Input Devices & Output Devices

Input Device Definition: A piece of equipment/hardware which helps us enter data into
a computer is called an input device. For example, keyboard, mouse, etc.
Output Device Definition: A piece of equipment/hardware which gives out the result of
the entered input, once it is processed (i.e. converts data from machine language to a
human-understandable language), is called an output device. For example, printer,
monitor, etc.

List of Popular Input Devices

Some of the major or popular input devices are given below:

 Keyboard
 Mouse
 Scanner
 Optical Mark Reader (OMR)
 Light Pen
 Trackball
 Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR)
 Bar code reader (BCR)
 Optical Bar Code Reader (OBR)
 Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
 Voice Input Systems
 Digital Camera

Keyboard

It is the most popular input device used to feed data/programs into the computer
system. Keyboard contains keys such as alphabets (a to z), digits (0 to 9), special
characters, function keys, navigation/arrows keys, and many more keys etc.

Mouse
Mouse is the most popular pointing device. It is a very famous cursor-control device
having a small palm size box with a round ball at its base, which senses the movement
of the mouse and sends corresponding signals to the CPU when the mouse buttons
are pressed.
Generally, it has two buttons called the left and the right button and a wheel is present
between the buttons. A mouse can be used to control the position of the cursor on the
screen, but it cannot be used to enter text into the computer.

Advantages

 Easy to use
 Not very expensive
 Moves the cursor faster than the arrow keys of the keyboard.

Joystick

Joystick is also a pointing device, which is used to move the cursor position on a
monitor screen. It is a stick having a spherical ball at its both lower and upper ends.
The lower spherical ball moves in a socket. The joystick can be moved in all four
directions.
The function of the joystick is similar to that of a mouse. It is mainly used in Computer
Aided Designing (CAD) and playing computer games.

Scanner

Now-a-days, it is also an important and popular input device, as it is able to enter

information directly into the computer without typing. Therefore scanner provides faster
and "as it is" data entry or accurate data entry and exact data entry.

Scanner

Scanner is an input device, which works more like a photocopy machine. It is used
when some information is available on paper and it is to be transferred to the hard disk
of the computer for further manipulation.

Scanner captures images from the source which are then converted into a digital form
that can be stored on the disk. These images can be edited before they are printed.

Magnetic ink character recognition (MICR)

Magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) is a technology used to verify the legitimacy
of originality of paper documents, especially checks.

Special ink, which is sensitive to magnetic fields, is used in the printing of certain
characters to the original documents.

Information can be encoded in the magnetic characters. The use of MICR can enhance
security and minimize the losses caused by some types of crime.

Magnetic Ink Card Reader (MICR)

MICR input device is generally used in banks as there are large number of cheques to
be processed every day. The bank's code number and cheque number are printed on
the cheques with a special type of ink that contains particles of magnetic material that
are machine readable.

This reading process is called Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR). The main
advantages of MICR is that it is fast and less error prone.

Optical Bar Code Reader (OBR)

It stands for optical bar code reader which is used for reading bar-coded data. It is
scans a set of vertical bars of different width for specific data and is used to read tags.

Bar code reading is done by a light pen or scanner connected to computer.

Bar Code Readers

Bar Code Reader is a device used for reading bar coded data (data in the form of light
and dark lines). Bar coded data is generally used in labelling goods, numbering the
books, etc. It may be a handheld scanner or may be embedded in a stationary
scanner.

Bar Code Reader scans a bar code image, converts it into an alphanumeric value,
which is then fed to the computer that the bar code reader is connected to.

Voice Input Systems

This devices converts spoken words to M/C language. A microphone is used to convert
human speech into electric signals.

The signal pattern is then transmitted to a computer when it is compared to a dictionary

of patterns that have been previously placed in a storage unit of computer. When a
close match is found, the word is recognized.
Track Ball

Track ball is an input device that is mostly used in notebook or laptop computer,
instead of a mouse. This is a ball which is half inserted and by moving fingers on the
ball, the pointer can be moved.

Since the whole device is not moved, a track ball requires less space than a mouse. A
track ball comes in various shapes like a ball, a button, or a square.

Optical Character Reader (OCR)

OCR is an input device used to read a printed text.

OCR scans the text optically, character by character, converts them into a machine
readable code, and stores the text on the system memory.
Optical Mark Reader (OMR)

OMR is a special type of optical scanner used to recognize the type of mark made by
pen or pencil. It is used where one out of a few alternatives is to be selected and
marked.

It is specially used for checking the answer sheets of examinations having multiple
choice questions.

List of Popular Output Devices

The most common output devices that are in use as follows:

1. Monitors
2. Printers
3. Plotters
4. Projectors
5. Speakers

1. Monitor

 The device which displays all the icons, text, images, etc. over a screen is called
the Monitor
 When we ask the computer to perform an action, the result of that action is
displayed on the monitor
 Various types of monitors have also been developed over the years

2. Printer
 A device which makes a copy of the pictorial or textual content, usually over a
paper is called a printer
 For example, an author types the entire book on his/her computer and later gets
a print out of it, which is in the form of paper and is later published
 Multiple types of printers are also available in the market, which can serve
different purposes

3. Speakers

 A device through which we can listen to a sound as an outcome of what we

command a computer to do is called a speaker
 Speakers are attached with a computer system and also are a hardware device
which can be attached separately
 With the advancement in technology, speakers are now available which are
wireless and can be connected using Bluetooth or other applications

4. Projector

 An optical device which presents an image or moving images onto a projection

screen is called a projector
 Most commonly these projectors are used in auditoriums and movie theatres for
the display of the videos or lighting
 If a projector is connected to a computer, then the image/video displayed on the
screen is the same as the one displayed on the computer screen

5. Headphones

 They perform the same function as a speaker, the only difference is the
frequency of sound
 Using speakers, the sound can be heard over a larger area and using
headphones, the sound is only audible to the person using them
 Also known as earphones or headset.