Types of ICT systems:

PCs:

A desktop PC usually has these basic

components: a monitor, a keyboard, a system unit

and a mouse.

Laptops:

A laptop computer is slightly larger and much heavier

than an A4 file.

Notebook:

A notebook computer is a small laptop computer

that is about as big as an oversized book. A

notebook computer is likely to be half the size of

a laptop and is lighter and easier to carry.

Netbook:

A netbook computer is a very small laptop that is optimized

for Internet and email access. It is intended to be light and

easy to carry and has a long battery life.

Hand-held:

A handheld computer or Personal Digital

Assistant (PDA) or palmtop can fit in one hand

or in your pocket, but it is too small for general

work. A PDA usually has a touch sensitive

screen. Although PDAs can be temporarily

attached to a Keyboard, you cannot comfortably

type a long document into a PDA.

Smartphone:

A smart phone is a mobile phone with the

functions of a PDA. Hand-held computing

devices can perform a range of activities

such as personal record-keeping and

satellite navigation.
Main frame:

A mainframe computer is a very large

and expensive computercapable of

supporting hundreds, or even

thousands, of users simultaneously.

Super computers:

These are the fastest type of computers.

Supercomputers are very expensive and are

employed for specialized applicationsthat require

immense amounts of mathematical calculations.

For example, weather forecasting requires a

supercomputer. Other uses of supercomputers

include animated graphics, fluid dynamic

calculations, nuclear energy research, and

petroleum exploration.

Embedded computers:

An embedded computer is designed for and built

into a specific application where it will perform a

limited range of dedicatedfunctions. The size

and functionality of an embedded

computerdepends on the application. They may

be very small devices built into a single

microchip and may control.

Games consoles:

A games console is a PC that is designed specifically for

playing games.

The importance of ICT systems

By using ICT systems we are:

● more productive - we can complete a greater number of tasks in the same time at

reduced cost by using computers than we could prior to their invention

● able to deal with vast amounts of information and process it quickly

IT applications play an important role in our daily life in terms of:

A. communicating applications

● newsletters

● websites

● multimedia presentations

● music scores

● cartoons

● flyers / posters

B. interactive communication applications

● blogs

● wikis

● social networking websites

C. data handling applications

● surveys

● address lists

● tuck shop records

● clubs and society records

● school reports

● school libraries

D. measurement applications

● scientific experiments

● electronic timing

● environmental monitoring

E. control applications

● turtle graphics

● control of lights, buzzers and motors

● automatic cookers

● central heating controllers

● burglar alarms

● video recorders / players

● microwave ovens

● computer controlled greenhouse

F. modelling applications

● 3D modelling

● simulation (e.g. flight or driving)

● spreadsheets for personal finance

● spreadsheets for tuck shop finances

Input devices

1. Keyboard

The most widely used input device is a keyboard. This is a set of keys used to operate a PC.

Numeric keyboards only have keys to input numbers and few special characters. A QWERTY

keyboard may have a numeric keyboard built into the right hand side.

Advantages:

● Keyboards are almost always available as an input device. They are widely used at

work.

● Many people know how to use a QWERTY keyboard, so help is usually available.

Disadvantages:

● To use a keyboard efficiently, you need to know the layout and be able to touch-type.

2. Mouse

The mouse is the most widely used pointing device. Some have

the ball underneath that moves when you move the mouse,

resulting in a similar movement of the pointer on the screen. A

optical mouse detects movement using light instead of a ball.

3. Tracker ball

A tracker ball is like an upside-down mouse. The ball is on the top of the device
and you move it with your thumb.

4. Joystick

A joystick is a lever that gives you similar control to a mouse but its behaviour is slightly

different. Joystick can be used separately or can be built into a gamepad, where there are often

two simple joysticks, one for each thumb.

5. Graphics tablet

Graphics tablet or a graphics pad is a flat rectangular pad between 6 and 20 inches wide. It

works with a stylus which you move along the surface of the pad to produce drawings in the

computer. There are several types of stylus. One, the puck, is small rounded device with

cross-hairs for tracing lines accurately and with a number of buttons. The stylus can also be

pen-shaped. A graphics tablet is used mainly for computer-aided design and drawing.

6. Scanner

A scanner reads printed data into the computer. A number of different devices are referred to as

scanners:

● A hand-held scanner reads the image while being dragged over it.

● In the case of a flatbed scanner, the image is laid flat on the scanner9s surface, and is

captured in a similar manner to that of a photocopier.

● A sheet-fed scanner feeds the image in through rollers. The scanner reads the image as

the paper goes through. The image must be printed on flexible sheet of paper.

Advantages:

● Scanners quickly convert printed images on paper to electronic form.

Disadvantages:

● The accuracy of the data input is unlikely to be verified.

7. Digital camera

Digital cameras store pictures on a memory card in a format suitable for saying and displaying

on a computer. Pictures can be transferred from the camera to the computer where they can be

edited and enhanced in graphics software or viewed on screen. The pictures can be transferred

to a computer directly by connecting the camera to the computer, or the memory card can be

removed and read using a memory card reader, which may be built into the computer or

connected to it. Television sets can also have memory card readers built in or connected so that

several people can view the pictures together on a large screen. The picture made by digital
camera is formed by a quantity of very small dots of different colours, merging to form a picture.

The picture quality is related to the density of the dots making the picture, the accurate

placement of the dots and correctness of the colours being displayed. Thus an eight mega-pixel

camera uses eight million dots to form a picture and so would produce better output than a two

mega pixel camera. A digital video camera or camcorder has similar functions to a digital

camera but records moving images with sound. Camcorders can save recordings on memory

card but may also use DVD, miniDV tape or a built-in hard disk.

8. Webcam

A webcam is a type of digital video camera where the image captured is viewed using a

computer. The computer connects to the webcam over the Web and the image is displayed on

the computer screen. This has a variety of different uses:

● You could see if the weather is suitable for skiing by viewing the webcam in the

mountains above Grindelwald in Switzerland.

● You could install a webcam at home for security and view this when you are out at work.

● You could attach a webcam to your computer and contact a friend who has a webcam so

that you could both see each other while you are talking.

● You could set up a webcam in a classroom and listen to a teacher from another school.

This might be useful if you were learning to speak English and could not find a teacher

locally.

Advantages:

● Photos and videos can be recorded in a digital form that can be saved on computer. This

makes backup easier, more reliable and more extensive.

● Digital photos and video can be displayed on a wide variety of devices,

● Digital phots and videos can be sent by email.

● Digital video can be broadcast over the Internet so that TV programmes can be available

on demand. Disadvantages of webcams:

● Users tend to have more photos and longer videos and this creates a need for more

backing storage.

● High-quality photos and videos can be in very large files. When these are sent by email

or broadcast over the Internet, this uses bandwidth and slows down the network.

9. Microphone
Microphone is a device used to record sound, to give voice commands

and for voice communication over the Internet.

10. Touch screen

A touch screen is a two way user interface. It is both an input and output device. You can

interact with the computer by touching pictures or words on the screen. Touch screens are

widely used with tablet PCs, PDAs and smart phones.

11. Optical Mark Recognition (OMR)

OMR technology is used to interpret pencil marks on a piece of paper. An OMR reader can

recognize the position of a mark or set of marks on paper, because the mark is darker than an

unmarked area. The computer then records the mark9s position and can analyse it to determine

the meaning of the data. Marks made on this kind of form must be very clear or they may not be

properly recognized.

Advantages:

● There is no requirement to type in the information written on the paper form. Because of

this, input is faster and less expensive.

● The person who fills in the form is responsible for the accuracy of the information on it.

● Disadvantages:

● OMR forms must be printed very accurately because the position of the mark on the

paper affects the accuracy of the input. Because of this, printing costs more.

● Verification checks on the input are unlikely to be carried out, so mistakes inputting the

data are less likely to be detected.

12. Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

OCR is the identification of printed or written text characters by a computer. Printed text is

scanned and input to the computer, which attempts to recognize the characters in it. These are

then stored as text that can be word-processed. OCR can also be used to read handwriting.

OCR software is often included when you purchase a scanner, so that any office with a scanner

has OCR capabilities. A similar process of character recognition is used to interpret handwriting

on the screen of a PDA or tablet computer. PDAs and tablet computers have touch-screen of a

PDA or tablet computer. PDAs and tablet computers have touch-sensitive screens that accept

handwriting as input and have character recognition software that can convert it to text

characters that can be word processed. Advantages:

useful for creating electronic versions of books printed before computers were available.

● Disadvantages:

● Character recognition is not always accurate and the electronic text has to be checked

carefully.

13. Bar code scanner

A bar code scanner or bar code reader reads a pattern of bars representing the code number of

the item on which it is printed. The bar code scanner usually passes a small laser beam over

the pattern and reads in the pattern of reflected light. Bar code scanners may be hand-held, but

some are built into the surface of a supermarket checkout counter.

14. Biometric scanner

A biometric scanner is a pattern recognition which makes a personal identification based on a

person9s unique physical characteristics. Biometric scanners can use face recognition,

fingerprint matching, iris and retinal scans, voice recognition and hand geometry. Biometric

scanners can be built into mobile phones, desktop and laptop computers, and smart cards.

They can be used to control entry to buildings and can even replace keys in cars.

Advantages:

● There is no need to remember to carry personal identification.

● The person has to be present. This makes identification theft and fraud much less likely.

Disadvantages:

● Identification using biometric scanners is not yet sufficiently accurate. Permitted users

will not be recognized at times, and blocked users will sometimes be permitted.

15. Magnetic stripe reader

A magnetic stripe card reader reads information from a magnetic strip on the surface of a plastic

card when it is swiped through the reader. Magnetic stripe cards are also used as bank or credit

cards. In addition to being able to read the magnetic stripe, some devices can also write

information to it. The stripe can store a permanent value, such as an account number, or a

value that could change, such as the amount of cash you are allowed to withdraw from a cash

point.

Advantages:

● They are often used as a form of identification that is small and light and can be carried
all the times.

● The data recorded on the magnetic stripe is in electronic form and can be input directly

into a computer.

● Disadvantages:

● The data recorded on the magnetic stripe can be affected by electromagnetic radiation,

such as that from televisions and computers.

● The data recorded on the magnetic stripe can be copied or deleted. This is an

opportunity for determined criminals to commit identity theft and fraud.

16. Chip and pin

A smart card or Chip and PIN is similar to a magnetic stripe card but has a microprocessor chip

embedded in it. The chip can do some processing, as well as storing information. Special

devices can communicate with the chip to read and write information on the card. Security

features can be programmed into the chip. Bank and credit cards used to be magnetic stripe

cards but are now more usually smart cards. These cards can be used to withdraw cash at a

cash point. Cash points are specialized computer terminals with a small screen numeric

keyboard and smart card reader. The customer puts their card in the reader and is prompted to

enter their four-digit PIN. If the pin entered on the keyboard matches the PIN read from the

cards the customer can proceed: if not, the card is either confiscated or returned to the

customer.

Advantages:

● Often used as form of identification that is small and light and can be carried at all times.

● The data recorded on the chip is in electronic form and can be input directly into a

computer.

● The data recorded on the chip is more secure than data recorded on a magnetic stripe.

● The data recorded on the chip can be updated during transactions.

Disadvantages:

● The data recorded on the chip can be affected by electromagnetic radiation.

● The data recorded on the chip can be copied or edited by very determined criminals

used for fraud.

17. Sensors

Sensors are used to input data about the environment into a computer. There are many types of
sensors. They are available in many different shapes and sizes and they have a wide variety of

uses. For example, sensors can be used to record light intensity, temperature and pressure.

Sensors usually produce a low-voltage which must be converted to a digital signal for the

computer using an analogue-to-digital converter (ADC).

Advantages:

● Sensors can be placed in dangerous locations where people would be hurt.

● Sensors can continuously and reliably record data whereas to organize this using people

could be much more unreliable and expensive.

● Sensors can record data that people do not sense or do not sense accurately, such as

humidity.

● The data recorded by sensors can automatically record in a form that can be processed

by a computer.

● Data can be collected by a central computer from sensors in remote locations. People do

not need to travel and this saves time and allows data to be collected more frequently.

Disadvantages:

● Sensors cannot interpret the data.

● Sensors detect a very restricted range of the different types of data.

Processors

CPU

A processor or microprocessor is built into a microchip that has memory and other components

built into it. The microchip itself is often referred to as the 8processor9. If there is more than one

processor built into the microchip, then the microchip is referred to as the 8processor9 and

processors built into it are referred to as cores.

Graphics card

The graphics card which is also known as video card or display card is housed within the

system unit, and controls the signals going to the monitor screen. Higher quality cards can

produce very clear graphics very quickly. Some computer games demand advanced display

cards and high-quality monitor screens.

Sound card

A sound card controls all input and output of audio. Audio input through a microphone and

output through speakers are usually analogue and the sound card handles their conversion into
digital signals processed by the computer. It also handles digital audio input, e.g: from

multimedia applications.

Output Devices:

1. Monitor

Monitors are also known as visual display unit (VDUs). They come in different styles and quality

levels. Screen colour quality, resolution and clarity are just some of the features that affect how

desirable a particular monitor is to you.

Picture elements: Although the picture on a computer monitor may look sharp and clear, it is

made up of many illuminated dots known as picture elements or pixels. The dots are usually so

tiny that you would not normally notice them individually – you just see the whole picture. If you

could actually see the picture elements, the picture would look jagged.

Advantages of monitor screens:

Enables the use of a graphical user interface.

Interactive, on-screen use of a computer is more natural and intuitive than programming.

Disadvantages of monitor screens:

Screen size can limit the extent and detail of what can be seen. For example, it is possible to

refer to several printed pages at the same time. It could be much more difficult to arrange this

on a monitor.

Screen displays can be difficult to read for people who have impaired sight.

2. Printer

Types of printer:

● An impact printer usually strikes through an inked ribbon, making marks on the paper. A

non-impact printer uses a non-striking method to form the image on the paper.

● Inkjet printers use tiny dots of ink sprayed onto the paper, forming the shapes of

characters and pictures. Inkjet printers are quiet and produce good quality output. They

usually produce colour prints, and are very popular for home and small-office use.

● Laser printers use laser light to make patterns of ink on a drum. This drum then transfers

the ink to the paper, and finally a heating process fuses the ink to the paper. Laser

technology gives excellent quality and prints quickly. Laser printers are widely used but

are more expensive than inkjet printers, and often only print in black and white.

● Thermal printers use heated wires to mark dots on the surface of a heat-sensitive paper.
● Thermal dye transfer printers use special coloured dyes heated into a gas. This process

gives the best quality of colour printing, but is very expensive and requires special paper.

● Thermal wax transfer printers use molten wax, forming tiny dots of different colours on

the paper. These coloured wax dots blend to produce tones.

Buffers and spooling: Printers are much slower than the computers and networks that send

information to them to be printed. So that the computer does not have to wait for the printer to

finish printing, most printers have a buffer built into them. A document sent to the printer will be

quickly saved in the buffer so that the computer can do other tasks while the printer is printing

the document.

A buffer will only hold a few short documents, and on large networks many users may be

sharing the same printer. To avoid users having to wait, documents are first put into a queue on

a server and then sent for printing in turn. This queuing process is known as spooling.

Print Quality: All these types of printers use very small dots to produce pictures. The smaller

the dot, the better the quality of the picture. An important measure of print quality is the number

of dots per inch (dpi). The higher the dpi, the better the picture. In addition, for the best-quality

output the dots must be accurately placed.

Printers and paper:

Printers can use different types of paper:-

● Many printers use sheets of A4 paper.

● Some printers have a long stream of continuous paper flowing through. Usually the

paper is perforated, so that it can be torn easily to produce separate pages of output.

There may be several sheets together, either impregnated with carbon or with carbon

sheets between them, so that multiple copies produced at ones.

● In pre-printed stationery, certain information – for instance, the name of a company –

has already been printed on the paper. This is usually the case with utility bills, which are

printed with a high - volume single-coloured printed on forms that already have coloured

logos and other symbols printed on them.

Photo-printers: Photo-printers are specially designed to print digital photographs. A memory

card storing pictures taken by digital camera can sometimes be plugged directly into the printer,

and the pictures printed. In other cases, the camera can be directly connected to the printer.

Advantages of printers:
● Printed output can be viewed without the need for a computer.

● Many people and organizations still use paper-based communications and similar legacy

methods.

Disadvantages of printers:

● Printing is slow and expensive compared with electronic communications and storage.

● Paper is bulky and deteriorates in storage.

● Printed materials are more difficult to access and distribute. For example, printed

photographs can be viewed by a limited number of people compared with digital

photographs displayed on a TV screen, and it is more difficult and expensive to send

copies to others.

Multi-function printers: Printers are now being built in combination with scanners, and

sometimes with fax machines. Combining a printer with a scanner produces the effective

functionality of a photocopying machine, as well as providing the separate functions of scanning

and printing.

Advantages of multi-function devices:

● A multi-function device takes up much less space on the desktop than the individual

devices it replaces.

● A multi-function device is usually less expensive to buy than all the individual devices it

replaces.

● A multi-function device will be used more before it becomes obsolete.

● A multi-function device can be replaced more frequently, having provided good value, so

that more modern technology is available for use.

Disadvantages of multi-function devices:

● If part of the device develops a fault, all the functions may be unavailable.

● Only one person at a time can use a multi function device.

3. Plotter

A plotter draws lines on paper using differently coloured pens. In a flatbed plotter, the paper is

held still while the pen moves. Other plotters have the pen moving from left to right, while the

paper goes forwards and backwards. Yet others use wires to draw charged patterns on special

paper, then fuse toner onto the electrically charged patterns. An upright plotter can handle long
sheets of paper, because of the way the paper flows, and can produce long continuous lines.

Plotters are frequently used in computer-aided design.

Advantage of plotters:

Much larger and longer sheets are printed.

Disadvantage of plotters:

Printing is very slow

Plotters are usually more expensive than printers.

4. Data projector

A multimedia projector or data projector projects an image that would normally be displayed on

a computer screen onto a larger, separate screen. This allows the image on the screen to be

shared with an audience in a large room. Multimedia projectors are almost always used when

giving computer-based presentation. Multimedia projectors are also used with home

entertainment systems, enabling people to watch TV and DVDs and to play computer games.

Interactive whiteboards are large touch sensitive panels used as screens for multimedia

projectors. They are operated as touch screens. Some use capacitive or resistive technology

but others use an optical curtain. Breaks in this curtain are detected and so the computer knows

which part of the interactive whiteboard has been touched.

5. Speakers

Speakers are output unit of sound. This is sued to play music, to make telephone calls using

VoIP, to listen to voicemail, to play video and DVDs for entertainment or education and to listen

TV and radio.

Speakers are also needed for speech synthesis, where a computer reproduces human speech.

The voice need not be recording and could be computer – generated. For instance, you can

have text-reading program that takes a word-processed document in electronic form and reads

it aloud.

Advantages of speakers:

They allow computer systems to be used for a wide range of multimedia applications.

Interaction with a computer using voice recognition and speech synthesis is more natural and
intuitive than programming.9

Disadvantages of speakers:

Applications that use speakers can be difficult to operate for people who have impaired hearing.

Voice recognition systems can be difficult to set up and use.

6. Control devices

In control applications, computers make events happen using control devices or actuators.

Examples of actuators are valves, heaters, coolers and motors. These can be powered by a

range of different sources of energy, including electricity and compressed air. Actuators also

include devices such as buzzers and alarms, which can warn us about various events: a burglar

has entered through the window etc.

Advantages of control devices:

Actuators enable computer to perform physical tasks in the real world. For example, computers

can control a central heating system or a mechanical digger.

Disadvantages of control devices:

Actuators perform physical operations when instructed by a computer. This can be dangerous

for people if their presence is not known to computer.

Configuring ICT system to meet specified need

If a user selects an ICT system for business, he/she have to consider the following things:

● High speed processor

● Large amount of memory

● Large capacity of hard drive

● External storage devices for backup

● Type of printer

● An operating system with including office

tools

If a user selects an ICT system for entertainment, he/she have to consider the following things:

● High speed processor

● Large amount of memory (video games

usually need large RAM)

● Large capacity of hard drive which will

files

● A graphics card to support all the games

● A high quality sound card to enjoy better

sound

● Monitor with higher resolution

● Must have an operating system with apps to run videos, games, music etc