SAMOA COLLEGE
YEAR 13 COMPUTER STUDIES
Lecture 01-C
Personal Computer Systems and
Management
Topic: “Introduction to Computers”
Peripherals
Peripheral devices are hardware parts that
connect to the system unit from outside
Most are split into two main categories: Input Devices
and Output Devices
Input devices send commands and data into the
system unit.
Output devices receive data that has been sent out
of the system unit.
They let the user know what the computer has
processed.
Input Devices
A Keyboard is used to type information into the computer
The Mouse is a
pointing device that controls the
computer using buttons and the
movement of the mouse.
Scanners copy paper documents or photos into the
computer
Pointing Devices
Pointing Devices are used to move the cursor on a
computer screen
The mouse is one example of a pointing device. Others
include:
Trackball: a small ball
set in a holder that can
be rotated by thumb to
move the cursor
Pointing Stick: a movable stub
set in a laptop keyboard that is
touched to move the cursor.
Also called a Track Point.
Pointing Devices (cont…)
Graphics Tablet: a flat, touch-
sensitive pad that the user draws on or
points at with a special stylus (or
“light-pen”)
Joystick: a lever that can be moved
in many directions to control the
movement on a computer screen.
Usually for playing computer games
Remember: All of these Pointing Devices are
still Input Devices too. Like the mouse and
keyboard, they send commands and data into the
system unit.
Output Devices
The monitor displays current video data in the
computer
A projector uses a beam of light to display the
video on the wall or on a pull-down screen
Printers are responsible for the output of
computer documents onto paper
Speakers play sound from your programs or
play music CD’s and DVD’s from your optical
drive
Monitor
Monitor – Also known as a screen or VDU (visual display unit).
Displays current data on the computer (output device). There are two
main types of monitors.
One is the CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) monitor, found on most
desktops.
The other is the LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) found on all laptops and
on the new flat panel monitors. The display is an output device.
LCD Monitor
CRT Monitor
Differences between Monitors
Item LCD CRT
Display Liquid Crystals Electron Gun
Cost Expensive Cheap
Weight Light Heavy
View At certain angles, the picture can be Always clear, but fingerprints
darker. Fingerprints have little or no really
affect. smudge the screen.
Projectors
Projector - An external device that is used to show or
project video from your computer, onto a wall screen.
A projector plugs into the VGA port, just like a monitor, and enlarges
the picture through a system of lenses, (magnifying glasses) then uses
a beam of light to display the video on the wall or on a pull-down
screen.
It’s the same device that a movie theatre uses to show movies with.
It is an Output Device
Other Peripherals
Some peripherals are not exactly input or output devices
Multifunction Devices
have a printer, a scanner
and a fax machine all built
into one unit
This means that they are input and output
Flash Drives store data on flash memory chips (like RAM &
ROM)
These are external storage devices
Digital Cameras
Digital Photo Cameras are for taking still
images and photographs that can be
transferred to the computer’s hard
drive and viewed on the monitor
Digital Video Cameras record movies to digital videotape which can
be edited with a computer Sometimes called camcorders
Web Cameras are video cameras that input to a computer
connected to the Internet, so that Internet users can view its
images
Commonly referred to as a web-cam
