Lecture 3

Output
Anything that comes out of a computer is called output. For example, sound of a playing video in
computer is the output.
Output Devices
An output device is a hardware used to get the output from the computer. For example,
headphones are output device and used for listening sound in computer.
Examples of output Devices: i. Monitor ii. Printer iii. Plotter, Speaker, Projector

LCD Monitor Monitor Printer Plotter Speakers

Printers:
A printer produces the output from the computer on the paper. It is the most commonly used
output device. The printers produce a hard copy i.e. a permanent copy of the results
which can be stored and read later. Printers are classified as:
a) Impact Printer
b) Non-Impact Printer

a) Impact Printer
Impact printers are similar to typewriters. They use hammer to strike a character against
an inked ribbon and the impact of the hammer causes the image of the character to be
printed on paper. E.g. Dot matrix printers, line printers, daisy wheel printers,

Advantages of impact printers:

 Their functioning is relatively easy
 Multiple copies can be produced at the same time with the help of carbon paper.
 Impact printers are noisy in operation and are subject to wear and tear of

Types of impact printers:

1) Dot Matrix Printers

Dot matrix printer prints each character as a pattern of dots. The printer has a printer
head with a matrix of pins (needles). Typical heads have a matrix of 7 rows and 9
columns. These pins produce a pattern of dots to form the individual characters

A dot matrix printer, a daisy wheel and a daisy wheel

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printer
These printers are relatively low in cost and print at speeds of 50-500 characters
per second. The programmer can also define the shape of characters for this printer.
Therefore, it is possible to print many special characters, characters in various sizes as
well as charts and graphs on such printers. Dot matrix printers are very commonly
used in most computer systems.

2) Daisy Wheel Printer:

These printers are also called as letter quality printers. These printers have a
daisy wheel with a number of petals. A character is embossed on each wheel. There
is a motor which spins the wheel at a fast rate. When the desired character is brought to
the correct position, a hammer strikes the petal to produce the output. Thus these
printers are impact printers. The letter quality of these printers is much superior as
compared to the dot matrix printers. But they are slow and typically print in the
range of 10-50 characters per second.

3) Line Printer:
Line printers are very fast printers which print at speed of 200-2500 lines per
minute. These printers are impact printers and normally have 132 print positions per line.
Different types of character set are available for different printers. Line printers are
normally used in applications where large volumes of data are to be printed.

The two types of line printers are:

(i) Drum printers

This consists of a metallic cylinder. On the surface of this drum there are
characters in bands. Each column or band on the drum contains all the characters.
Opposite to each band there is a hammer located behind the paper. The drum rotates at
a fast rate. The hammer strikes the paper along with the inked ribbon and produces the
output. One line is printed in each revolution of the printer.

(ii) Chain printers

In the chain printers there is one print hammer for each print position on a line. There
is a fast moving chain called the print chain. When this chain rotates, the print hammer
and the inked ribbon strike the paper against the proper character on the chain.

b) Non-Impact Printer
They use thermal, chemical, electrostatic and inkjet technologies for printing as against
the hammer mechanism of impact printers. E.g. Laser printers, Desk Jet printers.

Ink Jet Printer:

Ink jet printer is a non-impact printer. It prints characters by spraying ink from tiny
nozzles onto the paper. A special type of ink which has a high iron content is used. This
ink is charged electrically when it comes out of the nozzle. This ink is absorbed by the
paper and dries instantly. The output of the ink jet printer is of a superior quality. Also it is
possible to obtain colored output. A number of character styles and sizes are available.
However, being a non-impact printer it is not possible to prepare carbon copies with this
printer.
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Laser Printers: These printers are used where a very superior quality output is
desired. The image is created on a photo sensitive drum; with a laser
beam. The laser is turned on and off when it moves back and forward across the drum. It
leaves a negative charge on the drum to which a positively charged black toner powder
sticks. When the paper rolls by the drum, the ink is transferred to the paper. Laser printers have a buffer
memory to store entire pages and hence their speed is very fast.
The biggest advantage of these printers is that no mechanical movement is
involved, therefore
they are noiseless in operation. However, there are comparatively expensive.

Plotter:
A plotter is an output device used in applications where printouts of graphs and drawings
are required. Plotters are of two types:

1) Flatbed i.e. X-Y plotter:

This plotter plots on a paper which is fixed on a rectangular flatbed table. One
recording pen moves in the x direction and one in the y direction to plot on the paper.
Color plotting is al so possible by using pens of different colors.

2) Drum Plotter:

In this plotter the paper on which the output is to be obtained, is placed over a drum. The
drum rotates back and forth to produce motion. The pen is mounted horizontally across
the drum and the horizontal motion of the pen is achieved with the help of the pen holder.
The drum and the holder move simultaneously to produce output. Multi colored printing
is possible by changing the pens.
The speed of plotters is very slow. Therefore, normally the output is first sent to some
secondary storage device like a magnetic tape and then directed to the plotter.

Video Display Terminal:

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Screen - Flat Panel Display & Monitor

• CRT:
An electron beam is moved across a phosphor coated screen to produce the image.
The CRT can be monochrome or colored. This screen normally has 25 lines and 80
characters.

• Flat Panel Display:

The most common flat panel display is the Liquid Crystal Display (LCD). This does not
have a picture tube. The other type of display is the gas plasma screen.

• The Video Display Terminal:

The most popular output device in direct access processing is the Video Display Terminal.
These terminals display information instantaneously. The monitor and the keyboard together
are called a terminal. The types of terminals are:

Dumb Terminal:
This is a combination of a keyboard and monitor which can send or receive data, but
cannot process the data.

Smart Terminal: A smart terminal has an inbuilt microprocessor. It can perform

arithmetic, logic and control functions. They also have some memory capacity. So they
can store the data before sending to the processor. They can also control the cursor
movement.
Intelligent Terminal: This type of terminal also has an inbuilt microprocessor which can
be programmed by the user. These terminals also have limited processing capability.
They can communicate with other terminals and processors.

Computer Output Microfilm (COM):

This technology is used to record the computer output as microscopic filmed images.
Information is recorded on a roll of microfilm. A microfilm recorder displays the
information onto a screen. An inbuilt camera then takes pictures of this information. A
microfilm reader is used to view this information. COM devices are normally used in
application where there are large volumes of data.
COM devices are much faster than the normal printers. Also since the size of these films
is very small the space required for storage is very less as compared to printed output.
Processing

Computer is given the data and instruction as input, which is processed to create output in the
form of information. Data is a raw form of symbols, numbers, images, etc., whereas information
is an organized, meaningful and useful form of the data. For example, some data (student roll
number, name, total marks, obtained marks etc.) from the mid exam is entered. Computer
process the data and creates a report of passing and failing students. This report is more
organized and useful for us, and thus information rather than just data.
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When we give input to computer, Computer processes data by C.P.U

The processing Unit of a Computer is Called Central Processing Unit or C.P.U it is the brain of
Computer .it is an important part of Computer. It controls the all activities from input to
output.There are three parts of .C.P.U

Control Unit (C.U):

C.U supervises all other units of the computer. It takes the instruction from input device to the
memory unit and A.L.U. it also sends information from memory unit to arithmetic unit and back
to memory.
Storage
Storage, also referred as memory, is the ability of a computer to store data, information or
instructions. It can save digital data on RAM, hard disks or removable memory.
Arithmetic Logical Unit (A.L.U):
Arithmetic logical unit is the place where the arithmetic logical operations are performed such
as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, also compare two numbers etc.
Memory Unit (M.U):
The memory unit is the place where the computer programs and data are stored during
processing.

Storage Devices
Storage devices are used to store data when they are not being used in memory. The most
common types are USB drive, hard disks and CD-ROM and DVD.
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DATA & INFORMATION

DATA (Unprocessed information)
A collection of raw fact and figure is called Data. The word raw means that the facts have
not yet been processed to get their exact meaning. Data is collected from different
sources. It is collected for different purposes. Data may consist of numbers, characters,
symbols or pictures etc.
Data may be in the form of text, number images, sounds and videos, data is collected for
different purposed. In an organization data is very important. It gives view of past
activities or history related of the rise and fall an organization. It helps an organization in
making decisions for future activities.
Examples of Data:
When student get admission in colleges or universities. They have to fill out an admission
from. The form consists of raw fact the students. These raw facts are students’s name,
father’s name, address etc

A list of class students, showing students roll numbers, names and marks is an example
of students’ data. The data of class students may be collected to prepare their result. The
data of students may look like the following:

1. Salem 62 63 64
2. Baber 50 75 70
3. Amanat 90 80 70
4. Salma 75 80 60
----- ------- ------
The above data does not convey proper meanings, because it has no relation among given
values and there is no proper labeling of data values.
Type of Data:
Data may be of the following types.
1. Numeric Data
2. Alphabetic Data.
3. Alphanumeric Data.
4. Image Data.
5. Audio Data.
6. Video Data.
1. Numeric data: Numeric data consists of digits form 0 to 9. Examples of numeric data are
420, 3.543, -7.2 and 302.
2. Alphabetic Data: Alphabetic data consists of alphabetic letter from A to Z , a to z e.g.
“Chemistry Class”, Computer” and “university” etc. 3. Alphanumeric Data:
Alphanumeric data consists of numeric digits (0 to 9) letter (A to Z)
and (a to z) and all special characters like +, %and @ etc, like “87%”,” $4000” and “H#
82” ,23 –march 1940, F-16. etc
It is type of data which combines both numeric and alphabetic data. It cannot be
mathematically operated.
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4. Image Data: Image data consists of charts, graphs, pictures and free hand drawings.
Image
data is also represented by bit patterns.
5. Audio Data: Audio data consists of recording of conversation, music, speeches or any
other type of sound. It is continuous and not discrete. The audio data is in the form of
continuous signals. It is converted into digital form before entering it into the computer.
6. Video Data: Video data consists of video recording of events .this type of data consists
of
full-motion image that create actions and movements. It can be produced by a video
camera.
INFORMATION
(Data processed to reveal meaning)
An organization collect and store data from both internal and external source .usually, the
collected data is not in proper format and does not give proper meanings. Various
operations are performed on collect data to get required results that give proper and
useful meanings known as information, It means that processed data is called
information. The processed data (or information) is used for making decision.
Data is processed using various techniques. Data is used as input for processing and
information is the output of this processing. Figure below shows the data processing.

Example:
For example, the students, data could be analyzed and summarized using different tools.
It could also be presented in graphics form. You can sort the records of the students on
the basis of their names or marks.
The above-mentioned students data may be processed and the result may be as shown
below.
Result Sheet for Class Students
Roll No Name English Chemistry Computer Total Marks Grade

1 Saleem 62 63 64 189 B

2 Baber 50 75 70 195 B

3 Amanat 90 80 70 240 A+

4 Salma 75 80 60 215 A

The processed data now gives the clear and proper understanding of students, obtained
marks in different subjects, total marks obtained, and grad of each student, To calculate
the total marks of the student, marks obtained in different subjects are used as data. The
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calculated “total marks” is the information. The processed data can further be processed.
For example, to find out the grade of the student, calculated “total marks” is used as data
and “grade” will be the information.

Difference between Data and Information:

The difference between data and information as follows:
Data Information

1. Data consist of unprocessed raw facts. 1. Information is the processed form of data.
2. Data is used as input in the computer. 2. Information is the output of computer./
3. Data is not meaningful. 3. Information is meaningful.
4. Data is normally huge in its volume. 4. Information is normally short in volume.
5. Data is the asset of organization and is 5. Information is normally available to people for sale.
not available to people for sale.
6. Data is used rarely. 6. Information is used frequently.
7. Data is an independent entry. 7. Information depends on data.
8. Data is not used in decision-making. 8. Information is very important for decision making.
9. Data Does not depend upon information. 9. Information depends upon data.