Chapter 10: Input and Output Devices http://www.i-garden.

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FORM 4 COMPUTER STUDIES

Chapter 10: Input and Output Devices
March, 01

10.1 FUNCTIONS OF INPUT AND OUTPUT DEVICES

„The main function of an input device is to
;
„The main function of an output device is to
;

10.2 COMMON INPUT DEVICES

10.2.1 ________________________
„when a key is depressed, the ASCII code of that character
will be encoded and set to the CPU for processing

10.2.2 _____________ and _______________

„a video pointing device
„it has a small bearing (ball) on the bottom and one or more
buttons on the top (opposite for trackball)
„generates electrical signals when the movement of the bearing is
detected
„typical application:
◊ select a particular item on a menu displayed on a menu (e.g.
Windows applications)
◊ drawing graphics

10.2.3 _____________________
„a video pointing device

„controls the direction of movement of an object displayed

on a VDU
„typical application is _______________________

10.2.4 _____________________
„a video pointing device
„it is a flat panel that typically rests on a table top and
produces accurate coordinates values for the locations
of a hand-held electrical stylus pressed against its
surface
„typical applications:
◊ map tracing
◊ graph tracing
◊ Chinese character recognition

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10.2.5 _______________________
„it can scan text and images into a computer for display, storage
and further processing
„the resolution is about 100 - 1200 dpi (Dot Per Inch), hence
very fine image like coloured photographs can be captured
„when incorporated with graphics software, images captured
can be processed
„when incorporated with OCR (Optical Character Recognition)
software, typewritten or even handwritten text can be
converted to computer text document
„typical applications
◊ desktop publishing
◊ graphics design

10.3 COMMERCIALLY-USED INPUT DEVICES

10.3.1 Punched Card Reader
„reads data in a form of the patterns of holes punched
on the punched cards and converts it into a series of
electric pulse for the computer to process
„typical speed is 30 cards per second or 1600
character per second
„typical applications:
◊ historically it is the major method of feeding data into a computer
„
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
&Each card is a complete record; 'usually fewer than 80 columns are used
&the characters are both human readable - a waste of space;
as well as machine readable; 'punched cards are bulky;
&records can be added, deleted, replaced 'the handling of punched cards is slow
and sorted easily;
&it is a cheap form of storage

10.3.2 _______________ Scanner

„bar code use small parallel printed strips of proper
spacing to represent data
„typical applications:
◊ computerised supermarket checkout (UPC system)
◊ computerised library checkout (ISBN system)
◊ book price identification
„

ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
&automatic and reliable data entry 'supporting only a limited
&shorter checkout time number of characters
&higher accuracy compared with manual input
&automatic and instant records for further
processing e.g. sales reports, stock control

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10.3.3 ________________ Character Reader

„characters are printed with ink containing magnetizable
substance in standard fonts:
◊ MICR font E13B used in H.K., U.S.A., and U.K.
◊ MICR font CMC7 used in Europe
„the iron oxide particle can be recognised by magnetic ink
character reader
„typical applications:
◊ reading data on bank cheques and deposit slips
„
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
&automatic and reliable source data entry 'expensive to print with
&both human and machine readable magnetisable ink with the
&fast (up to 2500 documents per minute) required accuracy
&high security (extremely difficult to alter the 'only 14 different characters in
MICR figures E13B

10.3.4 ____________________ Character Reader

„optical character readers are designed to recognize characters printed in specific fonts;
„when the characters are scanned, the reflected light is focused on a photoelectric cell
and it produces a pattern of electric signals which are compared with the form of
standard fonts for recognition
„typical applications:
◊ utility company bills
◊ bank, credit card company, insurance company documents
„
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
&automatic source data entry 'specific type fonts needed
&human readable form 'often reliability not up to
&fast (up to 2500 characters per seconds or standard
100 to 1600 documents per minute) 'economical only with high
volume document

10.3.5 Optical Marker Reader

„it senses the presence of marks in the predetermined positions on a form by optical
mark readers photoelectrically
„the technique is called optical mark recognition (OMR)
„typical applications:
◊ reading multiple choices answer sheets in public examination
◊ Mark Six Lottery ticket

10.4 NEW INPUT DEVICES

„microphone
„touch screen
„voice-recognition
„portable data entry keypads for EPS

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10.5 COMMON OUTPUT DEVICES AND OUTPUT MEDIA

10.5.1 Visual Display Unit (VDU)
„information is displayed by a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) at a very
high speed
„it can display text, graphics shape and fine pictures
„it produces a temporary output which is called soft copy

10.5.2 Printers
„printers produce a permanent output which is called hard copy
„printers may be classified according to
◊ printing speed (a character, a line or a page at a time)
◊ mechanism (way of printing the characters)

PRINTER PRINTER

Impact Printer Non-impact Printer

Character Printer Line Printer Page Printer

Dot Matrix Electrothermal

Dot Matrix Chain Laser

Golf Ball Ink - injection

Golf Ball Drum (Barrel) Daisy Wheel Laser

Daisy Wheel Chain

Drum (Barrel)

Figure 1 Classification according to printing speed Figure 2 Classification according to

mechanism

10.5.3 Dot matrix printer

„a character is printed by striking a combination of pin against
the ribbon onto the paper
„the printing quality increases with the number of pins (typically
9 or 24 pins) used in the printing head
„typical speed: 100-200 characters per second (cps)

10.5.4 Daisy Wheel Printer

„consists of a wheel and a number of spokes with type casts of characters at their tips
„the wheel is rotated so that any characters can be pressed against a ribbon onto the
paper
„fonts of characters can be selected by replacing the wheel
„typical speed: 40-60 cps

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10.5.5 Chain Printer

„consists of a rapidly moving chain carrying several complete sets of characters
„as the selected character passes the required position, it is hammered against the paper
with ink ribbon in between
„typical speed: 600 - 2000 lines per minute (lpm)

10.5.6 Drum Printer

„consists of a drum constantly rotating at a high speed
„a set of hammers strikes the paper against the ribbon to print all the A's on a line, then
all B's on the same line, and so on until the line is completed
„typical speed: 600 - 2000 lpm

10.5.7 _____________ Printer

„makes use of electric, photographic, and laser
technologies
„it can produce very fine images (text or graphics)
„generally expensive though its price has been
dropping rapidly
„typical speed: 10 pages per minutes (ppm)

10.5.8 _________________ Printer

„drops of electrically charged ink are sprayed toward the paper
positions of the paper
„the price has dropped rapidly as it gains more and more
popularity
„typical speed: 300 cps

10.5.9 Electrothermal Printer

„uses thermal method to mark characters onto paper
„prints on a special heat-sensitive paper (like fax paper) which will be darken when the
temperature exceeds 65 Cº
„typical speed: 50-80 cps

10.5.10 Comparison between Impact and Non-impact Printer

IMPACT PRINTER NON-IMPACT PRINTER

◊ generally slower ◊ very high speed
◊ noisy ◊ operated almost silently
◊ can give multiple carbon ◊ cannot give multiple carbon copies
copies
◊ cheap ◊ generally expensive

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10.6 OTHER OUTPUT DEVICES OR OUTPUT MEDIA

„Speakers
„Plotter
„Computer On Microfilm (COM)
„Speech Synthesizer

10.7 CHOOSING THE APPROPRIATE INPUT/OUTPUT

DEVICES
„
APPLICATION INPUT DEVICE(S) OUTPUT DEVICE(S)
Computer Aided Design ◊ Mouse, ◊ High resolution
(CAD) ◊ Graphics tablet coloured graphics
display VDU
◊ Coloured plotter
Printing a high volume of ---- ◊ Line printers
reports
Desktop Publishing ◊ Mouse ◊ Laser printer
◊ Graphics tablet
Handling bank cheques ◊ Magnetic ink character ◊ High speed printer
reader ◊ Computer on
microfilm

end of chapter 10
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