Input/Output Devices

WHAT IS INPUT
Input is any data and instructions entered into the memory of a computer.
An input device is any hardware component that allows users to enter data and instructions
into a computer. The following pages discuss a variety of input devices.

KEYBOARD AND POINTING DEVICES

Two of the more widely used input devices are the keyboard and the mouse. Most computers
include a keyboard or keyboarding capabilities.
The mouse is a pointing device because it allows a user to control a pointer on the screen. In a
graphical user interface, a pointer is a small symbol on the screen whose location and shape
change as a user moves a pointing device. A pointing device can select text, graphics, and other
objects; and click buttons, icons, links, and menu commands.

The Keyboard
Many people use a keyboard as one of their input devices. A keyboard is an input device that
contains keys users press to enter data and instructions into a computer.
All computer keyboards have a typing area that includes the letters of the alphabet, numbers,
punctuation marks, and other basic keys. Many desktop computer keyboards also have a
numeric keypad on the right side of the keyboard.
Most of today’s desktop computer keyboards are enhanced keyboards. An enhanced keyboard
has twelve or more function keys along the top and a set of arrow and additional keys between
the typing area and the numeric keypad.
Function keys are special keys programmed to issue commands to a computer. Many keyboards
also have a WINDOWS key(s) and an APPLICATION key. When pressed, the WINDOWS key
displays the Windows Start menu, and the APPLICATION key displays an item’s shortcut menu.
Keyboards with media control buttons allow you to run and control your media player program,
access the computer’s CD/DVD drive, and adjust speaker volume. Internet controls allow you to
open an e-mail program, start a Web browser, and search the Internet.
A wireless keyboard, or cordless keyboard, is a battery-powered device that transmits data
using wireless technology, such as radio waves or infrared light waves. Wireless keyboards
often communicate with a receiver attached to a port on the system unit.

Mouse
A mouse is a pointing device that fits comfortably under the palm of your hand. With a mouse,
users control the movement of the pointer. As you move a mouse, the pointer on the screen
also moves. Generally, you use the mouse to move the pointer on the screen to an object such
as a button, a menu, an icon, a link, or text. Then, you press a mouse button to perform a
certain action associated with that object.
A mechanical mouse, which was the first type of mouse used with personal computers, has a
rubber or metal ball on its underside.
Most computer users today have some type of optical mouse, which has no moving mechanical
parts inside. Instead, an optical mouse uses devices that emit and sense light to detect the
mouse’s movement.
Some use optical sensors, and others use a laser. The latter type often is referred to as a laser
mouse, which is more expensive than the former.
A mouse connects to a computer in several ways. Many types connect with a cable that
attaches to a serial port, mouse port, or USB port on the system unit. A wireless mouse, or
cordless mouse, is a battery-powered device that transmits data using wireless technology,
such as radio waves or infrared light waves.

Trackball
A trackball is a stationary pointing device with a ball on its top or side. To move the pointer
using a trackball, you rotate the ball with your thumb, fingers, or the palm of your hand. In
addition to the ball, a trackball usually has one or more buttons that work just like mouse
buttons.

Touchpad
A touchpad is a small, flat, rectangular pointing device that is sensitive to pressure and motion.
To move the pointer using a touchpad, slide your fingertip across the surface of the pad. Some
touchpads have one or more buttons around the edge of the pad that work like mouse buttons.
On most touchpads, you also can tap the pad’s surface to imitate mouse operations such as
clicking. Touchpads are found most often on notebook computers.

Pointing Stick
A pointing stick is a pressure-sensitive pointing device shaped like a pencil eraser that is
positioned between keys on a keyboard. To move the pointer using a pointing stick, you push
the pointing stick with a finger. The pointer on the screen moves in the direction you push the
pointing stick. By pressing buttons below the keyboard, users can click and perform other
mouse-type operations with a pointing stick.
Light Pen
A light pen is a handheld input device that can detect the presence of light. To select objects on
the screen, a user presses the light pen against the surface of the screen or points the light pen
at the screen and then presses a button on the pen.
Touch Screen
A touch screen is a touch-sensitive display device. Users can interact with these devices by
touching areas of the screen. Because touch screens require a lot of arm movements, you do
not enter large amounts of data using a touch screen. Instead, users touch words, pictures,
numbers, letters, or locations identified on the screen.

Pen Input
Mobile users often enter data and instructions with a pen-type device. With pen input, users
write, draw, and tap on a flat surface to enter input. The surface may be a monitor, a screen, a
special type of paper, or a graphics tablet. Two devices used for pen input are the stylus and
digital pen. A stylus is a small metal or plastic device that looks like a tiny ink pen but uses
pressure instead of ink. A digital pen, which is slightly larger than a stylus, is available in two
forms: some are pressure sensitive; others have built-in digital cameras.
Digital pens that have built-in digital cameras work differently from pressure sensitive digital
pens.

GAMING AND MEDIA PLAYER CONTROLLERS

Gamepads
Joysticks and Wheels
Light Guns
Dance Pads
Motion-Sensing Game Controllers
Touch-Sensitive Pads

OTHER TYPES OF INPUT

Voice Input
Voice input is the process of entering input by speaking into a microphone. Uses of voice input
include instant messaging that supports voice conversations, chat rooms that support voice
chats, Internet telephony, and voice recognition.
Voice recognition, also called speech recognition, is the computer’s capability of distinguishing
spoken words. Voice recognition programs recognize a vocabulary of preprogrammed words.
AUDIO INPUT Voice input is part of a larger category of input called audio input. Audio input is
the process of entering any sound into the computer such as speech, music, and sound effects.

Input for PDAs, Smart Phones, and Tablet PCs

Mobile devices, such as the PDA and smart phone, and mobile computers, such as the
Tablet PC, offer convenience for the mobile user.
PDAS A user enters data and instructions into a PDA in many ways. PDAs ship with a basic
stylus, which is the primary input device. With the stylus, you enter data in two ways: using an
on-screen keyboard or using handwriting recognition software.
For users who prefer typing to handwriting, some PDAs have a built-in mini keyboard. For PDAs

SMART PHONES Users enter data and instructions into a smart phone using a variety of
techniques. You can talk directly into the smart phone’s microphone or into a Bluetooth
headset that wirelessly communicates with the smart phone to receive audio. Some smart
phones have digital cameras that take pictures and touch-sensitive pads that enable you to
interact with media, such as music and pictures. Most smart phones include
PDA capabilities. Thus, input devices used with PDAs typically also are available for smart
phones.

TABLET PCS The primary input device for a Tablet PC is a pressure-sensitive digital pen, which
allows users to write on the device’s screen. Both the slate and convertible designs of a Tablet
PC provide a means for keyboard input.
To access peripherals at their home or office, users can slide their Tablet PC in a docking
station. A docking station, which is an external device that attaches to a mobile computer,
contains a power connection and provides connections to peripherals.

Digital Cameras
A digital camera allows users to take pictures and store the photographed images digitally,
instead of on traditional film. Most digital cameras have some amount of internal flash memory
to store images. Many also can store additional images on mobile storage media, including a
flash memory card, memory stick, and mini-CD/DVD.
Digital cameras typically allow users to review, and sometimes edit, images while they are in
the camera. Some digital cameras can connect to or communicate wirelessly with a printer,
allowing users to print or view images directly from the camera.

One factor that affects the quality of a digital camera is its resolution. Resolution is the number
of horizontal and vertical pixels in a display device. A digital camera’s resolution is defined in
pixels. A pixel (short for picture element) is the smallest element in an electronic image. The
greater the number of pixels the camera uses to capture an image, the better the quality of the
image. Digital camera resolutions range from about 3 million to more than 16 million pixels
(MP).
For additional information about digital cameras, read the Digital Imaging and Video
Technology feature that follows this chapter.

Video Input
Video input is the process of capturing full-motion images and storing them on a computer’s
storage medium such as a hard disk or DVD. Some video devices use analog video signals. A
digital video (DV) camera, by contrast, records video as digital signals instead of analog signals.
Many DV cameras have the capability of capturing still frames, as well as motion. To transfer
recorded images to a hard disk or CD or DVD, users connect DV cameras directly to a USB port
or a FireWire port on the system unit. After saving the video on a storage medium, such as a
hard disk or DVD, you can play it or edit it using video editing software on a computer.

WEB CAMS
Any video camera that displays its output on a Web page. A Web cam attracts Web site visitors
by showing images that change regularly. Home or small business users might use Web cams to
show a work in progress, weather and traffic information, employees at work, photographs of a
vacation, and countless other images.

VIDEO CONFERENCING
Video Conferencing is a meeting between two or more geographically separated people who
use a network or the Internet to transmit audio and video data. To participate in a video
conference, you need video conferencing software along with a microphone, speakers, and a
video camera attached to a computer.
Scanners and Reading Devices
Some input devices save users time by capturing data directly from a source document, which is
the original form of the data. Examples of source documents include time cards, order forms,
invoices, paychecks, advertisements, brochures, photographs, inventory tags, or any other
document that contains data to be processed.
Devices that can capture data directly from a source document include optical scanners, optical
readers, bar code readers, RFID readers, magnetic stripe card readers, and magnetic-ink
character recognition readers.

OPTICAL SCANNERS
An optical scanner, usually called a scanner, is a light-sensing input device that reads printed
text and graphics and then translates the results into a form the computer can process. A
flatbed scanner works in a manner similar to a copy machine except it creates a file of the
document in memory instead of a paper copy.
Many scanners include OCR (optical character recognition) software, which can read and
convert text documents into electronic files. OCR software converts a scanned image into a text
file that can be edited, for example, with a word processing program.
OPTICAL READERS An optical reader is a device that uses a light source to read characters,
marks, and codes and then converts them into digital data that a computer can process. Two
technologies used by optical readers are optical character recognition and optical mark
recognition.
• Optical character recognition (OCR) involves reading typewritten, computer-printed, or hand-
printed characters from ordinary documents and translating the images into a form the
computer can process. OCR devices range from large machines that can read thousands of
documents per minute to handheld wands that read one document at a time.
• Optical mark recognition (OMR) devices read hand-drawn marks such as small circles or
rectangles. A person places these marks on a form, such as a test, survey, or questionnaire
answer sheet.

BAR CODE READERS

A bar code reader, also called a bar code scanner, is an optical reader that uses laser beams to
read bar codes. A bar code is an identification code that consists either of a set of vertical lines
and spaces of different widths or a two-dimensional pattern of dots, squares, and other images.

RFID READERS
RFID (radio frequency identification) is a technology that uses radio signals to communicate
with a tag placed in or attached to an object, an animal, or a person. RFID tags, which contain a
memory chip and an antenna, are available in many shapes and sizes. An RFID reader reads
information on the tag via radio waves. RFID readers can be handheld devices or mounted in a
stationary object such as a doorway.
MAGNETIC STRIPE CARD READERS
A magnetic stripe card reader, often called a mag stripe reader, reads the magnetic stripe on
the back of credit cards, entertainment cards, bank cards, and other similar cards. The stripe
contains information identifying you and the card issuer.

MICR READERS
MICR (magnetic-ink character recognition) devices read text printed with magnetized ink. An
MICR reader converts MICR characters into a form the computer can process. The banking
industry almost exclusively uses MICR for check processing.
Each check in your checkbook has pre-coded MICR characters beginning at the lower-left edge.

Terminals
A terminal consists of a keyboard, a monitor, a video card, and memory. These components
often are housed in a single unit. Users enter data and instructions into a terminal and then
transmit some or all of the data over a network to a host computer.
• Point-of-Sale (POS) Terminals — The location in a retail or grocery store where a consumer
pays for goods or services is the point of sale (POS). Most retail stores use a POS terminal to
record purchases, process credit or debit cards, and update inventory.
• Automated Teller Machines — An automated teller machine (ATM) is a self-service banking
machine that connects to a host computer through a network. Banks place ATMs in convenient
locations, including grocery stores, convenience stores, retail outlets, shopping malls, and gas
stations.

Biometric Input
Biometrics is the technology of authenticating a person’s identity by verifying a personal
characteristic. Biometric devices grant users access to programs, systems, or rooms by
analyzing some physiological (related to physical or chemical activities in the body) or
behavioral characteristic.
Examples include fingerprints, hand geometry, facial features, voice, signatures, and eye
patterns.
WHAT IS OUTPUT
Output is data that has been processed into a useful form. That is, computers process data
(input) into information (output). Users view or watch output on a screen, print it, or hear it
through speakers, headphones, or earphones. While working with a computer, a user
encounters four basic categories of output: text, graphics, audio, and video.
An output device is any hardware component that conveys information to one or more people.
Commonly used output devices include display devices; printers; speakers, headphones, and
earphones; fax machines and fax modems; multifunction peripherals; and data projectors.

DISPLAY DEVICES
A display device is an output device that visually conveys text, graphics, and video information.
Desktop computers typically use a monitor as their display device. A monitor is a display device
that is packaged as a separate peripheral.

LCD Monitors and Screens

An LCD monitor, also called a flat panel monitor, is a desktop monitor that uses a liquid crystal
display to produce images. These monitors produce sharp, flicker free images. LCD monitors
have a small footprint; that is, they do not take up much desk space.

Mobile computers, such as notebook computers and Tablet PCs, and mobile devices, such as
ultra-personal computers, portable media players, smart phones, and PDAs, often have built-in
LCD screens.

LCD TECHNOLOGY AND QUALITY A liquid crystal display (LCD) uses a liquid compound to
present information on a display device. Computer LCDs typically contain fluorescent tubes that
emit light waves toward the liquid-crystal cells, which are sandwiched between two sheets of
material.
The quality of an LCD monitor or LCD screen depends primarily on its resolution, response time,
brightness, dot pitch, and contrast ratio.
• Resolution is the number of horizontal and vertical pixels in a display device. For example, a
monitor that has a 1600 3 1200 resolution displays up to 1600 pixels per horizontal row and
1200 pixels per vertical row, for a total of 1,920,000 pixels to create a screen image. A higher
resolution uses a greater number of pixels and thus provides a smoother, sharper, and clearer
image. As the resolution increases, however, some items on the screen appear smaller.
• Response time of an LCD monitor or screen is the time in milliseconds (ms) that it takes to
turn a pixel on or off. LCD monitors’ and screens’ response times range from 5 to 16 ms. The
lower the number, the faster the response time.
• Brightness of an LCD monitor or LCD screen is measured in nits. A nit is a unit of visible light
intensity. The higher the nits, the brighter the images.
• Dot pitch, sometimes called pixel pitch, is the distance in millimeters between pixels on a
display device. Average dot pitch on LCD monitors and screens should be .28 mm or lower.

Plasma Monitors
A plasma monitor is a display device that uses gas plasma technology, which sandwiches a layer
of gas between two glass plates.
Plasma monitors offer larger screen sizes and richer colors than LCD monitors but are more
expensive. Like LCD monitors, plasma monitors can hang directly on a wall.

CRT Monitors
A CRT monitor is a desktop monitor that contains a cathode-ray tube. A cathode-ray tube (CRT)
is a large, sealed glass tube. The front of the tube is the screen.

PRINTERS
A printer is an output device that produces text and graphics on a physical medium such as
paper or transparency film. Many different printers exist with varying speeds, capabilities, and
printing methods.

Nonimpact Printers
A nonimpact printer forms characters and graphics on a piece of paper without actually striking
the paper. Some nonimpact printers spray ink, while others use heat or pressure to create
images.

Ink-Jet Printers
An ink-jet printer is a type of nonimpact printer that forms characters and graphics by spraying
tiny drops of liquid ink onto a piece of paper. Ink-jet printers have become a popular type of
color printer for use in the home. Ink-jet printers produce text and graphics in both black-and-
white and color on a variety of paper types. A reasonable quality ink-jet printer costs less than
$100.

Photo Printers
A photo printer is a color printer that produces photo-lab-quality pictures. Others print up to
letter size, legal size, or even larger. Many photo printers use ink-jet technology.
With models that can print letter-sized documents, users connect the photo printer to their
computer and use it for all their printing needs.
Most photo printers are PictBridge enabled, so you can print pictures without a computer.
PictBridge is a standard technology that allows you to print pictures directly from a digital
camera by connecting a cable from the digital camera to a USB port on the printer.

Laser Printers
A laser printer is a high-speed, high-quality nonimpact printer. Laser printers for personal
computers ordinarily use individual sheets of paper stored in one or more removable trays that
slide in the printer case.

Thermal Printers
A thermal printer generates images by pushing electrically heated pins against heat-sensitive
paper. Basic thermal printers are inexpensive, but the print quality is low and the images tend
to fade over time. Self-service gas pumps often print gas receipts using a built-in lower-quality
thermal printer.
Mobile Printers
A mobile printer is a small, lightweight, battery-powered printer that allows a mobile user to
print from a notebook computer, Tablet PC, PDA, or smart phone while traveling. Barely wider
than the paper on which they print, mobile printers fit easily in a briefcase alongside a
notebook computer. Mobile printers mainly use ink-jet or thermal technology.

Plotters and Large-Format Printers

Plotters are sophisticated printers used to produce high-quality drawings such as blueprints,
maps, and circuit diagrams. These printers are used in specialized fields such as engineering and
drafting and usually are very costly.
Using ink-jet printer technology, but on a much larger scale, a large-format printer creates
photorealistic-quality color prints. Graphic artists use these high-cost, high-performance
printers for signs, posters, and other professional quality displays.

OTHER OUTPUT DEVICES

In addition to monitors and printers, other output devices are available for specific uses and
applications. These include speakers, headphones, and earphones; fax machines and fax
modems; multifunction peripherals; and data projectors.

Speakers, Headphones, and Earphones

An audio output device is a component of a computer that produces music, speech, or other
sounds, such as beeps. Three commonly used audio output devices are speakers, headphones,
and earphones.
Most personal computers have a small internal speaker that usually emits only low-quality
sound.
Thus, many personal computer users add surround sound speakers to their computers to
generate a higher-quality sound. Speakers typically have tone and volume controls, allowing
users to adjust settings.

Fax Machines and Fax Modems

A fax machine is a device that codes and encodes documents so they can be transmitted over
telephone lines. The documents can contain text, drawings, or photographs, or can be
handwritten. The term fax refers to a document that you send or receive via a fax machine.

Multifunction Peripherals
A multifunction peripheral is a single device that looks like a copy machine but provides the
functionality of a printer, scanner, copy machine, and perhaps a fax machine. Some use color
ink-jet printer technology, while others include a black and white laser printer. An advantage of
these devices is they are significantly less expensive than if you purchase each device
separately.

Data Projectors
A data projector is a device that takes the text and images displaying on a computer screen and
projects them on a larger screen so an audience can see the image clearly. Some data projector
are large devices that attach to a ceiling or wall in an auditorium. Others, designed for the
mobile user, are small portable devices that can be transported easily.