Elements of

Computer
 Elements of
Computer
Computers are deeply ingrained in
every part of our lives. It has been
used at different sectors in our
society. With this, there is a need to
understand the elements of
computers and how it works. This
lesson will cover all necessary
things you need to know about
elements of a computer.
 ELEMENTS

• HARDWARE
• SOFTWARE
• DATA
• PEOPLEWARE
 Hardware
• It includes all physical devices and
materials in a computer system.
 Hardware
Computer systems
Computer peripherals
Telecommunications
networks
 Hardware
Components

 Input devices
 Output devices
 Storage devices
 The Central Processing Unit
 Input devices
• These are designed for data entry
operations.
• Translate data into a form that the
computer can process.
• They read and transmit data to the
main memory of the computer.
• It allows direct human or machine
communications while other require
data to be recorded on an input
medium.
 Keyboard versus Direct
Entry
Keyboard entry devices ~ input
comes by typing a “source
document” into the computer.
Direct entry devices ~ input comes
in directly in machine-readable
form, no keyboard.
 Keyboard
• The most widely used device for
entering data and text into
computer systems.
• It is a peripheral modelled after
the typewriter keyboard.
Keyboards are designed for the
input of text and characters, and
also to control the operation of the
computer.
Keyboard
 Electronic Mouse
• A mouse is an input device used to
move cursor on the screen, as well
as to issue commands and make
icon and menu selections.
• It is called a mouse primarily because
the cord on early models resembled the
rodent's tail, and also because the
motion of the pointer on the screen can
be mouse like…
Computer
Mouse
 Trackball
A trackball is a pointing device
consisting of a ball housed in a
socket containing sensors to
detect rotation of the ball about
two axes—like an upside-down
mouse, but with the ball sticking
out more. The user rolls the ball
with their thumb, fingers, or the
palm of their hand to move a
cursor.
trackb
 Joystick
• These are often used to control
games, and usually have one or
more push-buttons whose state
can also be read by the computer.
• They look like a small gear shift
level set in a box.
joystic
k
 Touch Sensitive
Screen
• Are devices that allow you to use a
computer by touching the surface
of its video display screen.
• Such screen emit a grid of infrared
beams, sound waves, or a slight
electric current, which is broken
when the screen is touched.
Touch Sensitive
Screen
 Light pen
• A light pen is a device similar to a
touch screen, but is facilitated by
use of a special light sensitive pen
instead of the finger. The
advantage of using a pen is that
more accurate screen input is
possible than with a touch screen.
Light
 Graphics tablet
• A graphics or digitizing tablet
consists of a tablet connected by a
wire to a stylus or puck. A stylus is
a pen-like device with which the
user "sketches" an image.
• Digitizing tablets are used
primarily in design and
engineering.
Digitizing
Tablet
 Voice Recognition
• It converts a person's speech into
digital code by comparing the electrical
patterns produced by the speaker's
voice with a set of prerecorded patterns
stored in the computer.
• Operators train the system to recognize
their voices by repeating each word in
the vocabulary about ten times.
Voice-Recognition
Technology
 Scanner
• Converts text, drawings, and
photographs into digital form that can
be stored in a computer system and
then manipulated, output, or sent via
modem to another computer. The
system scans each image--color or
black and white--with light and breaks
the image into light and dark dots or
color dots, which are then converted to
digital code.
Image
Scanners
 Bar-code reader
• Photoelectric scanners that
translate the bar-code symbols
into digital code.
• Another scanning device reads bar
codes, the vertical zebra-striped
marks you see on most
manufactured retail products.
Bar-code
Readers
 Optical Character
Recognition
• Uses a device that reads preprinted
characters in a particular font (typeface
design) and converts them to digital
code.
• Examples of the use of OCR characters
are utility bills and price tags on
department-store merchandise, billing
operations of credit card companies,
banks and oil.
Optical Character
Recognition
 Mark-Recognition &
Character-Recognition
Devices
Magnetic Ink Character Recognition
(MICR)
• It reads the strange-looking numbers
printed at the bottom of checks.
Optical Mark Recognition (OMR)
• It uses a device that reads pencil marks
and converts them into computer-
usable form.
 Magnetic Stripe
• A form of magnetic data entry that
helps computer reads credit cards.
The dark magnetic stripe on the
back of the credit and debit cards
is the same iron oxide coating as
on magnetic tape.
 Other Input devices

• Digital camera, PC camera, Web

cam
• Sensor
• Human Biology systems
 Output devices
• The component of computer system
that gives out to the user the results of
the processed data.
• The Information is transmitted from the
CPU to this output device, where is then
printed or recorded.
 Softcopy versus
Hardcopy
Softcopy ~ data that is shown on a
display screen or is in audio or voice
form. This kind of output is not tangible;
it cannot be touched.
Hardcopy ~ Printed output. The principal
examples are printouts, whether text or
graphics, from printers.
 Display Screens
• also variously called monitors,
CRTs, or simply screens--are
output devices that show
programming instructions and
data as they are being input and
information after it is processed.
 Types of Display
Screen

• A CRT or cathode-ray tube

• Flat-panel displays
 Types of Display
Screen
• A CRT for cathode-ray
tube, is a vacuum tube
used as a display screen in
a computer or video display
terminal.
 Types of Display
Screen
• Flat-panel displays are
made up of two plates of glass
with a substance in between
them, which is activated in
different ways.
 Flat Panel Display
Technology
• Liquid crystal display (LCD).
• Plasma display
• Electroluminescent
• Gas-plasma display
Flat-panel
displays
 Screen Clarity
• Whether CRT or flat-panel
display, screen clarity depends
on three qualities: resolution,
dot pitch, and refresh rate.
 Resolution
• The image sharpness of a
display screen is called its
resolution; the more pixels
there are per square inch, the
finer the level of detail
attained.
 Dot Pitch
• Is the amount of space
between the centers of
adjacent pixels; the closer the
dots, the crisper the image.
 Refresh rate
• is the number of times per
second that the pixels are
recharged so that their glow
remains bright.
 Printer
• An output device that prints
characters, symbols, and
perhaps graphics on paper or
another hardcopy medium.
 Classification
• According to the amount of information
printed at a time.
– Character serial printer
– Line printer
– Page printer
• According to operation
– Impact
– Non-impact
• According to style
 Examples of Printer
• Impact printers can produce a page, a
line, or a character at a time. Large
computers use line printers. The main
drawback to line printers is that they
can produce only text--no graphics.
– A dot-matrix printer contains a print head
of small pins, which strike an inked ribbon
against paper, forming characters or
images.
Dot Matrix
 Examples of Printer
• Non-impact printers form
characters and images without
making direct physical contact
between printing mechanism and
paper.
• Two types of non-impact printers
often used with microcomputers
are laser printers and ink-jet
printers.
 Types of Non-Impact
• Laser printer uses the principle of
dot-matrix printers of creating
images with dots. These images
are created on a drum, treated
with a magnetically charged ink-
like toner (powder), and then
transferred from drum to paper.
 Types of Non-Impact
• Ink-jet printers spray small,
electrically charged droplets of ink
from four nozzles through holes in
a matrix at high speed onto paper.
• Thermal printers use colored
waxes and heat to produce images
by burning dots onto special
paper.
Examples of
Printers
 Plotter
• Is like a printer, produces hard-
copy output. Plotters, which
produce high-quality color
graphics, are usually categorized
by whether they use pens or
electrostatic charges to create
images.
• They are used in applications such
as architecture and engineering.
Plotte
r
 Audio Speaker
• Audio speaker is a second type of soft
copy. New computer systems have such
good audio systems that it is possible
to listen to music while you work, have
the computer tell you when the printer
needs paper, play games that include
sound, or compose music on the
computer.
Audio
Output/Speaker
 Storage Devices
Computer systems have two
main types of storage devices
– primary and secondary.
 Primary Storage
• memory, main memory, internal
memory, or RAM.
• working storage that holds (1) data for
processing, (2) instructions for
processing the data, (3) processed data
that is waiting to be sent to an output
or secondary storage device.
• temporary and volatile (contents are
lost when power is turned off).
 Capacity
• The amount of information that
can be stored on the medium.
Unit Description Approximate Size
1 bit 1 binary digit
1 nibble 4 bits
1 byte 8 bits 1 character
1 kilobyte 1,024 bytes ≈1/2 page, double spaced
1 megabyte 1,048,576 bytes ≈500,000 pages
1 million bytes
1 gigabyte 1,073,741,824 bytes ≈5 million pages
1 billion bytes
1 terabyte 1 trillion bytes ≈5 billion pages
 Primary Storage
Types of Primary Storage
• RAM (non-permanent)
– Programs and data can be stored here for the
computer’s use.
– Volatile: All information will be lost once the
computer shuts down.
• ROM (permanent)
– Contents do not change.

• CMOS (Complimentary MetalOxide

Semiconductor)
– Special type of RAM, which uses less power than
normal.
 Secondary Storage
• Is use when there is a need to
keep information for later use. It
can store large amounts of data
and retain even when the
computer is turned off.
– Hard disk, Diskette, CD-ROM,
Magnetic tape
 The CPU
• Central Processing Unit ( CPU )
– Often referred to as the “brain” of
the computer.
– Responsible for controlling all
activities of the computer system.

Motherboard ~ The place where

most of the electronics including
the CPU are mounted.
 Major Components
1. Arithmetic and Logic Unit
(Computations performed)
Accumulator (Results of
computations kept here)
2. Control Unit (Has two locations
where numbers are kept)
Instruction Register
(Instruction placed here for analysis)
Program Counter (Which
instruction will be performed next?)
3. Instruction Decoding Unit
(Decodes the instruction)
 SOFTWARE
It includes all sets of information
processing instructions. This generic
concept of software includes not only the
sets of operating instructions called
programs, which direct and control
computer hardware, but also the sets of
information processing instructions needed
by people, called procedures. So even
information systems that don’t use
computers have a software resource
component.
 SOFTWARE
RESOURCES
• Systems Software -enables the applications to
interact with the computer and manage its internal
resources. It consists of several programs, the most
important of which is the operating system or OS. The
OS is the master control program, which gives the user
an interactive control over the computer.

• Application Software -used to perform a general

or specific task, such as word processing.

• Procedures – which are operating instructions for

the people who will use an information system.
Examples are instructions on using a software package
or user’s manual.
 DATA
Data is more than the raw material of
information systems. The concept of data
resources has been broadened by
managers and information systems
professionals. They realized that data
constitute a valuable organizational
resource.
 FORMS OF DATA
 Alphanumeric data - composed of numbers and
alphabetical and other characters that describe
business transactions and other events and entities.
 Text Data, consisting of sentences and paragraphs
used in written communications,
 Image data such as graphic shapes and figures,
and
 Audio data, the human voice and other sounds, are
also important forms of data.
 PEOPLEWARE
- are required for the operation of all information systems.
These people resources include end users and
Information system specialists.
DATA PROCESSING

Input Process Output Storage

Have a nice day!
From
Mam Kat