• Image Capture

• • Light enters through / is focussed by the lens; on to (an array of sensors on) the sensor chip
A. light sensors capture / record light (intensity) A. CCD as sensor;
• • Each sensor produces an electrical current / signal;
• • The signal represents a pixel;
• • An (ADC) converts measurement of light intensity into binary / digital data;
• • (Colour) filter is applied to generate separate data values for red, green and blue colour
components;
• • The pixels are recorded as a group / array;
• Run-Length Encoding
• • The image is analysed to identify runs / sequences of the same colour / value N.E. patterns;
• • The colours / values and counts of pixels / values / run-lengths are represented / identified /
stored A. example;
Starter – GCSE Recall
• What is hardware?
• What is software?
• What is an operating systems? Purpose? Examples?
Hardware and Software
Learning Objectives
• Define the terms hardware and software and understand the
relationship between them
• Explain what is meant by system software and application software
• Understand the need for, and attributes of, different types of software
• Understand the function of operating systems, utility programs,
libraries and translators
Hardware and software
Unit 4 Hardware and software

Hardware
• Hardware describes the electrical or electro-mechanical parts of a
computer system
• Things that are hard and therefore can touched
Hardware and software
Unit 4 Hardware and software

Software
• Software comprises all of the programs that make the computer
function
• Opposite of hardware
Hardware and software
Unit 4 Hardware and software

Hardware and software

• Identify which is hardware and which is software:

Hardware Software
Webcam
RAM Memory chip
Android Operating System
Microphone
Virus checker
Hardware and software
Unit 4 Hardware and software

Hardware and software

• Identify which is hardware and which is software:

Hardware Software
Webcam ✓
RAM Memory chip ✓
Android Operating System ✓
Microphone ✓
Virus checker ✓
 Software

System Application
Software Software

Operating Utility General Special

Systems Programs Purpose Purpose

Library
Translators
Programs
Hardware and software
Unit 4 Hardware and software

Systems software
• System software is required to run and manage the computer’s
hardware and application programs
System Software Examples
• Allocating jobs to the processor… multi-tasking
• Peripheral management… drivers
• Maintaining security and checking for viruses… antivirus
• Software installation... Installs for programs
• Translating program code into machine code… see next slid
System Software… Beautiful Translation
 Software

System Application
Software Software

Operating Utility General Special

Systems Programs Purpose Purpose

Library
Translators
Programs
Hardware and software
Unit 4 Hardware and software

Operating System
• An OS serves as a middle-man for communication between
the computer’s hardware and software
The tasks of an OS include:
• Resource management (Processor scheduling, memory management,
backing store management and IO management)
• Provision of a user interface
(Command line, Menu driven or GUI)

• How do these serve as a middle-man for communication between the

computer’s hardware and software???
 Software

System Application
Software Software

Operating Utility General Special

Systems Programs Purpose Purpose

Library
Translators
Programs
Hardware and software
Unit 4 Hardware and software

Utility software
• Some utility software is designed to analyse, configure,
optimise or maintain a computer system
• Defragment a disk, install/uninstall software, keep software up-to-date,
monitor resources and performance
• Some utilities perform additional common tasks needed by
most or all users
• Virus checkers
• Automatic backup and restore
• File compression software such as WinZip to reduce file sizes before
transmission
Hardware and software
Unit 4 Hardware and software

Example of a utility program

• If your Windows PC goes badly wrong and you seem to have lost all
your settings, you can run a utility program called System Restore
Hardware and software
Unit 4 Hardware and software

Hardware and software

• Complete Task 1 of Worksheet 1
 Software

System Application
Software Software

Operating Utility General Special

Systems Programs Purpose Purpose

Library
Translators
Programs
Hardware and software
Unit 4 Hardware and software

Libraries
• A library is a collection of pre-compiled routines that
can be used by other programs
• Programmers can invoke library subroutines to save having to
re-write code
• Python has math, random and turtle libraries for example
• Similar libraries exist in most programming languages

• What libraries have you imported into any of the

programs you have written?
Hardware and software
Unit 4 Hardware and software

Operating system libraries examples

• In Windows, library files are given the extension: .dll
 Software

System Application
Software Software

Operating Utility General Special

Systems Programs Purpose Purpose

Library
Translators
Programs
Hardware and software
Unit 4 Hardware and software

Translators and machine code

• Machine code is the lowest level of instruction
comprising pure binary
• All computer instructions need to be converted into machine
code
• A translator is used to translate code written in
assembly language or other high level code into
machine-code
• There are three types of translator
• Can you name them?
• Are translators utility programs?
Hardware and software
Unit 4 Hardware and software

Types of translator
• Assemblers translate assembly language into
machine code
• Compilers translate high-level language programs
into object code (machine code) which can be saved
and run whenever needed, without the compiler
having to be present
• Interpreters also translate high-level language
programs – more detail in another lesson
• Translators are not classified as utility programs
Hardware and software
Unit 4 Hardware and software

Application software
• Application software allows you to complete different
tasks. Examples include:
• Word processors
• Image editors
• Accounting packages
• Internet browsers
• Email clients
 Software

System Application
Software Software

Operating Utility General Special

Systems Programs Purpose Purpose

Library
Translators
Programs
Hardware and software
Unit 4 Hardware and software

Application software categories

Application
Software

General Purpose Special Purpose

Off-the-shelf Bespoke
Hardware and software
Unit 4 Hardware and software

General purpose software

• General purpose software packages can be used for
a range of generic tasks
• These include:
• Word processors – for letters, posters or textbooks
• Graphics packages – for image retouching, photo editing or
drawing diagrams
• Spreadsheet software – for modelling, creating tables of data
or lists
Hardware and software
Unit 4 Hardware and software

Special-purpose software
• Special-purpose software performs tasks for a
single, specific job
• Examples include:
• Payroll or accountancy software
• Media players
• Calendar programs
• Online payment systems
Hardware and software
Unit 4 Hardware and software

Application software
• Complete the table below:

General purpose Special-purpose

Presentation software
Driving simulator
Route finding application
Calculator
Video editing suite
Hardware and software
Unit 4 Hardware and software

Application software
• Complete the table below:

General purpose Special-purpose

Presentation software ✓
Driving simulator ✓
Route finding application ✓
Calculator ✓
Video editing suite ✓
Hardware and software
Unit 4 Hardware and software

Off-the-shelf software
• Special purpose software can be off-the-shelf, or
bespoke
• What are the benefits and drawbacks of off-the-shelf
software?
Hardware and software
Unit 4 Hardware and software

Off-the-shelf software
• Benefits:
• Off-the-shelf software is readily available for anyone to use
• The cost is usually lower because development costs are shared
among all the buyers
• It is likely to be well-documented and well-tested

• Drawbacks
• You have little or no control over what features there are
• It may not do exactly what you want
Hardware and software
Unit 4 Hardware and software

Bespoke software
• Bespoke software is created to fulfil your own exact
specifications
• This can significantly increase
the cost
• It may take several weeks,
months or even years to develop
• Complete control over the
process gives you all the
functionality you need
Hardware and software
Unit 4 Hardware and software

Hardware and software

• Complete Task 2 on Worksheet 1