1/1/2009

Evolution of Computer Devices

Grade 12
Competency Level 2.2

Anuradha Dissanayake

Outline

• Hardware peripherals
• The advantages of direct entry input devices
over keyboard entry input devices.
• The evolution of CPU and its compatibility
with motherboard.
• Categorizes the storage devices
• Parallel and grid computing

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Input Devices
These are used to feed data and instructions to a
computer system.
– Keyboard
– Pointing Devices (mouse, touch pad, track ball, joy stick ,
touch screen, remote controller)
– Direct input devices (barcode reader, magnetic stripe
reader, smart card reader)
– Image & video input devices (digital camera, web cam,
CCTV, video camera)
– Scanning devices (scanner, MICR, OMR, OCR)
– Graphic Tablet
– Digitizer
– Microphone

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Advantages of direct entry input device over

keyboard entry input device

1. Automatically capture data, images or videos.

No need human involvement to input data
into the system. Therefore, data entry cost is
reduced.
2. Accurate – The data can be input without any
human errors.
3. Less time – Data input process is more
efficient.

Output Devices
• Monitor
• Printer
• Headset
• Speaker

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Monitor

1. CRT Monitor (Cathode Ray Tube Monitor)

In cathode ray tube monitor, images are produced when an
electron beam strikes a phosphorescent surface
Disadvantages: flickering , need more space, more heat
generating, more power consumption
Advantages: low cost, more viewing angles
2. LCD Monitor (Liquid Crystal Display )
A display screen made with TFT (Thin Film Transistor) technology,
that has a transistor for each pixel, LCD monitors are widely used in
notebook and laptop computers.
3. LED Monitor (Light Emitting Diode Monitor)
Flat screen monitor used as a computer monitor or television.
Advantages: Less expensive , More reliable , Generate low heat and
consume less power , Higher dynamic contrast ratio , Longer lifespan
and less environmental impact , More colorful , Less space

Printer
• Impact-
Dot matrix, Daisy wheel, Cylinder, Ribbon,
Plotter
• Non-Impact-
Bubble/ Ink jet, Laser

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1. Dot matrix printer

It uses a print head that moves back-and-forth, or in an up-and-down motion, on
the page and prints by striking an ink ribbon against the paper, much like the print
mechanism on a typewriter.

2. Inkjet printer
In the inkjet printing mechanism, 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.

3. Laser printer
When a document is sent to the printer, a laser beam draws the document on a
selenium-coated drum using electrical charges. After the drum is charged, it is
rolled in toner, a dry powder type of ink. The toner adheres to the charged image
on the drum. The toner is then transferred onto a piece of paper and fused to the
paper with heat and pressure.

4. Graphic plotter
A plotter is a printer that interprets commands from a computer to make line
drawings on paper with one or more automated pens.

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CPU and its compatibility with

motherboard
1. Socket support.
The CPU has to be compatible with your motherboard's
socket.
2. Chipset support.
Need to know about the chipset to find the CPUs compatible
with that chipset. Chipset manufacturers include AMD, Intel
and Nvidia.
3. Motherboard wattage support must support the Thermal
Design Power (TDP) of a given CPU.
Need to find out the wattage of the motherboard to
determine the support from that to the CPU
4. BIOS support.
If necessary BIOS need to be upgraded to support the CPU

Consists of 3 main parts

-CU (Control Unit)
- ALU (Arithmetic and Logic Unit)
-Registers

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Storage Devices
Storage devices can be mainly classified as magnetic (hard,
floppy, zip, tape), optical (cd, dvd, blu-ray) and solid state(
flash, memory cards) storage devices

1. Fixed internal magnetic hard disk

Hard disk is a data storage device that uses magnetic storage
to store and retrieve digital information using one or more
rigid rapidly rotating disks (platters) coated with some
magnetic material.
2. External hard disk
An external hard drive is a portable storage device that can be
attached to a computer through a USB Port

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3. Magnetic tape
Magnetic tape is one of the oldest technologies for electronic data storage
on a magnetic surface. Tape has largely been displaced as a primary and
backup storage medium, but it remains well-suited for archiving because
of its high capacity, low cost and long durability. It is a sequential recording
system that is not good for random access. With tape archiving, there is no
online copy for quick retrieval, as everything is vaulted for the long term.
4. Optical discs
An optical disc is an electronic data storage medium that can be written to
and read using a low-powered laser beam. (CD, DVD, Blu-ray)
5. Flash drive
6. Memory card
Flash drives and memory cards use Electrically Erasable Programmable
Read Only Memory (EEPROM) technology to store data on one or more
semiconductor chips

Hard Disk

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Parallel computing
• Parallel computing is a type of computation in which many
programs or processes are done simultaneously. Large
problems can often be divided into smaller ones, which can
then be solved at the same time.
• In simple terms, parallel computing is breaking up a task into
smaller pieces and executing those pieces at the same time,
each on their own processor or on a set of computers that
have been networked together.
• The main performance characteristic is the increase in
speed.
• However, in practical terms, this is not always true. Because:
– Some task might not be divisible.
– Some task may not be able divide equally.
– It is necessary to take overhead associated with splitting the task
up also into account.

Grid computing
• Grid computing is a distributed architecture of large
numbers of computers connected to solve a complex
problem. In the grid computing model, servers or
personal computers run independent tasks and are
loosely linked by the Internet or low-speed networks.
Computers may connect directly or via scheduling
systems. In Grid computing inter-connected computer
systems utilize the same resources collectively. Grid
computing usually consists of one main computer that
distributes information and tasks to a group of
networked computers to accomplish a common goal.
Grid computing is often used to complete complicated
or tedious mathematical or scientific calculations.

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Examples of Grid Applications

• Application partitioning that involves breaking the problem
into discrete pieces
• Discovery and scheduling of tasks and workflow
(Schedulers are types of applications responsible for the
management of jobs, such as allocating resources needed
for any specific job, partitioning of jobs to schedule parallel
execution of tasks, data management, event correlation,
and service-level management capabilities )
• Data communications distributing the problem data where
and when it is required
• Provisioning and distributing application codes to specific
system nodes
• Results management assisting in the decision processes of
the environment
• Autonomic features such as self-configuration, self-
optimization, self-recovery, and self-management

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