Introduction to ICT

• What is output
• Output Devices
 What is Output
• The data that a computer send after
processing it into useful information is called
output. The output can be in two forms
– Soft copy output
– Hard copy output
 What is Output
• Soft copy output
– The output shown on display screen is called soft
copy. Soft copy output is not tangible. It means
that it cannot be touched.
• Hard Copy output
– The output printed on paper is called hard copy.
The common devices to produce hard copy output
are printers and plotters.
 Output Devices
• The hardware component that are used to
receive information from the computer are
called output devices.
• An output device is something you connect to
a computer so that computer can send
information to it.
• Output devices take information from the
computer and convert it into a form that is
understandable by the users.
 Output Devices
• Some common output devices are
– Display devices
– Printers
– Plotters
– Data Projectors
– Interactive Whiteboards
– Audio Output Devices
 Display devices
• A display device is an output device that displays
text, graphics and videos.
• The display for a desktop is typically a monitor
that is a separate physical device.
• Mobile computers and devices normally
integrate the display in their same physical case.
• Some display have touch screens.
• Display devices are available in a wide variety of
sizes.
Display devices
 Features of Display devices
• Display devices can be distinguished on the
basis of following features
– Size and aspect ratio
– Color
– Resolution
– Refresh Rate
 Features of Display devices
• Size and aspect ratio
– Aspect ratio is the ratio of the width to the height.
– Most of the current displays are wide screen which
means they use a 16:9 or 16:10 aspect ratio.
– Display screens are measured diagonally from
corner to corner, desktop computer monitors range
from 17 to 30 inches.
– Notebooks typically have 10 inch displays.
– Tablet screens are between 7 and 10 inches.
 Features of Display devices
• Color
– The display devices can be monochrome or color.
– The monochrome display screens display output
in single color, however they are able to display
different shades of one color.
– The number of shades of one color that a monitor
can display is referred to as gray scale.
– Monochrome display screens show images in a
single color usually white, green, blue and red.
 Features of Display devices
• Color
– The color display screens display output in
multiple colors.
– The color display screens are called RGB monitors.
– The number of colors a monitor can display is
called color depth or bit depth.
– The RGB display screens can create 256 colors and
thousands of variations of these colors.
 Features of Display devices
• Resolution
– It is the total number of pixels displayed on the screen.
– Pixels are the dots or picture elements that form
pictures on the screen.
– Resolution determines the amount of information that
can be displayed at one time and is expressed as the
number of horizontal pixels by the number of vertical
pixels.
– A high resolution provides sharper and clearer images.
 Features of Display devices
• Refresh Rate
– It is the speed with which a monitor redraws the
image on the screen and is measured in hertz.
– It indicates the number of times, screen is
refreshed in one second.
– The image on the screen appears more solid and
flicker less if the refresh rate is high.
– Common monitors have refresh rates between 75
and 85 Hz.
 Printers
• A printer is an output device that prints
characters, symbols and graphics on paper.
• The printed output is called hard copy.
• Printers can be classified into two main
categories
– Impact printers
– Non-impact printers
 Impact printers
• An impact printer works like a type writer.
• It prints characters or images by striking a
print hammer or set of pins against an inked
ribbon.
• The ink is then pressed from the ribbon on the
paper to produce the output.
 Impact printers
• Impact printers are the oldest print
technologies.
• They are used where low cost printing is
required.
• Three most common forms of impact printers
are dot matrix printers, daisy wheel printer
and line printer.
 Non-Impact printers
• A non-impact printer prints characters and
graphics on paper without striking paper.
• The characters are printed on paper with
different means such as laser.
• Some printers use spray ink while others use
heat and pressure to create images.
• These printers are faster but costly than
impact printers.
 Non-Impact printers
• Their quality is better than impact printers and
they produce no noise during printing.
• Different kind of non-impact printers are laser
printer, inkjet printer, thermal printer, photo
printer and portable printer.
 Data Projectors
• Data projector is an output device that projects
the output of computer screen onto a larger
screen.
• The output projected by data projectors can be
viewed by a number of people very clearly.
• Data projectors are used in classes to deliver
lectures to many students.
• Two common types of data projectors are LCD
Projector and DLP projector.
 Audio Output Devices
• Audio output devices are the components that
produce voice, music and other audible
sounds.
• The most commonly used audio output
devices are speakers, headphones, headsets
and earbuds.
 Audio Output Devices
• Speaker is the most common type of audio
output device.
• It connects to a sound card in the system unit
and provides audio output for computer games,
music, video clips and other applications.
• The speakers for some desktop computers are
built directly into the monitor while portable
computers and mobile devices typically have
speakers integrated into the device.
 Audio Output Devices
• Headphones are used instead of speakers so
that other people are not disturbed at places
such as public library.
• Headset is a headphone with a built-in
microphone.
• It is often used when making telephone calls
or participating in web conferencing using
computer.
 Audio Output Devices
• Earbuds are often used with portable digital
media players, handheld gaming devices and
other mobile devices.
• Both headphones and earbuds usually include
noise-cancelling technology to reduce
interference of sounds from surrounding
environment.