Back to: COMPUTER SCIENCE SS2
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In today’s Computer Science class, We will be learning about Computer Input Devices. We hope you enjoy the class!
Input Devices
An input device is a peripheral (piece of computer hardware equipment) used to provide data and control signals to an information processing system such as a computer or information appliance. Examples of input devices include keyboards, mice, scanners, digital cameras and joysticks.
Examples of Input Devices
Trackball:
A pointing device like a mouse only with the ball on the top of the device instead of the bottom. A trackball is a pointing device consisting of a ball held by a socket containing sensors to detect a rotation of the ball about two axes—like an upside-down mouse with an exposed protruding ball. The user rolls the ball with the thumb, fingers, or the palm of the hand to move a pointer.
Optical Recognition Devices:
These use a light source to read codes, marks, and characters and convert them into digital data that can be processed by a computer. It is widely used as a form of data entry from printed paper data records, whether passport documents, invoices, bank statements, computerized receipts, business cards, mail, printouts of static-data, or any suitable documentation.
Touch Screen:
allows you to touch areas of the screen with your fingers to enter data. A touch screen is a computer display screen that is also an input device. The screens are sensitive to pressure; a user interacts with the computer by touching pictures or words on the screen.
Terminals:
A terminal consist of a keyboard and a screen – commonly used for special purpose input such as POS (Point-of-Sale) information entry. A device that enables you to communicate with a computer. Generally, a terminal is a combination of keyboard and display screen.
Modem:
A modem is a device that converts data into a form suitable for both receipt and transmission by wire or radio such that it can be reconstructed at the destination point. A modem (modulator-demodulator) is a device or program that enables a computer to transmit data over, for example, telephone or cable lines.
Pen Input:
Pen Inputs are used to input data using hand-written characters and shapes that the computer can recognize as a pointing device like a mouse to select items on the screen, and to gesture (special symbols made with the pen that issue a command).
Touchpad (trackpad):
A flat rectangular surface that senses the movement of a finger on its surface to control the movement of the insertion point. A touchpad is a device for pointing (controlling input positioning) on a computer display screen. It is an alternative to the mouse
Mouse:
A small palm-sized input device that you move across a flat surface to control the movement of the pointer on the screen. It actually has a shape like a real mouse.
Mouse
Joystick:
Joysticks use the movement of a vertical stem to direct the pointer. These are often used with computer games and have buttons you can press to activate events, depending upon the software. A joystick is a cursor control device used in computer games.
Biofeedback Input Devices:
These are special equipment like gloves, bodysuits, and eyeglasses to translate movements, temperature, or skin-based electrical signals.
Light Pen:
Light Pens are used by touching them on a display to create or modify graphics. A Light Pen is a pointing device shaped like a pen and is connected to a VDU. The tip of the light pen contains a light-sensitive element which, when placed against the screen, detects the light from the screen enabling the computer to identify the location of the pen on the screen.
Keyboard:
This is the most commonly used input device. You enter data by pressing keys on the keyboard. A keyboard is the set of typewriter-like keys used to enter data into a computer. Keyboards are similar to typewriter keyboards but contain additional keys.
Keyboard
Microphone—used to record sound.
Image Scanner (page scanner):
an input device that can electronically capture an entire page of text or images such as photographs or artwork.
Graphics Tablet:
this is similar to a digitizer, but it also contains unique characters and commands that can be generated automatically by the person using the tablet. A graphics tablet or digitizer is a computer input device that enables a user to hand-draw images, animations and graphics, similar to the way a person draws images with a pencil and paper. These tablets may also be used to capture data or handwritten signatures.
Electronic Whiteboard:
An Electronic Whiteboard captures anything drawn on a special whiteboard. An interactive whiteboard (IWB) is a large interactive display that connects to a computer.
Digitizer:
A Digitizer converts points, lines, and curves from a sketch, drawing, or photograph to digital impulses and transmits them to a computer. The digitizer by definition is a device used to convert analogue signals into digital signals.
Digital Camera:
Digital Cameras are used to record photographs in the form of digital data that can be stored on a computer.
We have come to the end of this class. We do hope you enjoyed the class?
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In our next class, we will be learning about the Keyboard. We are very much eager to meet you there.
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