S.

ADAMSON

INPUT and OUTPUT DEVICES HANDOUT

INPUT DEIVCES
In order to communicate with the computer we need to have some sort of device to give it instructions and/or data.
Input devices are used to accomplish this; comparing the human body with a computer, the eyes can act as an input
device for the body, as it captures images and send it to the brain for processing.

Input devices are peripheral devices designed to get data into the computer in machine-readable form.

The following table summarizes the most common input devices:

Device Description Advantages Disadvantages Application

Keyboard The most common input Reliable for data  Users may be slow  Data entry
device, almost all computers input of text and or not a very  Typing text
come with a keyboard. It has a numbers. accurate typist. document
series of keys similar to a Usually supplied  Difficult for people  Playing some
typewriter. Each key has a with a computer so who are unable to games.
letter, number, symbol or no additional cost. use the keyboards
word on it. A user can press Specialized because of
the key or a combination of keyboards are paralysis or
keys causing a special code available. muscular disorder.
(ASCII) to be added to the  Causes muscle
keyboard buffer. Where it is disorder such as
later sent to the CPU for Carpel Tunnel
processing. Syndrome (CTS).
There are different types of
keyboards: Qwerty, Dvorak,
Braille, Specialized and retail.
 Point and Draw Devices

Mouse A handheld device that is Ideal for use with  It is limited to  As a pointing
moved on the surface of desk desktop computers. objects on the device
or on a mouse pad. It has a Usually supplied screen  For highlighting
ball or laser light underneath with a computer so  When the ball gets icons and text
and usually two buttons and no additional cost. dirty the mouse  For selecting a
maybe a wheel on the top for All computer users pointer moves menu command
scrolling. When the mouse is tend to be familiar erratically. or pressing a
moved, this causes the ball to with using them.  Cannot be easily button on the
move or the laser to pick up used with laptop, screen.
the movement, which will notebook or
then move the pointer on the palmtop
screen. When the pointer is computers
over an item the user can
either click, double or drag

Light Pen This is shaped like a pen and is Able to draw on the  Very inaccurate  Engineering
connected to a monitor. It screen when drawing or  Graphic designer
allows you to print and make Easy to select writing
selections more accurately on options from menu  Tiring to use
a screen. The tip of the light presented on the  User must lift the
pen contains a light-sensitive screen pen for use.
element which, when placed Can be used on any
against the screen, detects the size screen
light from the screen and Users can interact
enables the computer to more with
identify the location of the application, in such

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pen on the screen. Making modes as drag and

selections with a light pen is drop, or highlighting
far more accurate than using
your fingers to make
selections on a touch sensitive
screen.

Joystick A device with a stick It gives the user the  It is limited to  Games
perpendicular to its base, as feeling of a more certain applications  Simulations
well as buttons on the stick realistic action.  In order for the
and/or the base. The joystick It moves objects in pointer to be
is used as a computer input any direction. stopped joystick
device and is often designed must be returned to
to resemble those used in an upright position.
fighter jets in order for it to
feel more realistic. When the
stick is moved, it moves an
object on the screen.

Touch A light sensitive screen that The user can select  The system is  Fast-food outlets
Screen can detect when a person the option very expensive  Airports
touches it, as well as the area quickly  It is limited to  Theatre booking
of the screen that has been The user does not certain applications office
touched. Various options are require any training  Not suitable for
displayed on the screen and to use it inputting large
the user presses the one No extra peripherals amounts of data
he/she wants. When the are needed apart  Selecting detailed
person’s finger touches the from the touch objects can be
screen it blocks out the light screen monitor difficult with the
from the area of the screen itself fingers.
that is touched. The system
uses the location of the area
that is pressed to determine
the correct option.
Graphics These are flat pressure- Very accurate  If the pad is  Engineering
pad and sensitive surfaces that are Allows shading and damaged the tablet  CAD
Tablets commonly used in computer- many other effects is unable to
aided design (CAD). The user similar to those function as
draws on the graphics tablet artists achieve with intelligence is in
with a pen-like device known pencil, pen or the pad
as a stylus. The drawing charcoal.
appears on the monitor inside
a program designed for this
method of input.

The Above mentioned devices can be classified as Key and Point and draw devices. The following devices are
classified as Source Data Automation devices.

Source Data Automation is when data is collected at the source and entered directly into the computer system
without the need for key entry transcription. The use of Source data automation eliminates the duplication effort,
and the potential for error.

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Device Description Advantages Disadvantages Application

Scanner A scanner is a device that is  It is a quick,  Some scanned  For scanning

used to scan images and text accurate method of files require a text
into the computer. There are entering existing large amount of
 For scanning
two types: flatbed and hand- images into the space. High
photographs
held. With the hand-held computer quality scans
version, the scanner is require a lot of  In desktop
 Able to make exact
dragged over the image or space. publishing.
duplication of an
text in order to scan it. For a
original document  Text is stored as
flatbed scanner, the
images. This
document is placed on the flat
prevents the text
surface of the scanner. In both
from immediately
cases, when the document is
being used in
scanned, it is imported into
word processors
special software as an image
and also takes up
(even if the document is plain
a lot more space
text).
on disk if it was
stored as a text
file

Optical An optical mark reader is a  Reduced cost of  If options are not  Multiple-choice
mark device that senses the inputting large shaded properly exams
reader presence of pencil and pen volumes of data the machine may
 Questionnaires
(OMR) marks that are made on misread
 Fast method of
special forms. Such forms selections  Registration
inputting data
usually have several options forms
 Forms that are
with circles next to them. A  Less labour needed
creased jam the
person is asked to fill out the to input the data
machine, causing
form by shading the circles for
down time.
the correct options.
 Badly damaged
forms have to be
written or keyed
in manually

Optical OCR is a device that senses  Reduced cost of  The OCR may  Capture data
Character the presence of text by inputting large misread from airline
Reader recognizing the characters. volumes of data characters that tickets
(OCR) When the document is are not formed
 Quick method of  Reading postal
scanned, a photo-electric properly
inputting data codes
device reads the characters
which are then converted to  Less labour needed  Capturing data
electrical signals. The signals to input the data. from telephone
represent patterns that give and electricity
an indication of the characters bills.
involved.

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Magnetic Certain documents- especially  It is a fast, accurate  It is very  Banks

Ink cheques – have strange- way of inputting expensive
Character looking combinations of large volumes of  Cheque
 Cheques that are processing
Reader numbers and makings printed data that is in the
badly damaged center.
(MICR) in magnetic ink. Even though required format
have to be keyed
these characters can be read
 Less labour is in manually
by humans, there is a special
needed to input the
device that also serves this
data.
purpose. MICR. When a
document containing these
characters is passed through
the MICR, it detects the
presence of the magnetic ink
and interprets the characters.
Like a bar code scanner, it is
used along with databases,
since these character are used
to represent things such as
bank numbers and cheque
numbers.

Bar code A barcode is a set of vertical  Instant update.  The system is  Libraries
scanner lines of differing thickness When an item is expensive to set
with string of numbers printed scanned, the system up.  Supermarkets
at the bottom. These serves as automatically notes  Retail stores
 It is limited to
a means of identifying the that there is one
items that have a
type and brand of a particular less f that particular
barcode.
item. Even though humans item in stock.
cannot make sense of the  Barcodes cannot
 Accuracy of
codes, the barcode scanner be read by people.
transaction. You do
can interpret these. The
not have to worry
barcode is read by the
about a cashier
barcode scanner in which a
entering the wrong
laser beam scans the barcode
price.
and the light reflected back
into the scanner. The  Speed of
information that received by transaction. It is
the scanner is sent to a faster than keying in
computer for processing. the price manually.

Point of Barcodes form a part of the  Instant updating of  Cost of setting up  Checkout
Sale POS terminal. A terminal is transactions the system is counters of
terminal connected to a central expensive supermarket
 Accuracy of
(POS) computer which record details
transactions  Retail stores
after the barcode of an item
has been has been scanned.  Speed of  In bank
The price of the product is transactions transactions.
displayed on a monitor at the
point of sale. Meanwhile the
central computer calculates

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the amount due, includes VAT,

and prints an itemized receipt.
The information recorded can
also be used for stock control
and sales analysis.

Microphon A microphone is a device that  Easy and fast  Programs used  Voice data entry
e functions in much the same method of entering with microphone,
way as the microphone you data. vocabulary may be
see used on stage. However, it limited
 Suitable for
does not usually look the
physically
same because it is designed so
challenged persons
that the user does not have to
to enter data and
hold it while speaking. When
commands
you talk, your sound waves
cause a diaphragm to vibrate.
These vibrations are
converted into electrical
impulses that are then
transmitted to the computer.

Digital Like a conventional camera, a  It is a convenient  The quality of the  Personal use
Camera digital camera is a device that method of capturing images is not as
utilizes a lens in order to take images for high as for those  Graphic and
photographs by capturing light computer stored on film. media centers.
on some sort of media. What applications such as
 High-quality
distinguishes a digital camera web pages. Since
images take up a
from a conventional camera is images are stored in
lot of space.
the media on which the image a digital format it is
is stored. Digital cameras simply a matter of  Digital cameras
generally use tiny light- transferring the use up batteries
sensitive diodes that convert images to the very quickly.
the light into electrical computer via cable.
charges.
 Photographs can be
viewed as soon as
they are taken so
that if you do not
like one, you can
delete it and take it
again.

Other input devices:

Biometric systems: refers to the science of identifying an individual through their body characteristics such as face
geometry and hand geometry (e.g. fingerprints), iris or retinal scans, vein and voice patterns. All these forms of
identifying an individual can be input into a computer system set up for security purposes.

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Retinal scans use a ray of light directed into the eye to identify the distinct network of blood vessels at the back of
the eye. Fingerprints readers scan the imprint made by the pattern of ridges on the finger and compare it to a set of
patterns stored in memory. Fingerprints are considered unique, as no two individuals have the same fingerprint.

Key to disk system

With computers capable of doing billions of calculations per second, it is no surprise that it is possible to type in data
as quickly as the computer can process it. If a high-speed computer had to spend almost al of its time simply waiting
for someone to type in large amounts of information, then the whole process would be very inefficient indeed. A key
KEY-TO-DISK system is one method of getting around this problem. It consists of a keyboard, a screen and a disk
drive, as well as a processor to verify and validate the data. A data entry clerk types in (keys in) the data using the
keyboard. The data may then be typed in a second time in order to verify it (to make sure that it was entered
correctly). The data is then saved on disk. The data from the disk can be transferred to the high-speed computer in
an entire batch. This is a form of batch data entry.

EPOS