Practical: Introduction of Computer Peripherals

I NTRODUCTION OF C OMPUTER P ERIPHERALS

• WHAT IS A COMPUTER?
◦ Computer is a device that transforms data into meaningful information. Data can be anything like
marks obtained by you in various subjects.
• Functions of Computer
◦ Computer can also be defined in terms of functions it can perform. A computer can i) accept data, ii)
store data, iii) process data as desired, and iv) retrieve the stored data as and when required and v)
print the result in desired format.
• The major characteristics of a computer are high speed, accuracy, diligence, versatility and storage.
• Components of Computer

• The block diagram of computer is shown in Fig

◦ Input: this is the process of entering data and programs into the computer system.
◦ Control Unit (CU): The process of input, output, processing and storage is performed under the
supervision of a unit called 'Control Unit'. It decides when to start receiving data, when to stop it,
where to store data, etc. It takes care of step -by-step processing of all operations in side the
computer.
◦ Memory Unit: Computer is used to store data and instructions.
◦ Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU): The major operations performed by the ALU are addition, subtraction,
multiplication, division, logic and comparison.
◦ Output: This is the process of producing results from the data for getting useful information.
◦ The ALU and the CU of a computer system are jointly known as the central processing unit (CPU). You
may call CPU as the brain of any computer system.
• PERIPHERAL DEVICES
◦ Peripheral devices are connected to the computer externally. These devices are used for performing
some specific functions.
◦ Peripheral devices are as follows:
▪ Input Devices

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 Practical: Introduction of Computer Peripherals

• Output Devices
• Other Peripherals
◦ INPUT DEVICES
▪ Input devices accept data and instructions from the user. Following are the examples of various
input devices, which are connected to the computer for this purpose.
• Keyboard
• Mouse
• Light Pen
• Optical/magnetic Scanner
• Touch Screen
• Microphone for voice as input
• Track Ball
• Web Camera
• Keyboard
◦ A keyboard (as shown in figure 1.3) is the most common input device. Several kinds of keyboards are
available, but they resemble each other with minor variations. The keyboard in most common use is
the QWERTY board. Generally standard keyboard has 104 keys. In these keyboards, the cursor
control keys are duplicated to allow easier use of the numeric pad.
◦ A mouse is an electro-mechanical, hand-held device (as shown in figure 1. 4). It is used as a pointer. It
can perform functions like selecting menu commands, moving icons, resizing windows, starting
programs, and choosing options.
◦ The most common mouse uses an internal, magnetically coated ball, to detect the movement of the
mouse across a flat surface, usually a desktop. Now a days Optical or laser mouse is used to detect
the movement.
◦ Light pen
◦ An input device that utilizes a light-sensitive detector to select objects on a display screen. A light
pen is similar to a mouse (as shown in figure 1.5), except that with a light pen you can move the
pointer and select objects on the display screen by directly pointing to the objects with the pen.
◦ Optical Scanner
◦ These devices are used for automatic data collection. The devices of this category completely
eliminate manual input of data. For example, the bar-code reader is actually just a special type of
image scanner. An image scanner translates printed images into an electronic format that can be
stored in a computer’s memory, and with the right kind of software, one can alter a stored image.
◦ Touch Screen
◦ Touch panel displays and pads are now being offered as alternatives to keyboard. Here the input can
be given through the computer screen, that accepts the input through monitor; users touch
electronic buttons displayed on the screen or they may use light pen.
◦ Microphone
◦ Microphone is an input device, which takes voice as input. The voice communication is more error-
prone than information through keyboard. There are two types of microphones available

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◦ Desktop Microphone
◦ Hand held Microphone
◦ Track Ball
◦ Trackball, a pointing device, is a mouse lying on its back (as shown in figure 1. 9). To move the
pointer, you rotate the ball with your thumb, your fingers, or the palm of your hand. There are
usually one to three buttons next to the ball, which you use just like mouse buttons.
◦ The advantage of trackballs over mouse is that the trackball is stationary so it does not require much
space to use it. In addition, you can place a trackball on any type of surface, including your lap. For
both these reasons, trackballs are popular pointing devices for portable computers.
◦ Web Camera
◦ It is an easy to connect low resolution digital camera normally employed for transfer of images on
the web-based conferencing.
• OUTPUT DEVICES
◦ Output devices return processed data that is information, back to the user. Some of the commonly
used output devices are:
◦ Monitor (Visual Display Unit)
◦ Printers
◦ Plotter
◦ Speakers
◦ Out of all the output devices, monitor (as shown in figure 1.10) is perhaps the most important output
device because people interact with this device most intensively than others. Computer information
is displayed,
◦ visually with a video adapter card and monitor. Information processed within the CPU, that needs to
be visually displayed, is sent to video adapter. The video adapter converts information from the
format used, in the same manner as a television displays information sent to it by a cable service.
◦ Two basic types of monitors are used with microcomputers, which are as follows:
◦ CRT
◦ LCD
◦ Cathode Ray Tube (CRT): CRT or Cathode Ray Tube Monitor is the typical monitor that you see on a
desktop computer. It looks a lot like a television screen, and works the same way. This type uses a
large vacuum tube, called cathode ray tube (CRT).
◦ Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD): This type of monitors are also known as flat panel monitor. Most of
these employ liquid crystal displays (LCDs) to render images. These days LCD monitor are very
popular.
◦ Printer
◦ After a document is created on the computer, it can be sent to a printer for a hard copy (printout).
◦ Laser Printer
◦ Ink Jet Printer
◦ Dot Matrix Printer
◦ Line Printer

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◦ Laser Printer: A laser printer produces high quality print that one normally finds in publishing. It
is extremely fast and quiet. Moreover, the operation of a laser printer is easy with automatic paper
loading and no smudging or messing up of ink ribbons. The fastest laser printer can print up to 200
pages per minute in monochrome (black and white) and up to 100 pages per minute in colour.
◦ Ink-Jet Printer: An ink-jet printer creates an image directly on paper by spraying ink through as many
as 64 tiny nozzles. Although the image it produces is not generally quite as sharp as the output of a
laser printer, the quality of ink-jet images is still high.
◦ In general, ink-jet printer offers an excellent middle ground between dot matrix and laser printer. Like
laser printer, an ink-jet printer is quiet and convenient, but not particularly fast.
◦ Typically, an ink-jet printer is more expensive than a dot-matrix printer, but costs only half as much as
a laser printer.
◦ Dot Matrix Printer: The dot matrix printer was very popular at one point of time. It is a very versatile
and inexpensive output device. In dot matrix printer the print head physically "hits" the paper
through the ribbon and produces text (or images) by combinations of dots; hence the name dot
matrix printer. Its speed is measured in characters per second(CPS). Although it is less expensive, it is
louder, slower and produces lower print quality.
◦ Line Printer: A line printer is generally used with large computer systems to produce text based data
processing reports. Line printers are high-speed printers with speeds ranging anywhere from 100 to
about 3800 lines per minute. In the past, print quality on line printers was not high. Developments in
technology are improving the print quality on line printers. These are in the cost range of lacs of
Rupees.
◦ Plotter
◦ A plotter is a special kind of output device that, like a printer, produces images on paper, but does so
in a different way. Plotters are designed to produce large drawings or images, such as construction
plans for buildings or blueprints for mechanical objects. A plotter can be connected to the port
normally used by a printer.
◦ Plotters usually come in two designs:
◦ Flat Bed: Plotters of small size to be kept on table with restriction of paper size.
◦ Drum: These plotters are of big size using rolls of paper of unlimited length.
◦ Speaker
◦ Speakers are another type of output device, which allow you to listen to voice like music, and
conversation with people.

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Exercise
1. Draw block diagram of Computer System.
2. List Computer devices and write about it.

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