Input Devices of Computer

A piece of hardware/equipment that enables the user to enter data into a computer is called an input device.
Some of the Commonly used input units used in a computer system are as follows:

 Keyboard
 Mouse
 JoyStick
 Light pen
 Track Ball
 Scanner
 Graphic Tablet
 Microphone
 Magnetic Ink Card Reader (MICR)
 Optical Character Reader (OCR)
 Barcode Reader
 Optical Mark Reader (OMR)

Keyboard

The keyboard is the most basic and very commonly used input device which helps to input data to the
computer. The layout of the buttons in a normally used keyboard is similar to the traditional typewriter, but
there are a few additional keys provided by different manufacturers for performing additional functions.

Types of keyboards: There can be different types of keyboards based on the region and language used. Some of the
common types of keyboards are as follows:

i) QWERTY Keyboard:

The QWERTY keyboard has 6 types of keys:

 Indicators
 Function keys
 Alphanumeric Keys
 Control keys
 Number keys
 Navigation keys
It is the most commonly used keyboard with computers in modern times. It is named after the first six letters of the top row of
buttons and is even popular in countries that do not use Latin-based alphabet. It is so popular that some people think that it
is the only type of keyboard to use with computers as an input device.

ii) AZERTY Keyboard:

It is considered the standard French keyboard. It is developed in France as an alternative layout to the QWERTY layout and
is mainly used in France and other European countries. Some countries have manufactured their own versions of AZERTY.

Its name is derived from the first six letters that appear on the top left row of the keyboard. The Q and W keys in AZERTY
keyboard are interchanged with A and Z keys in QWERTY keyboard. Furthermore, in AZERTY keyboard M key is located to
the left of the L key.

AZERTY keyboard differs from QWERTY keyboard not only in the placement of letters but also in many other ways, e.g., it
gives emphasis on accents, which is required for writing European languages like French.

iii) DVORAK Keyboard:

This type of keyboard layout was developed to increase the typing speed by reducing the finger movement while typing. The
most frequently used letters are kept in a home row to improve typing.

Normally available keyboards in the market were of two sizes 84 keys and 101/102 keys, but now keyboards
with 104 keys or 108 keys are also possible for Windows and Internet.

Mouse

It is the most commonly used pointing device. It is a very famous cursor-control device and the earlier
versions of it were built over a small palm-size box with a round ball at its base, which tracks the movement
of the mouse and feeds digital signals to the CPU when the mouse buttons are pressed. Currently, the mouse
has a sensor at the bottom to detect cursor position.

Basic versions if it has two buttons called the left and the right-click button and a wheel is present between
the buttons to provide a scroll function. The movement of the mouse on a flat surface is used to control the
position of the cursor on the display, but it cannot be used to feed text into the system directly.

Advantages
Easy to use

Not very expensive

The cursor movement is faster than the arrow keys of the keyboard.

Joystick

Just like a mouse, a Joystick is also a pointing device, which is used to travel the cursor position on a display.
It is a perpendicular stick having a spherical ball at both lower and upper ends. The spherical ball connected
at the circuit having sensors moves in a socket. The joystick controller can be traversed in all directions.

The functionality of the joystick is just like a mouse. Its applications are generally in Computer-Aided
Designing (CAD) and playing computer games.

Light Pen

Just like a pen, a light pen is a digital pointing device. This device is used to select an item displayed in the
menu or to draw anything on the display. It contains a photocell and an optical sensor placed in a small tube
at the tip.

When the light pen tip is traveled on the display, its photocell sensing element calculates the screen location
and sends the digital signal to the CPU.

Track Ball

The trackball is another type of input device similar to the mouse. It is most helpful with a notebook or laptop
computer, instead of a mouse. It consists of a ball on the top which is half inserted and connected to the
sensors. By moving fingers on the ball, the cursor can be moved.

Because the whole device is not moved to move the cursor, a trackball requires less space as compared to
the mouse. This device comes in different shapes like a ball, a square, or a button.

Scanner

A scanner is another input device, which works very much like a photocopy machine. It can be used when
some information on paper is to be transferred to the hard disk of the computer in digital format for further
manipulation.

The scanner captures high-resolution images from the source which are then converted into a digital format
that can be saved on the disk and shared digitally. These digital images can be edited before they are
printed.

Digitizer

A digitizer is also an input device that is used to convert analog information into digital form. Using a
digitizer, the signal from the television or camera can be transformed into a series of numbers that could be
saved in a computer hard drive. They can be helpful with the computer to create a picture of whatever the
camera has been pointed at.

Digitizer is also called Tablet or Graphics Tablet because it transforms graphics and pictorial data into binary
inputs to the system. A special kind of graphic tablet as a digitizer is used for fine works of drawing and
image-related applications.

Digitizer is a computer input device that has a flat surface and usually comes with a stylus. It enables the user to draw
images and graphics using the stylus as we draw on paper with a pencil. The images or graphics drawn on the digitizer
appear on the computer monitor or display screen. The software converts the touch inputs into lines and can also convert
handwritten text to typewritten words.

It can be used to capture handwritten signatures and data or images from taped papers. Furthermore, it is also used to
receive information in the form of drawings and send output to a CAD (Computer-aided design) application and software
like AutoCAD. Thus, it allows you to convert hand-drawn images into a format suitable for computer processing.
Microphone

A microphone or mic is a very common input device used to input sound that is then stored in a digital form.
Nowadays microphones are used in almost every industry and devices related to sound recording or
transmission.

The microphone is used for different applications like adding sound to a multimedia presentation or for
mixing music, voice calling and recording, video conferencing, and more.

Magnetic Ink Card Reader (MICR)

The MICR input device is commonly seen in banks as there are a huge amount of cheques to be processed
every day. The important details like the bank’s code number and cheque number are printed on the
cheques with specially designed ink based on the particles of magnetic material that is readable by the
sensors of the machine.

This method of reading is recognized as Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR). The main benefits of
using MICR are that it is comparatively fast and less prone to errors.

Optical Character Reader (OCR)

It is an input device that is used to read a printed text similar to the scanner, but the method of reading and
the type of output generated is different. The format to be fed to the OCR is predefined and can’t be used as
an ordinary scanner.

OCR, unlike a scanner, scans the text optically, character by character, converts them into a machine-
readable digital code instead of creating high-resolution images, and stores the text on the system memory.

Bar Code Readers

Bar Code Reader is an input device used to read special format barcoded data (data in the form of light and
dark lines). Barcoded data is commonly used to create price tags, in labeling goods, numbering the books,
etc. It can be a handheld scanner or can be embedded in a stationary scanner on the tabletop.

A flash of light from the device strikes the surface of the object and reflects the sensors present behind the
source of light to collect the input. Bar Code Reader can only scan a bar code image, converts it into an
alphanumeric value, which is then transferred to the computer that the bar code reader is connected to.

Optical Mark Readers (OMR)

OMR is a special type of input machine. This sort of optical scanner is used to identify the type of mark made
by pen or pencil. It is used where one out of a predefined alternative is to be selected and marked.

The format to be fed to the OMR is predefined and can’t be used as an ordinary scanner.

It is specially used for automation of the answer sheet analysis of examinations having multiple-choice
questions.

Webcam

A Webcam is a camera that is combined with a computer. Unlike a digital camera, they cannot function
independently and should be connected to the computer/laptop for operation. It functions as an input device
that can take pictures and is mostly used for video streaming and video conferencing or chatting.

Biometric Devices

Biometrics relates to a method in which a person is identified through his/her biological features such as
fingerprints, facial structure, eye cornea, etc. It is done by using biometric devices, which can be of different
types based on their scanning features and abilities, such as Face Scanner, Hand Scanner, Fingerprint
Scanner, Retina or Iris Scanner, Voice Scanner, etc.