INPUT DEVICES

An input device is a peripheral device for entering data into a computer in a form that
can be processed by the computer. There are two main kinds of input devices

1 Keyboard

2 Non -Keyboard or Direct entry devices

Keyboard

Most common and very popular input device keyboard. The keyboard helps in inputting
the data to the computer. The layout of the keyboard is like that of traditional typewriter,
although there are, some additional keys provided for performing some additional
functions

Keyboards are of two sizes 84 keys or 101/102 keys but now 104 keys or 108 keys
keyboard is also available for Windows and Internet.

Following are the categories of different keys on keyboard.

Characters keys

These keys include the letter keys (A-Z) and digits keys (0-9) which generally gives same
layout as that of typewriters.

Numeric Keypad

It is used to enter numeric data or cursor movement Generally it consists of a set of 17

keys that are laid out in the same configuration used by most adding machine and
calculators.

Function Keys

The twelve functions keys are present on the keyboard. These are arranged in a row
along the top of the keyboard. Each function key has unique meaning and is used for
some specific purpose.
Control keys

These keys provide cursor and screen control. It includes four directional arrow key.
Control keys also include Home, End, Insert Delete, Page Up, Page Down, Control(Ctrl),
Alternate(Alt), Escape(Esc)

Special Purpose Keys

Keyboard also contains some special purpose keys such as Enter. Shift, Caps Lock,
Num Lock, Space bar, Tab, and Print Screen.

NON KEYBOARD OR DIRECT INPUT DEVICES.

Non keyboard or Direct input is a data entry form that does not use a keyboard to input
data. These entry devices reduce users typing errors. Direct data entry input and voice
input are the advanced generation input technology.

There are many forms of direct input devices.

Mouse

Joystick

Light Pen

Track ball

Digitizer

Scanner

Bar-code readers

OMR &OCR

Magnetic data Entry

Microphone

MOUSE

An object used as a pointing and drawing device. The mouse usually has a ball and
buttons and is connected to the system unit through serial port. As a mouse is rolled
across the flat of desktop in any direction. It locates the pointer correspondingly on the
screen

JOYSTICK

Joystick is also a pointing device, which is used to move the cursor position on a
monitor screen. It is a stick having a spherical ball at its both lower and upper ends. The
lower spherical ball moves in a socket. The joystick can be moved in all four directions.

The function of the joystick is similar to that of a mouse. It is mainly used in Computer
Aided Designing (CAD) and playing computer games.

LIGHT PEN

Light pen is a pointing device similar to a pen. It is used to select a displayed menu item
or draw pictures on the monitor screen. It consists of a photocell and an optical system
placed in a small tube.

When the tip of a light pen is moved over the monitor screen and the pen button is
pressed, its photocell sensing element detects the screen location and sends the
corresponding signal to the

TRACK BALL

Track ball is an input device that is mostly used in notebook or laptop computer, instead
of a mouse. This is a ball which is half inserted and by moving fingers on the ball, the
pointer can be moved.

Since the whole device is not moved, a track ball requires less space than a mouse. A
track ball comes in various shapes like a ball, a button, or a square.

DIGITIZER

Digitizer is an input device which converts analog information into digital form

Digitizer is also known as Tablet or Graphics Tablet as it converts graphics and pictorial
data into binary inputs. A graphic tablet as digitizer is used for fine works of drawing and
image manipulation applications.

SCANNER
1.FLATBED SCANNER

A flatbed scanner is made up of a glass pane and a moving optical CIS or CCD array. The
pane is illuminated with the help of bright light planted underneath it. The image which
is to be scanned is then placed on the glass pane. The sensor and the source of light
move across the glass pane to, scan the document and produce its digital copy.

2.SHEETFED SCANNER

In sheet fed scanners, the document that is supposed to be scanned is fed into the
horizontal or vertical slot provided in the scanner. The vital components of sheetfed
scanner pro the sheet-feeder, scanning module, and calibration sheet Such scanners
are most often used to scan single page documents.

3. HANDHELD SCANNER

A handheld scanner is a small manual scanning device which is moved over the object
that need to be scanned. For instance, if a document needs to be scanned, the
handheld scanner has to be dragged, over the document. Using a handheld scanner
can prove to be a cumbersome task, no the hand needs to be steady all the time. Slight
movement of the hand can lead to distortion of the image. One of the most utilized
handheld scanner is the barcode scanner, typically used in shopping stores to valuate
goods.

BAR CODE READERS.

Bar-Code is data represented in the parallel lines of a Universal Product Coding scheme
(UPC).

This is used for fast identification of items with an optical scanner. The optical scanner
is called a bar code reader. The bar code reader is a photoelectric scanner that read the
bar code.

There are two types of bar-code readers hand held and stationary.

1.HANDHELD BAR CODE READER

Hand-held bar-code readers are flat stick-like scanning devices that analyse the bar
codes and translate them into computer-processable data

2.STATIONARY BAR CODE READERS are built into a countertop, as in the supermarket
.

MARK & CHARACTER READERS

OPTICAL MARK READER (OMR)

OMR is a special type of optical scanner used to recognize the type of mark made by
pen or pencil. It is used where one out of a few alternatives is to be selected and
marked.

It is specially used for checking the answer sheets of examinations having multiple
choice questions.

OPTICAL CHARACTER READER (OCR)

OCR is an input device used to read a printed text.

OCR scans the text optically, character by character, converts them into a machine
readable code, and stores the text on the system memory.

MAGNETIC DATA ENTRY

There are two technologies in magnetic data entry.

1. MAGNETIC INK CHARACTER RECOGNITION (MICR)

This technology reads iron oxide ink pre-printed or encoded on checks, deposit slips or
on documents .An MICR reader electronically captures data, by first magnetizing the
magnetic ink characters and then sensing the signal.

2. MAGNETIC STRIPE

Another form of magnetic data entry, is the magnetic stripe technology that makes
computers read credit cards. The dark magnetic stripe on the back of credit cards is the
iron oxide coating. A magnetic stripe reader reads this magnetic stripe.

VOICE INPUT DEVICES

Voce input devices are also called speech recognition devices or voice-recognition
systems. This device uses a voice recognition technology that converts a user's speech
into a digital code Spoken words are first digitized and then matched against a
dictionary of patterns previously stored in the computer.

The advantage of the voice input systems is that they enable users to keep their hands
free for other tasks.

MICROPHONE

Microphone is an input device to input sound that is then stored in a digital form.

The microphone is used for various applications such as adding sound to a multimedia
presentation or for mixing music.