Chapter – 2

Input devices and their uses

Manual Input Device:
 Keyboard
 Mouse
 Touchpad
 Tracker ball
 Remote control
 Joystick and Driving wheel
 Touch screen
 Scanner
 Digital camera
 Video camera
 Microphone

Keyboards
Ergonomic keyboards
 Design to reduce the health-related problems such as repetitive strain injury (RSI)
 To enter text, number, some symbols
Advantages
 Easy to use for most people
 Fast data entry
Disadvantages
 Can be difficult to use if the user has limited arm use

Concept keyboard
 Concept keyboard uses icons or phrases.
 It is useful in restaurant environment.

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 Numeric keypads
 It is used to enter numbers only.
Uses
 ATM (Automatic teller machine)
 POS (Point of sale)
Advantages
 Faster than standard keyboard
Disadvantages
 Have small keys

Pointing Devices
Mouse
Uses: To control the pointer on the screen to
 Selecting Windows
 Clicking Icons\Menu Options
 Positioning Pointer
Advantages
 Easy to navigate through menu options
 Quicker to select an option compared to using a keyboard
Disadvantages
 Easily Damaged
 Flat surface required

 The left button is usually used to select items by double clicking.

 The right button brings up drop-down menus.

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Touchpad
Advantages
 Touchpad is integrated into laptop, there is no need for separate mouse.
Disadvantages
 Difficult to use when doing certain operation such as drag and drop

Tracker ball
Uses
 Used in control room
 Used for people with limited wrist movement
Advantages
 Easier to use
 Robust than mouse
Disadvantages
 Not supplied with computer as standard

Remote Control
 It is used to control the operation of other devices remotely.
Uses
 TV
 DVD players
 Air conditioner
Advantages
 Can be operated from any reasonable distance
Disadvantages
 It is easier to block the signal.

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Joysticks and Driving Wheel
Uses
 Computer games
 Flight simulators
 Car – driving simulation
Advantages
 Control is more realistic than mouse
 Driving experience is nearer to the actual steering wheel
Disadvantages
 Difficult to control on-screen pointer

Touch Screen
 User can choose an option by touching a button/ icon on the screen.
Uses
 ATM
 Public information system at airport
 POS
 Mobile phones
 Satellite navigation system
 Computer – based training (CBT)
Advantages
 User friendly
Disadvantages
 Limited number of options available
 The screen can get very dirty easily.

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Scanner
 Scanners are used to enter information from hard copy.
Uses
 Scan in old books, valuable books, thus protecting the originals
Advantages
 Images can be stored for editing
Disadvantages
 It depends on resolution of scanner.

Digital Camera
 The images are stored on a memory card and can be transferred to a computer.
 Connecting to the computer by using USB port, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
Advantages
 Produce better-quality photo
 Easier and faster to upload photo to a computer
Disadvantages
 The resolution is not as good as professional/ traditional cameras

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Video Camera
 DV (digital video) cameras
 They stored compressed photo frames – this is known as Motion jpeg.
Advantages
 DV format gives a very high quality of image
Disadvantages
 Expensive

Microphone
Use
 Used to input sound into a computer
 Used in voice recognition applications
Advantages
 Voice overs can be added to presentations.
 Recorded audio can be typed directly into Word Processor applications.
Disadvantages
 Voice recognition is not as accurate as typing text into computer.

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Sensors
 A sensor is a device that input data to a computer, the data is a measurement of
physical quantity that is continuously changing (for example: temperature, light,
moisture)
 Computer only understand digital data (0 or 1), the information from sensors needs
to be converted.
 Sensor understands analog data.
 By using
 ADC (Analog to Digital Converter)
 DAC (Digital to Analog Converter)
Advantages
 More accurate reading
 Readings are continuous
 System can be automatic
Disadvantages
 Faulty sensor can give wrong result

Temperature Sensor
Uses
 Washing machines
 Central heating systems
 Automatic glasshouse system
 Microwave ovens

Pressure Sensor
Uses
 Burglar alarm systems
 Washing machines
 Robotics
 Environmental monitoring system

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Light Sensor
Uses
 Automatic glasshouse
 Automatic doors
 Burglar alarm systems
 Street Lighting control

Sound/ Acoustic Sensor

Uses
 Burglar alarm systems
 Monitoring liquid and powder flow in pipe

Humidity/ Moisture Sensor

Uses
 Automatic glasshouse
 Environmental monitoring
 Factories where moisture levels are crucial

pH Sensor
Uses
 Automatic glasshouse
 Chemical process
 Environmental monitoring

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Graphic tablet
 A graphic tablet is used with a stylus to produce a freehand drawing.
 Used in Computer Aided Design (CAD)

Webcams
 Uses in Video Conferencing
 Face-to-face video chatting
Disadvantages
 Poor quality compare with professional camera

Light Pens
 Light pen is used with computer as an input device.
 They contain sensors that send signals to a computer whenever light changes are
detected.
 Drawing on CRT screen
Advantages
 Accurate
 Easy to use technology
Disadvantage
 Outdated one

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Stylus Pen
 It is a small pen-shaped instrument whose tip position on a computer monitor or
touchscreens.
 It is used to draw or make selections by tapping.

Direct Data Entry Devices

1. Magnetic stripe reader
2. Contactless card reader
3. Chip and PIN reader
4. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) reader
5. Magnetic Ink Character reader (MICR)
6. Optical Mark reader (OMR)
7. Optical Character reader (OCR)
8. Barcode reader
9. Quick Response (QR) code reader

Magnetic Stripe Reader

Uses
 Credit cards
 debit cards at ATM or EFTPOS (electronic funds transfer at point of sale)
 Security devices to entry to buildings and hotel rooms
Advantages
 Fast data entry comparing key in with a keyboard or keypad.
 Error free because no need to type
 Not effect by oil, water
Disadvantages
 If the magnetic stripe gets damaged, the data is lost.
 Doesn't work at a distance

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Contactless card reader
 Allow customers to pay for items without entering their PIN
 Contactless cards have a small chip that emits radio waves
Advantages
 Faster transactions
 Use 128-bit encryption to protect data
Disadvantages
 More expensive than normal credit/debit card
 Can take money twice
 Transaction is limited to small value ($25)

Chip and PIN reader

 Chip and PIN reader are used at EFTPOS (Electronic Fund Transfer Point of Sales)
 The customer has to key in their PIN to make a transaction
 Do not make use of Radio Frequency Technology
Uses
 Restaurants
 Supermarkets
 travel agents
Advantages
 More Secure and robust system than magnetic stripe cards
Disadvantages
 Need to be careful to ensure PIN is not read by somebody else

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Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) reader
 Used radio waves to read and capture information stored on a tag.
 The RFID tag is made up of two components:
 A microchip that stores and processes information
 An antenna that is used to receive and transmit data
Uses
 Livestock tracking
 Retail
 Admission passes
 Libraries
Advantages
 Very robust and reliable technology
 Very fast read rate
 Bidirectional data transfer
Disadvantages
 Tag collision
 Easy to interrupt because RFID uses radio waves
 Expensive

Magnetic Ink Character reader (MICR)

 Characters are printed with a special ink (containing iron partials)
 Printed at the bottom of a bank cheque
Uses
 To process cheques in banking operations
Advantages
 Greater security than OCR
 No manual input
Disadvantage
 Only certain characters can be read
 More expensive than other method

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Optical Mark reader (OMR)
 Optical Mark reader (OMR) is a device that can read marks written in pen or pencil.
Uses
 Questionnaires
 Multiple choice exam
Advantages
 Very fast way of inputting the result of a survey
 No typing
 More accurate than OCR
Disadvantages
 The forms need to be carefully designed
 Can be problems if the forms haven't been filled in correctly.

Optical Character reader (OCR)

 Software that takes scanned text and converts it into computer-readable form.
Uses
 Processing of Passports and identity cards
Advantages
 Faster data-entry than manually keying in data
 No manual data entry
Disadvantages
 Still has difficulty reading handwriting
 Not a very accurate technique

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Barcode reader
 Barcode readers are used to read information in the form of a barcode.
Uses
 Supermarkets,
 Libraries,
 Safety function, etc.
Advantages
 Faster than keying in data manually
 They allow automatic stock control
Disadvantages
 More easily damaged than RFID tags
 Barcodes can be swapped around on items

Quick Response (QR) code

 Quick Response (QR) code is made up of a matrix of filled in dark squares on a light
background.
 QR code can hold over 7000 digits.
 Can read QR code by using built-in camera facility on modern phone.
 QR code contains telephone number, website URL, advertisement info and etc.

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Output devices and their uses
Output Devices
1. Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitors
2. Thin film transistor (TFT) monitors
3. Liquid Crystal Diode (LCD) and Light Emitting Diode (LED) monitors
4. Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) screens
5. Touch screen
6. Multimedia Projectors
7. Laser Printers
8. Inkjet Printers
9. Dot matrix Printers
10. 3-D Printers
11. (Graph) plotter

Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Monitors

 The picture is made up of tiny dots that are colored red, green, blue.
Uses
 The primary output device for computers
Advantages
 The angle of viewing is better than thin film transistor (TFT) monitors.
Disadvantages
 It is heavy and run very hot, it consumes more power.

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Thin film transistor (TFT) monitors
 The screen is made up of thousands of tiny pixels, which are made up of transistors
controlled by a microprocessor.
Uses
 The primary output device for computers
Advantages
 Lightweight,
 emit less radiation,
 consume less power
Disadvantages
 The angle of viewing a TFT is fairly critical otherwise the image is not very clear.

LCD and LED Monitors

LCD: Liquid crystal display/diode
 The front layer of the monitor is made up of LCD.
 Tiny diode is grouped together in three or four which are known as pixels.
 The colors (red, green, blue, yellow) are group together.
LED: Light emitting diode
 LCD monitors backlit using LED.
 LED gives whiter light which sharpens the image.
 LED gives brighter light which improves the color.

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OLED monitors
 OLED: Organic light emitting diode
 They use organic materials (made up of carbon compounds) to create semi-
conductors.
 Organic films are sandwiched between two charged electrodes.
 Metallic cathode
 Glass anode
 No form of backlighting is required.
 No longer a need to use LCD technology.
 OLEDs allow screens to be curved, which ensure a good picture from any angle.
Advantages
 The plastic, organic layers of OLED are thinner, lighter, and more flexible than
LCD/LED.
 OLED layers can be made from plastic rather than glass.
 OLED give a brighter light than LCD/LED.
 OLED uses less power than LCD/LED.
 OLED can be made into large, thin sheets.
 OLED have a very large field of view about 170 degrees.

Touch screen
 can work as both an input device and as an output device
 Smartphones and tablets
 ATMs at banks
 Ticket collection machines at theatres, cinemas and railway stations
 Information kiosks at museums or art galleries

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Multimedia Projector
 The projector receives signals from computer of TV.
 The image is magnified and projected on to a large screen.
Uses
 Training presentation, advertising presentation, home cinemas
Advantages
 Can see the video on the large screen
Disadvantages
 Expensive

Laser Printer
 Produce very high-quality hard-copy output.
Uses
 Office
Advantages
 Printing is fast.
 Can handle large print jobs.
 Quality is high.
Disadvantages
 Expensive
 They produce ozone.

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Inkjet Printer
 Produce good quality hard copies.
 Inkjet printer don't have large buffer, printing is done a bit at a time.
Uses
 Low output volume is required to print.
 High quality printing is required for a single page.
 Producing photo-quality printouts
Advantages
 High quality output
 Cheaper than laser printer
 Don't produce ozone
Disadvantages
 Slow output
 Can't do large print job
 Original ink cartridge is expensive.

Dot matrix printers

 Type of impact printer where a print head presses against an inked ribbon.
Uses
 Noisy environments (example: garage workshops)
Advantages
 Multiple/Carbon copies output can be produced
 Very cheap
Disadvantages
 Very noisy
 Very slow
 Poor quality printing

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3-D Printers
 Uses in computer-aided design (CAD) applications
 They are based on inkjet and laser printer technology and can produce solid objects.
 The solid object is built up layer by layer using materials such as
 Powdered Resin
 Powdered metal
 Paper or Ceramic
Features of 3-D printing
 3-D printers use
 additive manufacturing (i.e.; the object is built up layer by layer)
 Subtractive manufacturing (i.e.; the removal of material to make an object)
 Direct 3-D printing uses inkjet technology; a print head can move left to right and
move up to down to build up the layers of an object
 Binder 3-D printing uses two passes for each of the layers: the first pass sprays dry
powder then, on the second pass, a binder (a type of glue) is sprayed to form a solid
layer.
 Newer technologies use lasers and UV light to harden liquid polymers; this further
increases the diversity of products that can be made.

The process of producing 3-D object

 A design is made using computer-aided design (CAD) Software.
 The finalised drawing is imported into some special software that prepares it in a
format that is understood by the 3-D printer.
 The 3-D printer is set up to allow the solid object to be made.
 The solid object is built up layer by layer.
 The object is removed from the printer and then prepared for example:
 use a jelly-like support that needs to be washed away by immersion in water
 require the removal of excess plastic powder
 Require the cutting away of unused material, etc.

3-D printing applications

 Education
 Prototyping and Manufacturing
 Medicine
 Construction
 Art and Jewelry
 Food manufacturing industry,etc.

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Advantages
 The manufacturing of items has become much easier than ever before.
 a user to create their own designs in 3-D and have them printed in solid form.
 3-D printers can manufacture items relatively quickly, it allows rapid prototyping.
 3-D printing is very high, it is still less when compared to labour costs and other
costs.
 Medical benefits are emerging, such as producing artificial organs, prosthetics and
precision-made items for reconstructive surgery.

Disadvantages
 3-D printers is the potential to make counterfeit items or items that infringe others'
copyright.
 With the possibility of creating almost anything with a 3-D printer, this technology
could be used to manufacture dangerous items by almost anyone.
 Potential for job losses if this technology takes over from some types of
manufacturing.

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(Graph) plotters
 print on paper
 Instead of toner or ink cartridges, plotters use a pen, pencil or marker pen to draw
multiple continuous lines, rather than a series of dots like a printer.
 They produce vector graphic drawings and are often used in conjunction with CAD
and CAM (computer aided manufacturing).
Uses
 Producing architectural drawings.
 Producing engineering drawings.
 Drawing animation characters (cartoon characters)
Advantages
 Very high-quality output.
 Able to produce large, monochrome and color drawings to a high accuracy.
 Able to print on a variety of materials (for example, aluminum, cardboard, plastic,
steel and wood) as well as paper
Disadvantages
 Very slow at printing.
 Expensive equipment (and software) to purchase initially; although running costs are
low once purchased.
 Have a very large physical footprint compared to a printer

Speakers
 Speakers can be connected directly to a computer or are built into the monitor or
casing
 Digital data from the computer is converted into analogue form using a digital to
analogue converter (DAC) and the signal amplified through the speakers,

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Control Devices
1. Actuators
2. Motors
3. Buzzers
4. Lights
5. Heaters

Actuators
 Actuators are transducers.
 Transducers are devices that change variations in a physical quantity (such as
pressure or rotation) into an electrical signal or vice versa.
 They are used to take signals from a computer and convert them into some form of
motion.
 Example: operating motors, pumps, switches and valves.

Motors
 The motor is turned on or off by the actuator.
Uses
 automatic washing machines (to make the drum rotate)
 cookers (to switch on fans)
 water pumps in central heating systems
 automatic glasshouses to open windows and switch on fans.
 control of robot arms industry.
 Control of fans, disk drives and DVD drives in computer

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Buzzers
 The buzzers are switched on or off by the actuator.
Uses
 Cookers and microwave ovens to tell the operator when the cooking process is
complete.
 Burglar alarm systems to warn of intruders.

Lights
 The actuator is connected to the switch that turns the lights on or off.
Uses
 security lights
 glasshouses to control the lighting conditions.

Heaters
 Actuators are connected to switches that turn the heater on or off.
Uses
 automatic washing machines to heat up the water if necessary.
 automatically control the temperature in an oven or hot plate.
 control the heating in a central heating system.
 temperature control in an automatic glasshouse.

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