Input devices

Mouse
Different Types of Mouse
Ball Mouse
The ball mouse is one of the earliest forms of mice. It contained a ball that could
roll in all directions and track movement. The main drawback of the ball mouse
was that one had to constantly clean the wheel of grime which would reduce the
amount of friction. Ball mice have been made largely obsolete by newer
technology.

Optical Mouse
Optical mice use LED and photo technology to detect movement, rather than a
physically moving ball. It tracks the cursor’s movement through photo sensors
which take over 1,000 pictures per second. This instantly tells the computer the
position of your mouse’s cursor.

Most optical mice are plug and play, meaning you usually do not have to install
any software to make the mouse work. You simply plug it into its proper
connector, and your mouse is ready to be used.

Optical mice normally do not require a mouse pad. Only on rough, black, or glass
surfaces do the optical mice not detect movement as well.

Laser Mouse
Laser mice, as its name suggests, uses infrared laser technology to detect the
mouse’s movement. The laser mouse is very similar to optical mice, only instead
of an LED to track movement, it utilizes lasers to monitor the movements of the
mouse and represent them on the screen.

Other Things to Consider

 Wired or Wireless
 Regular or Ergonomic
 USB connector

Optical & Wired:

Wireless & Laser: 

 Wireless & Laser:

Key board
A normal computer keyboard is composed of around 110 keys. Although on the
basis of key arrangements there are four major keyboard layouts being used
worldwide, QWERTY, AZERTY, QWERTZ and HCESAR, but they can be
classified in many more different categories depending on types of computer
connector, size, number of keys etc.  Among the various types listed below,
keyboards can be based on multiple types. For instance, an ergonomic keyboard
can have a PS2 interface and be an internet keyboard too.
 
ERGONOMIC KEYBOARD
The artifact of this keyboard is slightly broader and different in shape, when
compared       with the normal keyboard. In this key board certain space will be
existing between the two sets of keys and the countered shape of this key board
allow the users to place their hands in the natural position to type. These key
boards are mostly used by the people who often work with the key board as their
usage is easier and is less stressful for the wrist. The following figure: Ergonomic
keyboard shows how the set of keys are separated with gaps in between.

ADB (Apple Desktop Bus)

ADB refers to a special type of port which is enabled in some computers such as
Apple computers. The ADB key boards can be connected only to the ADB jack
enabled computers, but with the use of the adapter, the ADB key boards can also
be inserted over a USB port.
XT
An obsolete type, these keyboards only support the older computers such as IBM
8086/8088, XT-286. Not supported by present computers, keyboards are much
larger than the modern keyboards and the “Enter” key is backward-“L” shaped.

PERSONAL SYSTEMS (PS/2)

In the late 1990, most of the computers are integrated with standard PS/2
connector, rather than USB ports, there by the keyboards used for these computers
are usually round pin that fits into the PS/2 keyboard jack. For this reason these
keyboards are named as PS/2 keyboards.

MINI PS/2
The MINI PS/2 keyboards are very small in size and are compatible with the PS/2
computers. This keyboard resembles the laptop keyboard and it is square in shape.
This keyboard is composed of fewer key and do not have detach numeric keypad.
MULTIMEDIA
The multimedia keyboard is specially designed for the people who are much into
multimedia designing. This keyboard is just like the standard key board, but
composed of additional keys for the multimedia purposes such as multimedia
application launch, volume control and mute button.

INTERNET
The Internet keyboards are designed for wider range of multimedia applications,
these keyboards are specially designed for the intense Internet user. The special
keys included in this keyboard are the home key, back and forward key, e-mail
launch key, and browser launch key etc. these keys carry out the same functionality
as of the buttons on the webpage. In order use these extra keys the computer must
be embedded with right operating system.

WIRELESS
A wireless keyboard, the name itself doles the meaning that this keyboard can be
operated without addressing a wired connection to the processor. The wireless
keyboards are also referred as Cordless keyboards; these keyboards require
batteries to provide the electricity which usually delivered through a PS/2 or USB
cable. “AA” or “AAA” batteries are most widely used standard batteries for
wireless keyboards.  Apple Macs are known to revolutionize the wireless keyboard
by making them thinner than the wired ones. These keyboards usually work at 2.4
GHz frequency and come with a dongle that connects and makes them
communicate with the computer.

GAMING
As the name suggest, gaming keyboards are those who are into gaming and need
easy access to the keys that are usually utilized in gaming. These keyboards are
composed of particular gaming-oriented features such as key lighting,
 programmable keys, and/or extra controls of volume and brightness. These
keyboards are available in wired and wireless, in case if wired, it usually supports
the USB port.

Joystick
Digital Joysticks
 Digital joysticks are the most common joysticks used for PCs, employing
simple left, right, up, down and firing commands. They are also called "Atari-
style" digital joysticks, since they were first implemented with the Atari 2600
video game system.

Paddle Joysticks
 Paddle joysticks consist of one knob used to control the game and one firing
button. This is one of the oldest joysticks, as it was first introduced with the very
first home video game consoles.

Analog Joysticks
 Analog joysticks combine both concepts presented in the digital and paddle
joysticks; they control the game like a digital joystick, but also use potentiometers
to measure the movements like the paddle joysticks.
 PC Analog Joysticks
 IBM first presented this joystick with their personal computer. It's a simple
analog-styled joystick with multiple buttons that usually connects via an USB port.

Joypads
 Joypads are joysticks without the sticks. Instead, they employ a directional
pad (D-pad) to control the game. Joypads are considered a bit primitive, but they
are still featured among the current video game controllers.

Video devices
An input device is any device that sends data from an outside source into a
processing system such as a computer or television. A video input device is any
device that sends video. There are several types of video input devices that allow
you to play video from an external device on a video display.

MEDIA PLAYERS
Media players are devices that play any sort of media. These include physical
media players such as VCRs, DVD players and Blu-ray players, as well as digital
media players such as DVRs and streaming video players such as the Roku Netflix
player and other Netflix-supported devices.

VIDEO GAME CONSOLES

Video game consoles play video game media. These include the PlayStation 3,
Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii. Some hand-held consoles such as the PlayStation
Portable can also function as a video input device with an optional video output
cable. Also, some video game consoles can play other video media such as videos
from a media server or streaming Netflix or Hulu.

SATELLITE/CABLE RECEIVERS
Satellite and cable receivers are set-top boxes (STB) that allow you to receive a
decrypted video signal from your satellite or cable service provider. This allows
you to receive broadcast TV and subscription channels as well as optional services
such as video on-demand and DVR recordings.

DIGITAL CAMERAS
Digital cameras can also function as video input devices. Most digital cameras,
including still cameras and video cameras, include video output ports such as
composite or HDMI ports; these ports allow you to connect the camera to a TV to
view the photos and videos form the camera. Digital cameras can also be
connected to a computer to transfer photos and videos.