Output Devices

1) Actuators
➔ An actuator is a mechanical or electromechanical device that is used to perform
an action
➔ It also converts electrical energy into mechanical energy
➔ Actions can include ‘start’, ‘stop’, ‘close’, ‘open’, ‘pull’, ‘push’, and more,
depending on the machine they are present in and work they are required to do

2) Light Projectors:
➔ Projector are used to project computer outputs onto larger sized screens or
whiteboards
➔ There are two common types of light projectors: DLP and LCD
Digital Light Processing (DLP) Projector:
➔ DLP projectors use a DMD chip, which have millions of micro mirrors
➔ The number of micro mirrors and the way they are arranged on the DMD chip
determines the resolution of the projected image
➔ When the micro mirrors tilt towards the light source, they turn ON, and this
creates a light pixel on the screen
➔ When micro mirrors tilt away from light source, they turn OFF, and this creates
a dark pixel on the screen
➔ Micro mirrors can switch ON and OFF multiple times a second in order to
create varying shades of grey
➔ Light shades of grey are obtained if ON > OFF
➔ Dark shades of grey are obtained if OFF > ON
➔ This is known as a greyscale image
➔ This is how it works:
1. A bright white light passes through a condensing lens and then through the
colour filters
 2. White light is split into the primary colours - red, blue and green - through
which the projector creates a lot of colours
3. It then passes through a shaping lens and falls on the DMD chip
4. A DMD chip is a Micro-Opto-Electro-Mechanical System (MOEMS) that
consists of several thousand microscopic mirrors on the chip’s surface.
Each mirror corresponds to a pixel in the projected image.
5. The light then passes through the lens and the image is projected on the
screen

➔ The advantages of DLP are:

↳ higher contrast ratios
↳ higher reliability
↳ quieter running than LCD projectors
↳ uses a single DMD chip, so there is no issue when images are being lined up
↳ smaller and lighter than LCD projectors
↳ better suited to a dusty and smoky atmosphere, as compared to LCD projectors

➔ The disadvantages of DLP are:

↳ image has a "shadow" effect when showing a moving image
↳ doesn't have grey components in image
↳ colour definition is not as good as LCD projectors
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) Projector:
➔ LCD projectors use a high intensity light beam to produce an image on a screen
➔ This is how it works:
1. A strong beam of white light is generated from an LED or bulb that is
present inside the projector
2. The beam of light travels to a group of chromatic-coated mirrors, which
are also known as dichromic mirrors
3. The light is reflected back at different wavelengths, corresponding to red,
green and blue light components
 4. These three light components will pass through three LCD screens and
subsequently produce three monochromatic images
5. These images will be combined together using a prism; this produces a
fully coloured image
6. The image passes through the projector lens and falls on the screen

➔ The advantages of LCD projectors are:

↳ sharper image, as compared to DLP projectors
↳ better colour saturation and quality
↳ more energy efficient, as they generate less heat

➔ The disadvantages of LCD projectors are:

↳ contrast ratios are not as good as DLP projectors
↳ longevity is lower than DLP projectors
↳ LCD panels are organic, and hence turn yellow over the passage of time

3) Inkjet Printer
➔ Usually have a print head (consists of nozzles that sprays ink droplets), ink
cartridge/s, a stepper
motor and belt, and a paper feed
➔ Ink droplets are produced using two different technologies; thermal bubble and
piezoelectric
➔ Here is how inkjet works:
1. Document that needs to be printed is sent to the printer driver
2. Printer driver makes sure that the data is in a format that is understandable
for the printer device
3. A check is made by the driver to see the printer's status (out of ink/paper,
busy, etc.)
4. Data from the document is sent to the printer, where it is stored in the
printer buffer, a temporary memory location
 5. A sheet of paper is added; sensors detect the paper’s presence
6. As the sheet of paper is fed through the printer, the print head moves side
to side across the paper printing text or image
7. At the end of each full pass of the print head, the paper is advanced very
slightly in order to allow the next line to be printed
8. If there are more pages, the process will repeat (from paper being added)
and will continue until the printer buffer is empty
9. Once the printer buffer is empty, printer sends an interrupt to the
computer's CPU; this is the request for more data to be sent to printer and
will continue until the whole document is printed

➔ Inkjet printers are usually used for printing one-off photos or when few pages of
good quality, colour printing is needed
4) Laser Printer
➔ Use dry powder
➔ Uses static electricity to print text and images
➔ Prints the whole document in one go
➔ Usually prints monochrome documents but also supports coloured printing
➔ Here is how laser printer works:

1. Document that needs to be printed is sent to the printer driver

2. Printer driver makes sure that the data is in a format that is understandable
for the printer device
3. A check is made by driver to see printer's status (out of ink/paper, busy,
etc)
4. Data from the document is sent to the printer where it is stored in the
printer buffer
5. The printing drum is positively charged, and when it rotates, a laser beam
scans it, removing the positive charge and leaving negatively charged
areas that match the document or image that needs to be printed
6. The drum is coated with positively charged powdered ink
7. A paper, which is negatively charged in the areas where there needs to be
text/images, is rolled onto the drum
8. The ink sticks onto the paper, producing an exact copy of the document
 9. To prevent the paper sticking to the drum, the electric charge of the paper
is removed after one rotation of the drum
10. The paper then goes through fusers, which are a set of heated rollers, and
this causes the ink to melt and stick permanently on the paper
11. A discharge lamp removes all the electric charge from the drum to ready it
for the next print.

➔ This device produces high quality prints at high speeds

➔ Often used when many documents are needed to printed (mass printing)
➔ Advantages:
↳ Larger toner cartridge and paper trays
↳ Can print in high volumes
↳ Can print very quickly
➔ Disadvantages:
↳ Larger footprint
↳ Need time to warm up
↳ Toner cartridges are expensive to buy

5) 3D Printers
➔ Produces 3D objects
➔ The mechanism is primarily based on inkjet and laser technologies
➔ The object is made layer by layer, using materials such as powdered resin,
metal, ceramic, etc.
➔ There are two types of 3D printing: direct 3D and binder 3D printing
➔ Direct 3D printing is based on inkjet technology
➔ The print head moves left and right, and up and down as well, to build up the
object layer by layer
➔ Binder 3D printing is almost the same as direct 3D, but it uses two passes
➔ The first pass sprays powdered material
➔ The second pass sprays binder or glue to form a solid layer
➔ Here is how a 3D printer works:
1. A design is made by using Computer Aided Design (CAD) software
2. The final design is imported to a special software that turns it into a
format understandable by the 3D printer
3. 3D printer is set up with the required materials
4. The command is given
5. The printer builds the object layer by layer (0.1mm thick layer)
6. Continues for hours till the object is made
7. The object is removed from the printer and taken away to prepare

➔ Uses of 3D printers are:

↳ making of prosthetic limbs
↳ making items to allow precision reconstructive surgery
↳ used in aerospace to create lightweight parts
↳ fashion and art
↳ making parts of items that are no longer in production

6) LED screens
➔ A screen is made up of tiny lights emitting diodes (LEDs)
➔ LED screens are not a frontlit display
➔ Each LED is either red, green or blue and are controlled to create different
colours
➔ Used for outdoor displays
➔ The display is made up of pixels that are arranged in a matrix
➔ Each pixel has red, green, and blue colour filters
➔ The RGB filters are mixed to create different colours
➔ Light is shone at the pixels and an image is formed
➔ Diffusers may be used to distribute light evenly

7) LCD screens
➔ Made up of tiny liquid crystals
➔ These crystals make up an array of pixels that are affected by changes in applied
electric fields
➔ For LCDs to work, backlighting is needed
➔ Backlighting is done using LED technology, this was previously done using
CCFL
➔ CCFL stands for Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp
➔ Using LED gives a very good contrast, sharpness and brightness range
➔ Using LED consumes very little power
➔ LEDs last indefinitely
➔ The display is made up of pixels that are arranged in a matrix
➔ Each pixel has red, green and blue colour filters that can be mixed to create
different colours
➔ LEDs are arranged behind the display and light is shone at the it, forming an
image
➔ The pixels can turn on or off/transparent or opaque when their shapes are
changed
8) Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED)
➔ Use organic materials to create flexible semiconductors
➔ Organic films are added between two charged electrodes - one metallic and the
other of glass
➔ When an electric field is applied to electrodes, they give off light. So, no
backlighting is needed
➔ OLEDs make it possible to make very thin screens that can bend as well
➔ Advantages of OLED over LCD and LED:
↳ Layers are thin, light and flexible; they bend into any shape
↳ Light emitting layers are very lightweight as they can also be made from plastic
↳ No backlighting is needed
↳ Has a very large field of view
↳ brighter light than LEDs

9) Loud Speakers
➔ Produce sound
➔ How a loudspeaker produces sound:
1. The sound file on a computer is converted to sound when it data is
converted from digital to analogue using a DAC (Digital to Analogue
Convertor)
2. It is then passed through an amplifier to increase the current before
reaching the coil
3. There is a coil of wire wrapped around an iron core, positioned close to a
strong magnet; the current flows through that coil and becomes an
electromagnet
4. As the electric current through the coil of wire varies, the induced
magnetic field in the iron core also varies. This causes the iron core to be
attracted towards the permanent magnet and vibrate as the current varies.
5. Since the iron core is attached to a cone (made of paper or a thin synthetic
material), it starts to vibrate, producing sound waves

Sensors
➔ Sensors are input devices that measure physical data (e.g: temperature, light,
etc.) from their surroundings
Table of Sensors on page 112 (Text Book)
Example of an automated security system:
➔ Sensors used:
↳ Acoustic (to detect the sound of an intruder’s footsteps)
↳ Pressure (to detect the weight of the intruder coming through window
↳ Infra-red (to detect the presence of the intruder)
↳ Proximity sensor (to detect the presence of the intruder)
➔ The sensors continuously input data from their surroundings
➔ This data is sent to the microprocessor, where it is converted from analogue to
digital data using an ADC (Analogue to Digital Convertor)
➔ The microprocessor compares these values to pre-set values for each sensor
➔ If one or more of them is beyond the pre-set values, it means there is an intruder
➔ The microprocessor sends a signal to the actuators to sound the alarm, send a
message to the homeowner, call the police, etc.
➔ If the values are equal to these pre-set values, no action is taken
➔ This process is continuous