NAME:……………………………………………………………………………………….……....

ADDRESS: ………………………………………………………...…………………………….…

EMAIL ADDRESS: ………………………………………………………………………………...

CONTACT: ……………………………………………………………...………………….…..…..
 CONTENTS

• IMPUT DEVICES AND EXAMPLES …………………………………………………………. 2

• KEY BOARD
a) Definition and examples
b) What you need to know about input device……………………………………………………….. 2
c) Types of keyboard ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 2
d) Keyboard layout ………………………………………………………………………...…………….. 3
e) Key types ……………………………………………………………………………….………………… 4
f) Function keys ……………………………………………………………………………………….………… 4
g) Shortcut keys …………………………………………………………………………………….…………… 5

• POINTING DEVICES

h) Based on rolling a ball ………………………………………………...…………………..……….. 6

i) Based on touching a surface ………….…………………………………………………………...…….. 7
j) Based on moving stick ……………………………………………………………..………………. 7

• IMAGING AND VIDEO IMPUTING DEVICES

k) Digital camera ………………………………………………………………………………………...……….. 8

l) Webcam ………………………………………………………………………………….……………..………… 8
m) Optical scanner ……………………………………………………………………………..………………… 8
n) 3D scanner …….………………………………………………………………………………..……………….. 9
o) Fingerprint scanner ……………………………………………………………………...………………….. 9
p) Barcode reader ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 9

• AUDIO IMPUT DEVICES

q) Microphone ………………………………………..…………………………………………………………… 10
r) MIDI keyboard ………………………………………..………………………………………...……………. 10
s)
INPUT DEVICES
A device and hardware equipment that used to provide data and control signals
allows the user to put data (information) into the computer.
Without any input devices, a computer would only be a display device and not allow users
to interact with it.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT INPUT DEVICE

1. An input device is any hardware device which enables the user to enter data and
instructions into a computer.
2. An input device can send data to another device but it cannot receive data from
another device.
3. Input devices are necessary for a computer to receive commands from its users
and data to process.
EXAMPLES OF INPUT DEVICE

• Keyboard • Touchscreen

• Mouse • Microphone

• Scanner • Graphic table

KEYBOARD
One of the primary input devices used with a computer is called keyboard. It is a text
base input device that allows the user to input alphabets, numbers and other
characters. It consists of a set of keys mounted on a board
The keyboard looks similar to the keyboard of a typewriter, with some additional keys.

1
ALPHANUMERIC KEYPAD:
It consists of keys for English alphabets, 0 to 9 numbers, and special characters like + −
/ * ( ) etc.
FUNCTION KEYS:
There are twelve function keys labeled F1, F2, F3… F12. The functions assigned to these
keys differ from one software package to another. These keys are also user
programmable keys.
SPECIAL-FUNCTION KEYS:
These keys have special functions assigned to them and can be used only for those
specific purposes. Functions of some of the important keys are defined below.

THE ENTER KEY:

Is located one in the alphanumeric keys and the other one is in the numeric keys. When
one worked something on their computer and wanted to do something with their work,
pressing the enter key would do the command they ordered. Another function is to create
a space for next paragraph. When one typed and finished typing a paragraph and they
wanted to have a second paragraph, they could press enter and it would do spacing.
SPACEBAR:
It is used to enter a space at the current cursor location.
BACKSPACE:
This key is used to move the cursor one position to the left and also delete the character
in that position.
DELETE:
It is used to delete the character at the cursor position.
INSERT:
Insert key is used to toggle between insert and overwrite mode during data entry. Shift:
This key is used to type capital letters when pressed along with an alphabet key. Also
used to type the special characters located on the upper-side of a key that has two
characters defined on the same key.
CAPS LOCK:
Cap Lock is used to toggle between the capital lock features. When ‘on’, it locks the
alphanumeric keypad for capital letters input only.

2
TAB:
Tab is used to move the cursor to the next tab position defined in the document. Also, it
is used to insert indentation into a document.
CTRL:
Control key is used in conjunction with other keys to provide additional functionality on
the keyboard.
ALT:
Also like the control key, Alt key is always used in combination with other keys to
perform specific tasks.

ESC:

was part of the standard keyboard of the Teletype Model 33 (introduced in 1964 and
used with many early minicomputers) The DEC VT50, introduced July 1974, also had an
Esc key. The TECO text editor (ca 1963) and its descendant Emacs (ca 1985) use the Esc
key extensively.

Historically it also served as a type of shift key, such that one or more following
characters were interpreted differently, hence the term escape sequence, which refers
to a series of characters, usually preceded by the escape character
NUMERIC KEYPAD:
Numeric keypad is located on the right side of the keyboard and consists of keys having
numbers (0 to 9) and mathematical operators (+ − * /) defined on them. This keypad is
provided to support quick entry for numeric data.
CURSOR MOVEMENT KEYS:
These are arrow keys and are used to move the cursor in the direction indicated by the
arrow (up, down, left, right).

SHIFT KEY

Shift key: when one presses shift and a letter, it will capitalize the letter pressed with the
shift key. Another use is to type more symbols than appear to be available, for instance
the apostrophe key is accompanied with a quotation mark on the top. If one wants to type
the quotation mark but pressed that key alone, the symbol that would appear would be
the apostrophe. The quotation mark will only appear if both the required key and the
Shift key are pressed.

3
MENU KEY

The Menu key or Application key is a key found on Windows-oriented computer

keyboards. It is used to launch a context menu with the keyboard rather than with the
usual right mouse button. The key's symbol is usually a small icon depicting a cursor
hovering above a menu. On some Samsung keyboards the cursor in the icon is not
present, showing the menu only. This key was created at the same time as the Windows
key. This key is normally used when the right mouse button is not present on the mouse.
Some Windows public terminals do not have a Menu key on their keyboard to prevent
users from right-clicking (however, in many Windows applications, a similar
functionality can be invoked with the Shift+F10 keyboard shortcut).
EXAMPLE OF A KEYBOARD
TYPES OF KEYBOARD

• Standard Keyboard • Gaming and Multimedia Keyboard

• Laptop Keyboard • Thumb-sized Keyboard

• Foldable Keyboard • Virtual Keyboard

STANDARD KEYBOARD
Desktop computer keyboards, such as the 101-key US traditional keyboards or the 104-
key Windows keyboards, include alphabetic characters, punctuation symbols, numbers
and a variety of function keys.

4
LAPTOP KEYBOARD
The laptop computer keyboard is a small version of the typical QWERTY keyboard.
A typical laptop has the same keyboard type as a normal keyboard, except for the fact
that most laptop keyboards condense the symbols into fewer buttons to accommodate
less space.

FOLDABLE KEYBOARD
Foldable keyboards are extremely good for travelling.
Users can simply roll them up and then unroll them when they need them again.

5
GAMING AND MULTIMEDIA KEYBOARD
The gaming and multimedia keyboards are designed for the convenience of the users
and these types of keyboards provide the required controls on the keyboards like back
lighting.

THUMB-SIZED KEYBOARD
These are small external keyboards that have been introduced for devices without a
built-in keyboard, such as PDAs, and smartphones. Small keyboards are also useful
where there is a limited workspace.

6
VIRTUAL KEYBOARD
The virtual keyboards are not actually physical keyboards, but they are simulated using
a software. They are referring as to touch -screen.

KEYBOARD LAYOUTS

• QWERTY • AZERTY

• QWERTZ • DVORAK
QWERTY: The common layout
This QWERTY keyboard arrangement has been used for nearly a century. The keyboard
arrangement provided as standard on most keyboards is the QWERTY arrangement,
named for the six letters beginning the row at the top left of the keyboard. This
arrangement was chosen intentionally to slow expert typists, since those who typed too
fast would cause the keys on a mechanical typewriter to jam. Slowing down the typist
was accomplished by scattering the most used around the keyboard, making frequently
used combinations of letters awkward and slower to type

7
QWERTZ: Used in Germany, Hungary and Czech Republic

DVORAK Simplified Keyboard (DSK) arrangement, designed in 1932 by August Dvorak, is

the result of extensive ergonomic studies. Dvorak noted that with the QWERTY keyboard
arrangement, typists used the weakest fourth and fifth fingers of their left hand a large
proportion of the time. Thus, Dvorak rearranged the keyboard so that the five more
frequently used vowels (a, o, e, u, and i) and the five most frequently used consonants (d,
h, t, n, and s) were positioned on the home row where the fingers of the left and right
hands rest, respectively Thus, 70 percent of the typing is done on the home row. He then
placed the next most frequently used characters in the row above the home row and the
least frequently used characters in the row below the home row. This resulted in a
reduction of finger movement of approximately 80 percent and overall, an increase in
productivity of nearly 40 percent.

Expert typists and word processors generally agree that using the Dvorak arrangement
increases productivity while simultaneously decreasing fatigue. The world's fastest
typing speed, nearly 200 words per minute, was achieved on a Dvorak keyboard.
Despite these improvements the QWERTY keyboard arrangements is still the most
common because of the difficulty of overcoming inertia and retraining.

8
In the meanwhile, microcomputer manufacturers and software vendors are producing
software that will convert your keyboard from QWERTY to Dvorak, and back again at
will. To date, larger computer systems employ the traditional QWERTY arrangement
only. DVORAK: Alternative for QWERTY. Dvorak layout uses less finger motion,
increases typing rate, and reduces errors compared to the standard QWERTY
AZERTY: It is used by most French speakers based in Europe

KEY TYPES
ALPHANUMERIC KEYPAD: It consists of keys for English alphabets, 0 to 9 numbers,
and special characters like + − / * ( ) etc.
FUNCTION KEYS: There are twelve function keys labeled F1, F2, F3… F12. The
functions
assigned to these keys differ from one software package to another. These keys are also
user programmable keys.
SPECIAL-FUNCTION KEYS: These keys have special functions assigned to them and can
be used only for those specific purposes. Functions of some of the important keys are
defined below.

ENTER KEY

The Enter key is located: One in the alphanumeric keys and the other one is in the
numeric keys. When one worked something on their computer and wanted to do
something with their work, pressing the enter key would do the command they ordered.
Another function is to create a space for next paragraph. When one typed and finished
typing a paragraph and they wanted to have a second paragraph, they could press enter
and it would do spacing.
9
SPACEBAR:
It is used to enter a space at the current cursor location.
BACKSPACE:
This key is used to move the cursor one position to the left and also delete the character
in that position.
DELETE:
It is used to delete the character at the cursor position.

INSERT:
Insert key is used to toggle between insert and overwrite mode during data entry.

SHIFT KEY

Shift key: when one presses shift and a letter, it will capitalize the letter pressed with the
shift key. Another use is to type more symbols than appear to be available, for instance
the apostrophe key is accompanied with a quotation mark on the top. If one wants to type
the quotation mark but pressed that key alone, the symbol that would appear would be
the apostrophe. The quotation mark will only appear if both the required key and the
Shift key are pressed.
MENU KEY
The Menu key or Application key is a key found on Windows-oriented computer
keyboards. It is used to launch a context menu with the keyboard rather than with the
usual right mouse button. The key's symbol is usually a small icon depicting a cursor
hovering above a menu. On some Samsung keyboards the cursor in the icon is not
present, showing the menu only. This key was created at the same time as the Windows
key. This key is normally used when the right mouse button is not present on the mouse.
Some Windows public terminals do not have a Menu key on their keyboard to prevent
users from right-clicking (however, in many Windows applications, a similar
functionality can be invoked with the Shift+F10 keyboard shortcut).
CAPS LOCK:
Cap Lock is used to toggle between the capital lock features. When ‘on’, it locks the
alphanumeric keypad for capital letters input only.
TAB:
Tab is used to move the cursor to the next tab position defined in the document. Also, it
is used to insert indentation into a document.

10
CTRL:
Control key is used in conjunction with other keys to provide additional functionality on
the keyboard.
ALT: Also like the control key, Alt key is always used in combination with other keys to
perform specific tasks.

ESC:

was part of the standard keyboard of the Teletype Model 33 (introduced in 1964 and
used with many early minicomputers) The DEC VT50, introduced July 1974, also had an
Esc key. The TECO text editor (ca 1963) and its descendant Emacs (ca 1985) use the Esc
key extensively.

Historically it also served as a type of shift key, such that one or more following
characters were interpreted differently, hence the term escape sequence, which refers
to a series of characters, usually preceded by the escape character
NUMERIC KEYPAD:
Numeric keypad is located on the right side of the keyboard and consists of keys having
numbers (0 to 9) and mathematical operators (+ − * /) defined on them. This keypad is
provided to support quick entry for numeric data.

11
 KEYBOARD SHORTCUT KEYS
Shortcut Keys Description
Alt + F File menu options in current program.
Alt + E Edit options in current program
F1 Universal Help in almost every Windows program.
Ctrl + A Select all text in a range.
Ctrl + X Cut selected item.
Shift + Del Cut selected item.
Ctrl + C Copy selected item.
Ctrl + Ins Copy selected item
Ctrl + V Paste
Shift + Ins Paste
Ctrl + P Print the current page or document.
Home Goes to beginning of current line.
Ctrl + Home Goes to beginning of document.
End Goes to end of current line.
Ctrl + End Goes to end of document.
Shift + Home Highlights from current position to beginning of line.
Shift + End Highlights from current position to end of line.
Ctrl + Left arrow Moves one word to the left at a time.
Ctrl + Right arrow Moves one word to the right at a time.

12
POINTING DEVICES
A pointing device is a hardware input device that allows the user to move the mouse
pointer to select items on a display screen.
TYPES OF POINTING DEVICE:
Based on rolling a ball E.g. Mouse, Trackball
Based on touching a surface E.g. Touch Pad, Graphic Tablet, Touch Screen, Light Pen
and Stylus. Based on moving stick E.g. Joystick, and Game Pad

MOUSE:
The mouse is a small device used to point to a particular place on the screen and select
in order to perform one or more actions. It can be used to select menu commands, size
windows, start programs etc.
The most conventional kind of mouse has two buttons on top: the left one being used
most frequently.

MOUSE ACTIONS
LEFT CLICK: Used to select an item.
Double Click: Used to start a program or open a file.

Right Click: Usually used to display a set of commands.

Drag and Drop: It allows you to select and move an item from one location to another.
To achieve this place the cursor over an item on the screen, click the left mouse button
and while holding the button down move the cursor to where you want to place the
item, and then release it.

13
TYPE OF MOUSE
MECHANICAL MOUSE : Has a rubber or metal ball on its underside that can roll in all
directions.

OPTICAL MOUSE:
Uses a laser to detect the mouse's movement.

14
TRACKBALL:
A trackball is a mouse lying on its back. To move the pointer, you rotate the ball with
your thumb, your fingers, or the palm of your hand. It does not require much space to
use it

TOUCH PAD:
A small, touch-sensitive pad used as a pointing device on some portable computers.
By moving a finger or other object along the pad, you can move the pointer on the
display screen.

GRAPHIC TABLET:
A graphics tablet (or digitizer, digitizing tablet, graphics pad, drawing tablet) is a
computer input device that allows one to hand draw images and graphics, similar to the
way one draws images with a pencil and paper.

15
TOUCH SCREEN:
A touchscreen is an electronic visual display that can detect the presence and location
of a touch within the display area.
The term generally refers to touching the display of the device with a finger or hand.
LIGHT PEN:
A light pen is a computer input device in the form of a light sensitive wand used in
conjunction with a computer's CRT display.
It is a pen shaped device used to select objects on a display screen. It is quite like the
mouse (in its functionality) but uses a light pen to move the pointer and select any
object on the screen by pointing to the object. Users of Computer Aided Design (CAD)
applications commonly use the light pens to directly draw on screen
It allows the user to point to displayed objects or draw on the screen in a similar way to
a touchscreen but with greater positional accuracy.

16
STYLUS:
A stylus is a small pen-shaped instrument that is used to input commands to a
computer screen, mobile device or graphics tablet.

JOYSTICK:
The joystick is a vertical stick which moves the graphic cursor in a direction the stick is
moved. It typically has a button on top that is used to select the option pointed by the
cursor. Joystick is used as an input device primarily used with video games, training
simulators and controlling robots.

A joystick allows an individual to move an object in a game such as navigating a plane

in a flight simulator.

GAME PAD:
A gamepad, game controller, joypad, or video game controller is a peripheral device
designed to be connected to a computer or console gaming system.
It has multiple buttons and may have one or two mini joysticks.

17
IMAGING AND VIDEO INPUT DEVICES
Used to digitize images or video from the outside world into the computer.
Examples:

❖ Digital camera ❖ Optical ❖ Fingerprint scanner

scanner

❖ Webcam ❖ 3D scanner ❖ Barcode reader

DIGITAL CAMERA:
A camera that stores the pictures or video it takes in electronic format instead of to film.
Digital cameras have become the camera solution for most users today as the quality of
the picture they take has greatly improved and as the price has decreased.
A digital camera can store many more pictures than an ordinary camera. Pictures taken
using a digital camera are stored inside its memory and can be transferred to a computer
by connecting the camera to it. A digital camera takes pictures by converting the light
passing through the lens at the front into a digital image.

WEBCAM:
A webcam is a hardware camera connected to a computer mostly on laptop that allows
anyone connected to the Internet to view either still pictures or motion video of a user
or other object.

18
SCANNER

Scanner helps to get images in a paper, and it converts them to the digital form to store
on the disk. Microphone is another input device which is used to input sound and to store
them in digital form. Moreover, an Optical Character Reader (OCR) is used to read printed
text. It scans text character by character and converts them to machine-readable code
and stores them in memory.
Two types of scanner:

• Flatbed • Hand-held
Flatbed Scanner
Flatbed scanners look similar to a small photocopier with the document remaining flat
and stationary during the scanning
Scanner is an input device used for direct data entry from the source document into the
computer system. It converts the document image into digital form so that it can be fed
into the computer. Capturing information like this reduces the possibility of errors
typically experienced during large data entry

HANDHELD SCANNER
Hand-held scanners are used for entering text and images that are less than a page
wide. Handheld scanners are adequate for small pictures and photos but are difficult for
entire pages.

19
3D SCANNER:
A 3D scanner is a device that analyzes a real-world object or environment
to collect data on its shape and possibly its appearance (i.e. color).
The collected data can then be used to construct digital, three dimensional models.

FINGERPRINT SCANNER:
A fingerprint scanner or fingerprint reader is a hardware device that verifies a user
or enters password information by scanning their finger.

BARCODE READER:
A bar code reader or scanner is a hardware device capable of reading a barcode and
printing out the details of the product or logging that product into a database.
A bar code is a set of lines of different thicknesses that represent a number. Bar Code
Readers are used to input data from bar codes. Most products in shops have bar codes on
them. Bar code readers work by shining a beam of light on the lines that make up the bar
code and detecting the amount of light that is reflected back.

20
AUDIO INPUT DEVICES
Audio input devices allow a user to send audio signals to a computer for processing,
recording, or carrying out commands.
Examples:

➢ Microphone ➢ MIDI keyboard

MICROPHONE:
A microphone is a hardware peripheral that allows computer users to input audio into
their computers.
The “Microphones - Speech Recognition” is a speech Input device. To operate it we
require using a microphone to talk to the computer. Also we need to add a sound card
to the computer. The Sound card digitizes audio input into 0/1s .A speech recognition
program can process the input and convert it into machine-recognized commands or
input

MIDI KEYBOARD:
A MIDI (Musical Instruments Digital Interface) keyboard is typically a piano-
style user interface keyboard device used for sending MIDI signals to a computer.
MIDI information is sent to a computer that capable of reproducing an array of
digital sounds or samples that resemble traditional analog musical instruments.

21
WHAT IS OUTPUT DEVICE?
Output devices allow the computer user to see the work results of the computer. These
are devices that interpret data from a binary form (a record from zero and a one) into a
user’s understandable form (image, letter, sound etc.).
Output devices are data processing result indicators in the computer and can be a single
light indicator (either on or off), alphanumeric character, some text displays, or a more
developed pointer that can display text or picture (or both) in one of the selected
modes.
Most commonly used output device is probably the monitor, serving as a picture / text
displaying device. The printer and plotter are also able to display processing results but
on paper. The sound system, no matter how it receives an analogue or digital signal
(whether a computer or an amplifier), has as an analogue result striking the speaker
membrane so that we can listen to sound pleasantly.
The most common output device – monitor, send all the system messages to the user, as
well as the results of the program support. The graphics processor (GPU) (Graphics
Processing Unit) is the most complex device for displaying images on the monitor
screen, making it more and more complex due to the fact that multimedia content can
be successfully processed in addition to textual content.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT OUTPUT DEVICE
1. An output device is any hardware component that use received data from a
computer to perform a task.
2. An output device can receive data from another device and generate output with
that data, but it cannot send data to another device.
3. Output devices are necessary for a computer to share its results and prompt users
for more information and commands.
4. Output devices are controlled by the computer.
5. Output devices are simpler for the user since they only see the results and do not
have to learn the processes.
6. Commonly used output devices are printer, monitor, speakers, projector LCD
projection panels, computer output microfilm, plotters etc.
WHY DO COMPUTERS NEED OUTPUT DEVICES?
A computer can still work without an output device. However, you'd have no way of
determining what the computer is doing. By using an output device, you can view and
get the results of input from a computer.
HOW DOES AN OUTPUT DEVICE WORK?
An output device works by receiving a signal from the computer and using that signal to
perform a task to display the output. For example, below is a basic list of steps of how
an output device works.

1. On a computer keyboard (input device), if you type "H", it sends (inputs) a signal to
the computer.
22
2. The computer processes the input and once completed, sends a signal to a monitor
(output device).
3. The monitor receives the signal and displays (outputs) the "H" to the screen.
4. If supported, that "H" could also be printed (outputted) to a printer, which is
another example of an output device.

If no output device was connected to the computer and it was functional, you could still
type "H" on the keyboard, and it would still be processed. However, you'd be unable to
see what happened or confirm the input with no output device.

➢ MONITOR
A monitor is a common output device. It is also known as Visual Display Unit (VDU). As
an output device it’s resembles the television screen and associated with a keyboard
for manual input of characters and displays the information as it is keyed in. Like the
television, monitors are also available in different sizes.

➢ PRINTER
Printers are used to produce paper (commonly known as hardcopy) output. Based on the
technology used, they can be classified as Impact or Non-impact printers.
Impact printers use the typewriting printing mechanism wherein a hammer strikes the
paper through a ribbon in order to produce output. Dot-matrix and Character printers
fall under this category.
DOT MATRIX PRINTER
In the market one of the most popular printers is Dot Matrix Printer. These printers are
popular because of their ease of printing and economical price. Each character printed is
in form of pattern of dots and head consists of a Matrix of Pins of size 5 ∗ 7, 7 ∗ 9, 9 ∗ 7or9
∗ 9 which come out to form a character that is why it is called Dot Matrix Printer

23
Non-impact printers do not touch the paper while printing. They use chemical, heat or
electrical signals to etch the symbols on paper. Inkjet, plotter, Laser, Thermal printers fall
under this category of printers. When we talk about printers, we refer to two basic
qualities associated with printers: resolution, and speed.
LASER PRINTERS
These are non-impact page printers. They use laser lights to produce the dots needed to
form the characters to be printed on a page.

INKJET
Inkjet printers are non-impact character printers based on a relatively
new technology. They print characters by spraying small drops of ink
onto paper. Inkjet printers produce high quality output with
presentable features.
They make less noise because no hammering is done and these have
many styles of printing modes available. Colour printing is also
possible. Some models of Inkjet printers can produce multiple copies
of printing also.

PLOTTER
Plotters are used to print graphical output on paper. It interprets computer commands
and makes line drawings on paper using multicolored automated pens. It is capable of
producing graphs, drawings, charts, maps etc.
Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) applications like CAD (Computer Aided Design) and
CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing) are typical usage areas for plotters

24
Print resolution is measured in terms of number of dots per inch (dpi). Print speed is
measured in terms of number of characters printed in a unit of time and is represented
as characters-per-second (cps), lines-per-minute (lpm), or pages-per-minute (ppm).

➢ PROJECTOR
Receives data from a computer (output) and displays, or projects, that information as
text and images onto a surface, like a wall or a screen. It cannot accept data from a user
and send that data to another device.

➢ SPEAKER
Speaker is an audio device that receives sound data (information) from a computer and
play the sound for users to hear. It cannot accept sound generated by users and send that
sound to another device.

INTERACTION OF INPUT AND OUTPUT DEVICE

Input devices are controlled by the user, while the output devices are controlled by the
computer.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN INPUT AND OUTPUT DEVICES IN TABULAR FORM

BASIS OF INPUT DEVICE OUTPUT DEVICE
COMPARISON
Description An input device is any An output device is any
hardware device which hardware component that use
enables the user to enter data received data from a computer
and instructions into a to perform a task.
computer.
Functionality An input device can send data An output device can receive
to another device but it data from another device and
cannot receive data from generate output with that data,
another device.

25
 but it cannot send data to
another device.
Necessity Input devices are necessary Output devices are necessary
for a computer to receive for a computer to share its
commands from its users and results and prompt users for
data to process. more information and
commands.
Control Input devices are controlled Output devices are controlled
by the user. by the computer.
Nature Input devices are relatively Output devices are simpler for
complicated as they have the user since they only see the
complex coding that ensures results and do not have to learn
that the user can interact with the processes.
the computer correctly.
Example keyboard and mouse, Printer, monitor, speakers,
microphone, webcam, image projector LCD projection
scanner, Microphone, pointing panels, computer output
device, touch screens, microfilm, plotters etc.
graphics table, Optical
character reader (OCR),
joystick etc.

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN INPUT AND OUTPUT DEVICES

1. Both input and output devices can be built into a computing device, like the screen
on a laptop or smart phone or they can be separate, like a mouse or external
speakers plugged into a desktop computer in an office.
2. Both Input and output devices require some form of control. Input devices are
controlled by the user whereas output devices are controlled by the computer.

SUMMARY

3. Output and input devices are two types of hardware devices. The main difference
between them is that input devices are used to send data into the computer while
output devices are used to take data out of the computer.
4. Most devices are either input devices or output devices, as they can only accept data
input from a user or output data generated by a computer. However, some devices
can accept input and display output and are referred to as I/O devices (Input
/Output devices). For example, a touch screen displays visual output and takes
input from a user. Other devices like printers also function as document scanners.

26