Wednesday, September 22, 2010

ITGS #7

Keyboard
ü      The most familiar input device
ü      Used to enter letters, numbers and special characters

Ø      Standard keyboard
Ø      Ergonomic keyboards
q     To address possible medical problems
Ø      Wireless keyboard
Ø      Folding keyboards
q     Used with palm-sized computers
Ø      One-handed keyboards 
Ø      Keyboards printed on membranes
Pointing Devices
ü       Mouse
ü      Touchpad
ü      Pointing stick
ü      Trackball
ü      Joystick
ü      Graphics tablet
ü      Touch screen
ü      Stylus
Reading Tools
ü      Read marks representing codes specifically designed  for computer input

Ø      Optical-mark readers
Ø      Magnetic-ink character readers
Ø      Bar-code readers
Ø      Pen scanners
Ø      Tablet PC
Ø      Smart whiteboard
Ø      Radio Frequency Identification Readers (RFID)

Digitizing the Real World

ü      Scanners capture and digitize printed images.
Ø      Flatbed
Ø      Slide
Ø      Drum
Ø      Sheet-fed

ü      Digital camera
Ø      Snapshots captured as digital images
Ø      Digital images stored as bit patterns on disks or other digital storage media 

ü      Video digitizer
Ø      Capture input from a:
q     Video camera
q     Video cassette recorder or television
Ø      Convert it to a digital signal
q     Stored in memory and displayed on computer screens
ü      Videoconferencing
Ø      People in diverse locations can see and hear each other
q     Used to conduct long-distance meetings
Ø      Video images transmitted through networks

ü      Audio digitizers
Ø      Digitize sounds from
q      Microphones
q      Other input devices
Ø      Digital signals can be
q      Stored
q      Further processed with specialized software
Ø      A digital signal processing chip compresses the stream of bits before    it is transmitted to the CPU.

ü      Speech recognition software
Ø      Converts voice data into words that can be edited and printed

ü      Sensors
Ø      Designed to monitor physical conditions
q      Temperature, humidity, pressure
Ø      Provide data used in:
q      Robotics
q      Environmental climate control
q      Weather forecasting
q      Medical monitoring
q      Biofeedback
q      Scientific research

Output: From Pulses to People

ü      Screen Output
Ø      A monitor or video display terminal (VDT) displays characters, graphics, photographic images, animation and video.
q     Video adapter—connects the monitor to  
    the computer
q     VRAM or video memory—a special portion of RAM to hold video images
Ø      The more video memory, the more picture detail is displayed.

Color depth
  • 1-bit depth
  • 4-bit depth
  • 8-bit depth
  • 16-bit depth

Ø      Monitor classes
q     CRTs (cathode-ray tubes)
q     LCDs (liquid crystal displays)
          Overhead projection panels
          Video projectors
          Portable computers

ü      Paper Output
Ø      Printers produce paper output or hard copy.   
Ø      Two basic groups of printers:
q     Impact printers
         Line printers
         Dot-matrix printers


q     Non-impact printers
         Laser printers
        Laser beam reflected off  a rotating drum to create   patterns of electrical charges
        Faster and more expensive than dot matrix printer
        High-resolution output
         Inkjet printers
        Sprays ink onto paper to produce printed text and graphic images
        Prints fewer pages/minute than laser printer
        High-quality color; costs less than laser printer
Ø      Multifunction printer or MFP combines a scanner, printer and a fax modem.
Ø      A plotter can produce large, finely scaled engineering blueprints and maps.


ü      Fax Machines and Fax Modems
Ø      Facsimile (fax) machine
q     Sending:
         scans each page as an image
         converts the image into a series of electronic pulses
         sends those signals over phone lines to another fax
q     Receiving:
         uses the signals to reconstruct the image
         prints black-and-white facsimiles or copies of the originals
Ø      Fax modem
q     Connect from PC to fax machine via modem and phone line
ü     
ü      Output You Can Hear
Ø      Sound card
q     Enables the PC to:
         Accept microphone input
         Play music and other sound through speakers or headphones
         Process sound in a variety of ways
Ø      Synthesizers     
q     Used to produce music, noise

ü      Controlling Other Machines
Ø      Output devices take bit patterns and turn them into non-digital movements.

q     Robot arms
q     Telephone switchboards
q     Transportation devices
q     Automated factory equipment
q     Spacecraft
q     Force feedback joystick

Rules of Thumb:
Ergonomics and Health

ü      Choose equipment that’s ergonomically designed.
ü      Create a healthy workspace.
ü      Build flexibility into your work environment.
ü      Rest your eyes.
ü      Stretch to loosen tight muscles.
ü      Listen to your body.
ü      Seek help when you need it.

Storage Devices: Input Meets Output


ü      Magnetic Tape
Ø      Can store large amounts of information
   in a small space at a relatively low cost
Ø      Limitation: sequential data access
Ø      Used mainly for backup purposes
ü      Magnetic Disks
Ø      Random data access
Ø      Floppy disks
q     Provide inexpensive, portable storage
Ø      Hard disks
q     Non-removable, rigid disks that spin continuously
    and rapidly
q     Provide much faster access than a floppy disk
Ø      Removable media (Zip & Jaz disks)
q     Provides high-capacity portable storage

ü      Optical Disks
Ø      Use laser beams to read and write bits of   information on the disk surface
q     Not as fast as magnetic hard disks
q     Massive storage capacity
q     Very reliable


Ø      CD-ROM
q     Optical drives that read CD-ROMs
Ø      CD-R
q     WORM media (write-once, read many)
Ø      CD-RW
q     Can read CD-ROMs and write, erase and rewrite data onto CD-R & CD-RW disks.
Ø      DVD (Digital Versatile Disks)
q     Store and distribute all kinds of data
q     Hold between 3.8 and 17 gigabytes of information
Ø      DVD-ROM drives
q     Can play DVD movies, read DVD data disks
q     Read standard CD-ROMs, and play audio CDs
q     Read-only: can’t record data, music, or movies
Ø      DVD-RAM drives
q     Can read, erase, and write data (but not DVD video) on multi-gigabyte
    DVD-R (but not CD-R or CD-RW) media
ü      Solid-State Storage Devices
Ø      Flash memory is an erasable memory chip:
q     Sizes range from 16 MB to 1 GB
q     Compact alternative to disk storage
q     Contains no moving parts
q     Designed for specific applications such as storing pictures in digital cameras.
q     Likely to replace disk and tape storage


Computer Systems: The Sum of Its Parts

Personal Computer Design Classes
ü      Tower systems
Ø      Tall, narrow boxes, generally have more expansion slots and bays than other designs.
ü      Flat desktop systems
Ø      Designed to sit under the monitor like a platform.
ü      All-in-one systems (like the iMac)
Ø      Combine monitor and system unit into a single housing.

ü      Laptop computers
Ø      Include all the essential components, including keyboard and pointing device, in one compact box.

ü      Ports and Slots Revisited
Ø      The system or motherboard includes        several standard ports:
q     Serial Port for attaching devices that send/receive messages one bit at a time (modems)
q     Parallel Port for attaching devices that send/receive bits in groups (printers)
q     Keyboard/Mouse Port for attaching a keyboard and a mouse


Ø      Other ports are typically included on expansion boards rather than the system board:
q     A video port is used to plug a color monitor into the video board.
q     Microphones, speakers, headphones, MIDI ports are used to attach sound equipment.
q     An SCSI port allows several peripherals to be
strung together and attached to a single port.
q     A LAN port uses faster connections to a local-area network (LAN).
Ø      Expansion Made Easy
q     With the PC open architecture and the introduction of new interfaces, you can hot swap devices.
Ø      USB (Universal Serial Bus) transmits a hundred times faster than a PC serial port
Ø      Firewire (IEEE 1394) can move data between devices at 400 or more megabits per second. The high speed makes it ideal for data-intensive work, like digital video.
q     FireWire 800, which offers 800 Mbps transfer speeds, was recently introduced on high-end Macintosh systems.

ü      Putting It All Together
Ø      A typical computer system might have several different input, output, and storage peripherals—the key is compatibility.
Ø      Networks blur the boundaries between computers.
Ø      Networked computers may have access to all the peripherals on a system.
Ø      The computer is, in effect, just a tiny part of a global system of interconnected networks.

Inventing the Future: Tomorrow’s Peripherals


ü      Tomorrow’s Storage
Ø      Smaller disks that hold more
q     A single electron memory chip the size of a thumbnail that can store all of the sounds and images of a full-length feature film
ü      Tomorrow’s Output
Ø      Flat-panel screens replacing desktop CRTs
Ø      Retinal displays that work without a screen
ü      Tomorrow’s Input: Sensors
Ø      More sophisticated devices will serve as eyes, ears, and other types of sense organs for computer networks.

ü      Peripherals allow computer to communicate with the outside world and store information for later use information.
ü      The most common input devices today are the keyboard and the mouse. A variety of other input devices can be connected to the computer.
ü      Output devices perform the opposite function: They accept strings of bits from the computer and transform them into a form that is useful or meaningful outside the computer.
ü      Storage devices are capable of two-way communication with the computer. Because of their high-speed random access capability, magnetic disks are the most common forms of storage on modern computers.
ü      Network connections make it possible for computers to communicate with one another directly.

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