UNIT 2

INPUT /OUTPUT DEVICES

INPUT DEVICES
• An input device is used to feed data
into computer.
• Input device is capable of converting
data into a form which can be recognised by
computer.
• The device used to accept the data and instructions
from the user is called input device.
Some of the important input devices which
are used in computer:
Keyboar Track ball
d Scanner
Mouse MICR
Joystick OMR
Light
pen
KEYBOARD
 The most common input device.
 Used to enter both numerical and
character type data.
 It is like a mechanical type writer
with alpha numeric and special
keys, punctuation keys,functional
keys to perform specific
 KEYBOARD
• The keyboard contain 101keys or 104 keys.

• The keyboard detects the key pressed and generates the

corresponding ASCII codes which can be recognised by
computer.
Types of computer
1)Standard
keyboard
2)Ergonomics
3)Wireless
keyboard
4)virtual
keyboard
5)Compact
keyboard
Standard keyboard
 Standard keyboard have their
basic layout.
 The average number of keys on a
regular
keyboard is 105/108.
 QWERTY keyboards are the most
common to have the six alphabets
Q,W,E,R,T,Y in the first row.
Wireless keyboard
 It is a keyboard that does not need
to connect to the computer via a
wire.
 This makes very convenient for the
use the keyboard comfortably.
 Wireless keyboard use Bluetooth,
Infrared (IR)to connect to the
computer.
Virtual keyboard

It is a software device that lead to use

input data like hardware keyboard.
They open up as an application and
can be controlled by mouse or wire
touch screen.
Compact keyboard
 These keyboards are slim .
 It do not have the numerical keypad that is present on the right
side of keyboard these are typically used in laptops.
Mouse(pointing based input device)
 Mouse I an input device that controls the
movement of the cursor on the display screen.
 MOUSE stands for “Mechanically Operated User
Serial Engine”.
 The mouse is used as pointing device.
 Mouse is a small device,you can roll/navigate along a
flat surface.
Mouse(continuation)
 In a mouse,a small ball/IR rays is kept inside and touches the pad
through a hole at the bottom of the mouse.
 There are two types of mouse:

o Mechanical
o Optical

 Mechanical: The mouse has a small rubber ball underneath that

moves against two rollers as itpases across a flat surfaces.
 Optical : This mouse more accurate and has no moving parts.this use
a laser to detect movement.
 scanner
 Scanner works more like a photocopy machine.
 It is used when some information is available on
computer for further manipulation.
 The scanner captures images from the source which are
then converted into the digital
OMR(OPTICAL MARK READER)
• Optical mark reader is a device that
reads pencil marks and converts
them into computer processable
form.
• Special pre-printed forms are
designed with boxes which can be
marked with a dark pencil or ink.
• Such documents are read by a
reader,which transcribes the marks
into electrical pulses which are
transmitted to computer.
OMR(OPTICAL MARK
READER)
 They are widely used in applications like objective type answer papers
evaluation in which large number of candidates appear ,time shifts of factory
employees etc.
 Used for checking the answer sheets of examinations having multiple choice
questions
 MICR(MAGNETIC INK CHARACTER
RECOGNITION)

 MICR is a form of character recognition that

reads the text printed with magnetic
charged ink.
 The shapes of the characters by sensing the
magnetic charge in the ink and translates
these shapes into computer processed
format.
 MICR is widely used by banks to process
cheques.
MICR(MAGNETIC INK CHARACTER
RECOGNITION)
 The cheque can be read using a special input unit,which recognizes magnetic
ink characters.
 This method eliminates the manual errors.it also save time ensures security
and accuracy of data.
 Output devices

 An output device is used to send

data from computer to another
device or user.
 It refers to user-computer
communication devices used for
communication between
computers,devices.
 When data and instructions are fed
into computer and processed the
next step is to get desired output.
Some of the important output devices which
are used in computer:

VDU
Printers
Speaker
s
Projecto
rs
VDU(Visual Display Unit)
• Monitors,commonly called as visual display
unit(VDU),are the main output device of a
computer.
• It forms images from tiny dots,called pixels,that
are arranged in a rectangular form.
• The sharpeness of the depends upon the
number of pixels.
There are two kinds of viewing screen used for monitors.

 Cathode-ray tube (CRT)

 Flat-Panel Display
Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT)
 The CRT display is made up of small picture
elements called pixels.
 The smaller the pixel,the better the image
clarity,or resolution.
 It takes more than one illuminated pixel to form
whole character.
 A finite number of characters can be displayed
on screen at once.
 The screen can be divided into a series of
character boxes-fixed location on the screen
where a standard character can be placed
 Most screens are capable of displaying 80 characters of
data horizontally and 25 lines vertically.

 Disadvantages of CRT
 Larger in size.
 High power consumption
 Flat panel display
• It reefers to a class of a video devices that have reduced
volume,weight and power requirement in comparison to the CRT.
• You can hang them on walls or wear them on your wrists.
• Uses of flat panel display includes calculators ,video ,games ,monitors,
laptop,computer ,graphics display.
• Divided into two categories.
a)Emissive Display
b)Non Emissive display
a)Emissive Display:
 These are devices that convert electrical energy into light.eg:plasma
panel,LED
b)Non Emissive display:
 It use optical effects to convert sunlight or light from source other
source into graphics patterns,eg:LCD
 PRINTER
• Printer is an output device that prints text
or images on paper.
• By printing you can create a “hard copy “of
data.
• there are different kinds of printers, which
vary in their speed and print quality.
• The two main types of printer namely:
• Impact printer
• Non impact printer
IMPACT PRINTER
 Impact printers print the characters by
striking them on the ribbon ,which is then
pressed on the paper.That is it works by
hitting a piece of ink covered cloth (called a
ribbon)against a paper to print characters.
 When a key or pen strikes the ribbon,it
transfers ink into the paper creating letter or
symbol
 Similar to type writer Fig:Here is an image of an impact printer,
showing the print mechanism.
CHARACTERISTICS
 very low consumable costs.
 very noisy
 useful for bulk printing due to low cost
IMPACT PRINTER(types )
1)character printers
2)line printers
1)character printers
 Character printers are the printers which print one character at a time.
 Classified into
a)Dot matrix printer
b)Daisy wheel
  In market one of the most popular printer is dot
a)Dot matrix printer

matrix printer.
 These printers are popular because of their ease of
printing and economical price.
 Each character printed is in form of pattern of dots
and head consists of a matrix of pins of size which
come out to form a character which is why it is
called fdot matrix printer.
b)Daisy wheel
 Head is lying on a wheel and pins
corresponding to characters are like petals of
daisy (flower name) that is why it is called
daisy wheel printer.
 These printers are generally used for word
processing in offices which require a few
letters to be sent here and there with very
nicely quality,
2)Line printers
 Line printers are the printers which print one line at a
time instead of one or more characters at a time.
 Print quality of line printer is not high.
 They are of two types:
a)Drum printer
b)Chain printer
 a)Drum printer
 This printer is like a drum in shape,so it is called drum
printer.
 The surface of drum is divided into number of tracks.
 Total tracks are equal to size of paper.
 ie;for a paper width of 132 characters,drum will have
132 tracks.
 A character set is embossed on track.
 One rotation of drum prints one line.
 Drum printers are fast in speed and can print 300 to
2000lines per min.
b)Chain printer

• In this printer ,chain of character sets are used so it is called

chain printer.
• A standard character set may have 48,64,96 characters.
ADVANTAGES
Character font can be easily be changed
Different languages can be used with the same printer.
NON IMPACT PRINTER
• Non impact printer print the characters without using
ribbon .
• These printers print a full page at a time, they’re also
known as Page Printers. The following are the
characteristics of non-impact printers:
• Faster
• They don’t make a lot of noise.
• Excellent quality
• Supports a variety of typefaces and character sizes
• These printer are of two types:
1)Laser printer
2)Inkjet printer
LASER PRINTER
 These are non impact page printer.
 They use laser light to produce the dots needed to
form the characters to be printed on a page.

ADVANTAGES
 VERY HIGH SPEED
 HIGH QUALITY OUTPUT
 GOOD GRAPHICS QUALITY
 SUPPORTS MANY FONTS AND DIFFERENT CHARACTER SIZE
 Inkjet Printers
 Inkjet printers are printers that
use spray technology for printing
papers.
 High-quality papers are produced
in an Inkjet printer. They also do
color printing.
 Inkjet printers are non impact
character printers based on a
relatively new technology.
 They print characters by spraying
small drops of ink onto paper.
 Inkjet printers produce high
 COMPUTER MEMORY
o A memory is used to store data and instructions.
o Computer memory is just like the human brain.
o It is a storing devicve.it stores programs and data,which
is required by the CPU,and the results generated after
processing.
o This storage enables us to use the stored data to in
future.
o The memory is divided into large number of small parts
called cells.
o the storage capacity of a computer is measured in
terms of bytes.
o one byte include a total of 8 individual units called as
Three types of computer memory:
1)cache memory
2)primary memory
3)secondary memory
 cache memory?

 It is a type of high-speed
semiconductor memory that can
help the CPU run faster.
 Between the CPU and the main
memory,
it serves as a buffer.
 It is used to store the data and
programs that the CPU uses the
most frequently.
PRIMARY MEMORY
 It is also known as MAIN MEMORY.
 It stores program and data,which are currently needed by the CPU.
 The size of the main memory is comparitively much smaller than that
of the secondary memory of its high cost.
 The cpu communicates directly only with the main memory.
 As the cpu works at very high speed,its matching memory must be
very fast.
 Only primary memory devices can provide the matching speed.
 PRIMARY MEMORY IS OF TWO TYPES.
 RAM
 ROM
 RANDOM ACCES MEMORY

 Main memory of a computer.

 I t is the place where program gets stored temporary.
 When the cpu runs a program,it fetches the program instructions
from the RAM and carries them out.
 If the CPU needs to store the results of the calculations it can store
them in RAM.
 WHEN WE SWITCH OFF a computer,whatever is stored in the RAM
gets erased.
 Types of RAM
1)SRAM(STATIC RAM)
2)DRAM(DYNAMIC RAM_
 SRAM(STATIC RAM)

 SRAM stands for Static Random Access Memory.

 It is type of a semiconductor memory that use bistable latching
circuitry to store each bit.
 SRAM does not have to be periodically refreshed.
 It is fast and expensive than Dynamic RAM
DRAM (DYNAMIC RAM)
 Dynamic random access memory holds data in a dynamic
form.
 DRAM must be continuously refreshed in order to maintain
the dAta.
 This is done by placing the memory on a refresh circuit that
rewrites the data several hundred times per second.
 It is less expensive than Static RAM.
READ ONLY ROM
 ROM STANDS FOR “READ ONLY MEMORY”.
 The information is pre recorded into ROM chip at manufacturing
time.
 Once data has been written into a ROM chip,it cannot be erased ,but
you can read it.
 When we switch off the computer,the contents of ROM are not
erased,but remain store permanently.
 Rom is non volatile memory.
 Rom stores critical programs such as the programs that boot the
computer.
Types of rom
PROM(Programmable ROM)
EPROM(Erasable Programmable ROM)
EEPROM(Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM)
PROM(Programmable ROM)
 It is a memory on which data can be written only once.
 A variation of the PROM chip that is not burnt at manufacturing
time,but can be programmed using PROM programmer.
 EPROM(Erasable
Programmable ROM)
 The information can be erased and re-programmed using a special
PROM –programmer.
 An EPROM differ from a PROM in that PROM can be written only
once and cannot be erased.
 But an uv light is used to erase the contents of EPROM.
EEPROM(Electrically Erasable
Programmable ROM)
 This is equivalent to EPROM.
 But does not require UV light to erase its content.
 It can be erased by exposing it to an electrical charge.
 Secondary memory

 Since the storage capacity of the primary memory is not very large,it
cannot hold a large amount of data,including programs,which may be
needed for processing.thus secondary storage devices are needed.
 It is used as auxiliary memory.
 The secondary memory is used for bulk storage or mass storage of
programs,data and other information.
 It has much larger capacity than main memory.
 The secondary memory retains the information once stored on it.
 The magnetic memory such as Hard Disk,compavt disk,pen
drive,,memory cards is the most commonly usd secondary memory.
 Compact disk
 CD ROM stands for compact dis read only memory.
 It is a optical disk form of secondary storage that is
used to
hold data permanently.
 Read only memory means the disks content is recorded
at time of manufacturie and cannot be written or
erased
by user.
 A CD ROM can hold upto 700 MB of data
Magnetic tape
 In this only one side of ribbon is used for storing
data.
 It is sequential memory which contain thin plastic
ribbon to store data and coated by magnetic oxide.
 Data read/write speed is slower because of
sequential access.
Magnetic Disk
• Magnetic disk are thin circular
plates on which some magnetic
material is coated.
• Magnetic disk come in various
sizes and materials.
• They use the properties of
magnetism to store data on a
magnetic surface.
• A disk pack normally consist of
such disk mounted on a central
shift
Magnetic Disk
• In a disk plate information is stored on both surfaces.
• The surface is further divided into a number of invisible
concentric circles called as tracks.
• The tracks are further divided into various sections called sectors.
• To store information,it is necessary for us to identify thr track and
sector where it has to be stored.
• The stored information can be read any number of times without
affecting the stored data.
• But when new data is written it erases the previously written
data.
• Two types of magnetic disks are:
• Hard disk
• Floppy disk
Hard disk
 Hard disk is present inside the system unit.
 It is the main secondary storage device that store large amount of
data permanently
 Also called as fixed disk.
 It stores operating system software of a computer.,data and other
applications software.
 It consist of many metal disk or platters coated with magnetic material
that store data in tracks,which is further divided into sectors.
 The various capacitors of hard disk are available in the market such as 500GB,1 TB
etc…
Floppy disk
 It is a portable storage device that stores data permanently.
 The floppy disk drive is used to read and write data on floppy disk.
 Floppy disk may be mini or micro floppy disk.
 The storage capacity of micro floppy disk is 1.44MB and of a mini
floppy disk is 1.2 MB.
 Floppy disk get damaged easily.so now a days it is not used.
 It is a thin plastic disk coated with magnetic material for storage of
data and information.
 It has hard covering.
 It is inserted into disk drive while saving information into or copying
files into it.
 Thus,the file can be transferred into other computer.