Computer Peripherals

1. Input Devices

Input devices are used to capture the data and transmit it to the
computer system for further processing and in computer readable
form. Some of the input devices are as under:

a) Keyboard Devices:
keyboard devices are the most commonly used devices today.
They allow data entry into a computer system by pressing a set of
keys, which is connected to a computer system. Programs and data
are entered into a computer through a keyboard. A keyboard is
similar to a typewriter it contains Alphabets,digits,special chars and
some control keys.
When a key is pressed an electrical signal is produced which is
detected by an electronic circuit called keyboard encoder. Its
function is to detect which key has been pressed and send binary
code for it.

b) Point-and-Draw Devices:
1. Mouse:
Mouse is the most popular point-and-draw device today. A
mouse is called a pointing device. It moves across a flat
surface with the help of tracking balls. Its movement and
the direction of the movement is detected by two rotating
wheels on the underside of the mouse called sensors.

2. Light Pen:
A Light pen is a pointing device. It is used to select and write
the text on the CRT. It is capable of sensing a position on the
CRT screen when its tip touches the screen.

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3. Trackball:
A Trackball is a pointing device, similar to a mouse. The ball
is placed in the base of a mouse, is placed on the top along with
the buttons. To move the cursor around the screen the ball is
rolled with the fingers. because the whole device is not moved.
The cursor is often attached to or built into the keyboard.
Trackballs built into the keyboard are commonly used in
laptop(notebook) computers. because a mouse is not practical
for laptop users in a small place.
A Trackball comes in various shapes with the same
functionality. The commonly used shapes are a ball, a button
and a square. In case of a button, the button is pushed with a
finger in the desired direction. In the case of a ball, the ball is
rolled with the help of fingers to move the cursor.

4. Joystick:
A Joystick is also a pointing device. It is used to move the
cursor position on the CRT screen. Its function is similar to that
of a mouse. It is a stick which has spherical ball at its lower-end
as well as its upper-end. The lower spherical ball moves a
socket. The joystick can be moved right or left, forward and
backward. Mainly used in playing 3D games. On most joysticks,
a button on the top is provided to select the option.

5. Touch Screen:
A Touch screen enables the users to choose from available
options by simply touching with their fingers the desired icon or
menu displayed on the computer screen. Touch screens are
mostly preferred human-computer interface devices used in
information kiosks. Which is used to store information of public

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 interests and allows common people to access the stored
information as per their requirements.
Example:
 At an Airport or a railway station to provide
information to arriving passengers about hotels, tourist sports
etc. in the city.
 In large museums it guides about various attractions
and facilities.

c) Data scanning Devices:

Data scanning devices are input devices, which are used for
direct entry into the computer system from source documents.
Data Scanning Devices are of many types:

1. Image Scanner:
An Image scanner is an input device, which translates paper
documents into an electronic format which can be stored in a
computer. The Input document may be text, pictures and even
handwritten material. The copy of a document stored in a
computer and can be displayed or printed whenever desired.
Two common used types are:

a) Flatbed Scanner:
A Flatbed Scanner is like a copy machine, which consists of
box having glass plate on the top. The document to be scanned is
placed upside down on the glass plate the light is below the glass
plate and moves horizontally from left to right when activated.
After scanning one line the light beam moves up a little and
scans a next line. This process is repeated for all the lines.

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 b) Hand-held scanner:
A Hand-held scanner to scan a document, the scanner is
slowly dragged from one end of the document to its other end
with its lights on. The scanner has to be dragged very carefully
over the document. Otherwise the conversion of the document
into its equivalent bitmap will not be correct due to this reason
hand-held scanners are used only in cases where high accuracy
is not needed. They also much cheaper ass compared to flatbed
scanners.
When image scanners are used for inputting text
documents, they have the following limitations:

 Input document is stored as an image, instead of text. The

computer can't interpret the stored document as numbers
characters and special symbols.
 The storage required for storing the documents as an image is
much more than that required for storing the same document as
a text.

2) OCR (Optical Character Reader):

The OCR technology is used to overcome these
limitations. In this, the scanner is equipped with character
reorganization software called OCR software. This software
first creates the bitmap image of the document and then the
OCR software translates it into ASCII text, which the
computer can interpret as letters, numbers and special
characters. If the document contains Italics or Boldface letters
or fonts other than that for which the OCR software has been
designed, the OCR software will not work efficiently.

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3) OMR (Optical Mark Reader):
These scanners are capable of recognizing a type of mark made
by pencil or pen. For example, in many exams there is a objective
type test in which they had to mark their answers darkening a small
square by a pencil. These answer sheets are directly fed to a computer
for grading with the use of an optical mark reader.

4) Bar-code Reader:
Data coded in the form of small lines are known as bar codes.
Bar codes represent alphanumeric data by a combination of vertical
lines by varying their width and spacing between them. They are
particularly used for unique identification of all types of goods and
products.
Hand-held scanner scans a bar-code image and converts it into
an alphanumeric value, which is then fed to the computer to which
the bar-code reader is attached.
The first 5 of digits identify the manufacturer or supplier of the
product and the next 5 digits identify a specific product of the
manufacturer.

5) Magnetic-Ink Character Reorganization (MICR):

MICR is similar to OCR, and used by the banking industry for
faster processing of the large volume of cheques. This cheques are
special type of cheque includes bank’s identification code, account no
and the cheque no are pre-printed using special characters with a
special ink which contains magnetizable particles of iron oxide.
When a customer presents a filled-in cheque at a bank, a bank
employee manually enters the amount written on the cheque, the date
of transaction. Using an MICR reader the MICR reads the data or
takes it for further processing processes this cheque. This cheque also
ensures accuracy of data entry because most of the information is

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 pre-printed on the cheque and this is directly fed to the computer.

2) Output Devices:
An output device accepts data from a computer and translates
them into a form, which is suitable for use by the outside world.
Output devices can be broadly classified into the following
categories:

1.Monitors
2. Printers
3. Plotters
4. Screen Image Projector
5. Voice Response Systems

Output devices generates computer output, which can be classified

into the following two types:

1. Soft-copy Output:
A soft-copy output is an output, which is not produced on a paper
or some material, they are temporary in nature, and vanish after use.
For example, output displayed on a terminal screen or a spoken out
by a voice response system is a soft-copy output.

2. Hard-copy Output:
A Hard-copy output is an output, which produced on some paper
or material, which can be touched and carried out for being shown to
others. They are permanent in a nature and can be kept in paper files,
or it can be looked later, when the person not using the computer.

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1. Monitors:
Monitors are the most popular output devices used today for
producing soft-copy output. A monitor is usually associated with a
keyboard, and together they form a video display terminals (VDT). It
serves as both input/output devices. The two basic types of monitors
are Cathode-ray-tube (CRT) and flat-panel. The CRT monitors look
much like a television; on the other hand, the flat panel monitors are
thinner and lighter and are commonly used with portable computer
systems like notebook computers.

2. Printers:
Printers are the most commonly used output devices for producing
hard-copy output. The various types of printers are:
1. Dot-Matrix Printers:
Dot-Matrix printers are character printers, which print one
character at a time. They form the characters and all kinds of images
as a pattern of dots. A dot-matrix printer has a print head, which can
move horizontally across the paper. The print head contains an array
of pins, which can be activated independent of each other and strike
against an inked ribbon to form a patter of dots on the paper. To print
a character, the printer activates the appropriate set of pins as the
print head moves horizontally.
Dot-Matrix printers are impact printers because they print by
hammering the pins on the inked ribbon to leave ink impressions on
the paper. Due to impact printing, dot-matrix printers are noisy as
compared to non-impact printers. Dot-matrix printers are normally
slow with speeds ranging between 30 to 600 characters per second.

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 2. Ink jet Printers:
Ink jet printers are character printers,which form characters and
all kinds of images by spraying small drops of ink on to the paper.
The print head of an ink jet printer contains upto 64 tiny nozzles,
which can be selectively heated up in a few microseconds by an
integrated circuit register. When the register heats up, the ink near it
vaporizes, and is ejected through the nozzle, and makes a dot on the
paper placed in front of the print head. To print a character, the
printer selectively heats the appropriate set of nozzles as the print
head moves horizontally.
Inkjet printers produce higher quality output than dot-matrix
printers. Inkjet printers produce printed output as patterns of tiny
dots. They can print any shape of characters which a programmer can
describe. Inkjet printers can not be used to produce multiple copies of
a document in a single printing. Inkjet printers are slower than dot-
matrix printers with speeds ranging between 40 to 300 characters per
second. An Inkjet printer is more expensive than a dot-matrix printer.

3. Drum Printers:
Drum printers are line printers, which print one line at a time. It
consists of a solid drum with characters embossed on its surface in
the form of a circular bands. Each band consists of all the printing
characters supported by the printer in its character set. The printer has
a set of hammers mounted in front of the drum in a manner that an
inked ribbon and paper can be placed between the hammers and the
drum. The drum rotates at the high speed and a character at a print
position is printed by activating the appropriate hammer. The drum of
a printer is expensive and can't be changed often. Typical speed of
drum printers are in the range of 300 to 2000 lines per minute.

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4. Chain/Band Printers:
Chain/band printers are line printers, which print one line at a time.
It consists of a metallic chain/band on which all the characters of the
character set supported by the printer are embossed. The Printer has a
set of hammers mounted in front of the chain/band in a manner that
an inked ribbon can be placed between the hammers and the
chain/band.
The chain/band rotates at a high speed,and a character at a print
position is printed by activating the appropriate hammer. Just like
drum printers, chain/band printers can only print pre-defined set of
characters, which are embossed on the chain/band. Due to this
reason, chain/band printers do not have the ability to print any shape
of characters and different types of graphics. Speed of the
chain/band printer are in the range of 400 to 3000 lines per minute.

5. Laser Printers:
Laser printers are page printers, which print one page at a time.
The main components of a laser printer are a laser beam source. To
print a page of output the laser beam is focused on the electro
statically charged drum by the multi sided mirror. The mirror focuses
the laser beam on the surface of the drum in a manner to create the
patterns of the characters/images to be printed on the page. The toner
then permanently fused on the paper with heat and pressure to
generate the printed output. The drum is then rotated and cleaned
with rubber blade to remove the toner sticking to its surface to
prepare the drum for the next page printing. Laser printer produce
very high quality output. They have high resolution and because of
their high resolution these printers give excellent graphics art quality.
They can print any shape which a programmer can describe. Laser
printers can not be used to produce the multiple copies of a single
document in a single printing.
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3) Plotters:
Dot matrix, Inkjet and laser printers are capable of producing
graphics output, However many engineering design applications,
like architectural plan

of building, designing of a mechanical component of a car require

high-quality. Then we used special type of output device, called
plotters, is used for this purpose. Plotters are an ideal output device
for architects, engineers, city planners.

4) Screen Image Projector:

Screen image projector is an output device, which is used to
project information from a computer on to a large screen (such as a
cloth screen or a wall), so that can be simultaneously viewed by a
large group of people. This output device is very useful for making
presentations to a group of people with the direct use of a
computer. It can directly plugged to a computer system, and the
presenter can make a presentation to a group of people by projecting
the material one after another on a large screen with the help of a
computer's keyboard or mouse. Screen Image projectors have become
a common presentation equipment today.

5) Voice Response Systems:

Voice response system enables a computer to talk to a user.
A voice response system has an audio- response device, which
produces audio output. The output is temporary, soft-copy
output.Voice response system is of type:

a) Voice Reproduction System:

A Voice reproduction system produces audio output by selecting
an appropriate audio output from a set of pre-recorded audio

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responses. The set of pre-recorded audio responses may include
words, phrases or sentences spoken by the human beings. The
Analog recordings of the pre-recorded sound are first converted into
digital data and then permanently stored on the computer disk.
Voice reproduction systems are very useful in a wide range of
applications.
1. Banking Industry uses voice reproduction system in Automatic
Teller Machine to provide systematic guidance to customers on
how to transact with the bank by using an ATM.
2. Automatic Answering Machines. For example, telephone inquiries
for new telephone numbers in place of an old number , or vacancy
status of a particular flight or train is often taken care of by an
automatic answering machine.
3. Video games are made exciting and interesting by playing an
event-based sound from a set of pre-recorded sound.
4. Talking alarm clocks. For example every hour the clock speaks out
what the time by selecting the appropriate voice message
corresponding to that hour from the set of pre-recorded voice
messages else the clock may speak “its time to wake up” at the set
for alarm.

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