONITORS

●Plasma monitors are thin and flat monitors widely used in TVs and computers. The plasma
display contains two glass plates that have tiny cells filled with xenon and neon gas.

●The display electrode is covered by a magnesium oxide protective layer and is arranged in
horizontal rows along the screen while the address electrodes are arranged in vertical
columns thereby forming grid like structure.

●To ionize the gas in a particular cell, the electrodes that intersect at that cell are charged at
least thousands of times in a small fraction of a second

● An electric current begins to flow through the gas in the cell. The current creates a rapid
flow of charged particles thereby stimulating the gas atoms to release ultraviolet photons.

●When these UV photons hit a phosphor atom in the cell, one of the phosphor's electrons
jumps to a higher energy level and the atom heats up. When the electron falls back to its
normal level, it releases energy in the form of a visible light photon.
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PROJECTOR

A projector is a device which takes an image from a video source and projects it
onto a screen or other surface. These days, projectors are used for a wide range
of applications varying from home theater e systems to organizations for
projecting information and presentations onto screens large enough for rooms
filled with people to see.

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SPEAKERS

Today all business and home users demand sound capabilities and thus
different types of speakers to enable users to enjoy music, movie, or a game
and the voice will be spread through the entire room. With good quality
speakers, the voice will also be audible even to people sitting in another or
room or even to neighbors.
However, in case the user wants to enjoy loud music without disturbing the
people around him, he can use a headphone.
Another device called headset was developed to allow the users to talk and
listen at the same time, using the same device.

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HARD COPY OUTPUT DEVICES
Hard copy output devices produces a physical form of output. For example, the
content of a file printed on a paper is a form of hard copy output.

PRINTERS
Printer is a device that outputs text and graphics information obtained from the
computer and prints it on to a paper. Printers are available in the market in a
variety of size, speed, sophistication, and cost. The qualities of printer which are
of interest to users include:

Color: Colored printouts are needed for presentations or maps and other pages
where color is part of the information. They are more expensive,

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PRINTERS contd.

Memory: Most printers have a small amount of memory that can be

expanded by the user. Having more memory makes enhances the speed
of printing

Resolution: The resolution of a printer means the sharpness of text and

images on paper. It is usually expressed in dots per inch (dpi). Even the
least inexpensive printer provides sufficient resolution for most
purposes at 600 dpi.

Speed: Speed means number of pages that are printed in one minute.
While high speed printers are a little expensive, the inexpensive printers
on the other hand can print only about 3 to 6 sheets per minute. Color
printing is even slower.

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PRINTERS contd.

Impact Printer. They create characters by striking an inked ribbon against the
paper. Ex., dot-matrix printers, daisywheel printers, and most types of line printer.

Non Impact Printer: Non-impact printers are much quieter than impact printers as
their printing heads do not strike the paper. They offer better print quality, faster
printing and the ability to create prints that contain sophisticated graphics.

Non-impact printers use either solid or liquid cartridge-based ink which is either
sprayed, dripped or electro statically drawn onto the page. The main types of non-
impact printer are: inkjet, printer, laser printer and thermal printer.

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DOT MATRIX PRINTER
A dot matrix printer prints characters and images of all types as a pattern of dots.
It has a print head (or hammer) that consists of pins representing the character or
image. The print head runs back and forth, or in an up and down motion, on the
page and prints by striking an ink-soaked cloth ribbon against the paper, much
like the print mechanism on a typewriter.

Advantages
It can produce carbon copies; offers lowest printing cost per page;
widely used for bulk printing where quality of the print is not of
much importance; is cheap; When the ink is about to finish, the
printout gradually fades rather than suddenly stopping partway through a job
It can use continuous paper rather than individual sheets, making them useful for
data logging.

Disadvantages
It creates a lot of noise when the pins strike the ribbon to the paper.
It can only print lower-resolution graphics, with limited quality
It is very slow
Poor print quality

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DAISY WHEEL PRINTER

●Daisy wheel printers use an impact printing technology to generate high-quality

output comparable to typewriters but three times faster.

●The print head of a daisy wheel printer is a circular wheel, about 3 inches in
diameter with arms or spokes. The characters are embossed at the outer end of
the arms.

●To print a character, the wheel is rotated in such a way that the character to be
printed is positioned just in front of the printer ribbon.

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 ●The spoke containing the required character is then hit by a hammer
thereby striking the ribbon to leave an impression on the paper placed
behind the ribbon. Movement of all these parts is controlled by
microprocessor in the printer.

●The key benefit of using a daisy wheel printer is that the print quality is
high as the exact shape of the character hits the ribbon to leave and
impression on paper.

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LINE PRINTER

Line printer is a high speed impact printer in which one typed line is printed at a
time. The speed of a line printer usually varies from 600 to 1200 lines-per-minute
or approximately 10 to 20 pages per minute. They are widely used in datacenters
and in industrial environments. Band printer is a commonly used variant of line
printers.

Band Printer: A band printer (loop printer) is an impact printer . The set of
characters are permanently embossed on the band and this set cannot be
changed unless the band is replaced. The band itself revolves around hammers
that push the paper against the ribbon, allowing the desired character to be
produced on the paper. However, band printers cannot be used for any graphics
printing as the characters are predetermined and cannot be changed unless the
band is changed.

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Band Printer

Schematic diagram of a band printer

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INKJET PRINTERS

● In inkjet printers , the print head has several tiny nozzles, also called jets.

●As the paper moves past the print head, the nozzles spray ink onto it, forming
the characters and images.

●The dots are extremely small (usually between 50 and 60 microns in diameter)
and are positioned very precisely, with resolutions of up to 1440x720 dots per
inch (dpi).

●There is usually one black ink cartridge and one so-called color cartridge
containing ink in primary pigments (cyan, magenta, and yellow).

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INKJET PRINTERS Contd.

●While inkjet printers are cheaper than laser printers, they are more expensive
to maintain. The cartridges of inkjet printers have to be changed more
frequently and the special coated paper required to produce high-quality output
is very expensive. So the cost per page of inkjet printers becomes ten times
more expensive than laser printers. Therefore, inkjet printers are not well-suited
for high-volume print jobs.

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LASER PRINTER

●It is a non-impact printer that works at a very high speed and produces high
quality text and graphics.

● It uses the photocopier technology. When a document is sent to the printer, a

laser beam "draws" the document on a drum (which is coated with a photo-
conductive material) using electrical charges.

● After the drum is charged, it is rolled in toner (a dry powder type of ink).

● The toner sticks to the charged image on the drum.

● The toner is transferred onto a piece of paper and fused to the paper with heat
and pressure.

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LASER PRINTER Contd.

● After the document is printed, the electrical charge is removed from the
drum and the excess toner is collected.
● While color laser printers are also available in the market but users
prefer only monochrome printers because a color laser printer is up to 10
times more expensive than a monochrome laser printer.

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PLOTTERS
A plotter is used to print vector graphics with a high print quality. They are widely
used to draw maps, in scientific applications and in applications like CAD, CAM
and CAE
A drum plotter is used to draw graphics on a paper that is wrapped around a
drum. It works by rotating the drum back and forth to produce vertical motion.
The pen which is mounted on a carriage is moved across the width of the paper.
Hence, the vertical movement of the paper and the horizontal movement of the
pen create the required design under the control of the computer.

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In a flatbed plotter, the paper is spread on the flat rectangular surface of the
plotter and the pen is moved over it. Flatbed plotters are less expensive and
used in many smaller computing systems. In this type of plotter, the paper is
not moved rather plotting is done by moving an arm that moves a pen over
paper.

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