COMPUTER SYSTEM’S

COMPONENTS AND
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
 Main Components of the PC

• System Board (Motherboard)

• Memory (RAM)
• Processor (CPU)
• Secondary Storage devices
– Hard Disk Drive
– Optical Drives
– Floppy Disk Drive
– Flash Drive

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 • Input/Output Ports and Devices
– Keyboards/Mice
– USB, Serial, Parallel Ports
– Other input/output devices
• Interface Cards
– Sound Card
– Video Card
– Network Interface Card (LAN)
– Modem
– Other Add-on interface cards

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 • Monitor
• Power Supply
• PC Casing
• Peripherals
– Printers
– Scanners
– Speakers

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 System Board (motherboard)

The main circuit board of a microcomputer. The

motherboard contains the connectors for
attaching additional boards. Typically, the
motherboard contains the CPU, BIOS, memory,
mass storage interfaces, serial and parallel ports,
expansion slots, and all the controllers required to
control standard peripheral devices, such as the
display screen, keyboard, and disk drive.
Collectively, all these chips that reside on the
motherboard are known as the motherboard's
chipset.
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 Motherboard Form Factors
The form factor refers to the physical dimensions (size and shape) as well as certain
connector, screw hole, and other positions that dictate into which type of case the
board will fit.

Obsolete Form Factors

■ Baby-AT
■ Full-size AT
■ LPX (semi-proprietary)

Modern Form Factors

■ ATX
■ Micro-ATX
■ Flex-ATX
■ NLX
■ WTX (no longer in production)

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 Form Factor Use
ATX Standard desktop, mini-tower, and full-tower systems; most
common form factor today; most flexible design for power
users, enthusiasts, low-end servers/ workstations, and higher-
end home systems; ATX boards support up to seven expansion
slots.
Mini-ATX A slightly smaller version of ATX that fits into the same case as
ATX. Many so called ATX motherboards are actually mini-
ATX motherboards; mini-ATX boards support up to six
expansion slots
Micro-ATX Mid-range desktop or mini-tower systems Flex-ATX Least
expensive or low-end small desktop or mini-tower systems;
entertainment or appliance systems
NLX Corporate desktop or mini-tower systems; fast and easy
serviceability
WTX Mid- to high-end workstations and servers (withdrawn)
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 ATX, mini-ATX, & micro-ATX motherboard I/O Ports

PS/2 mouse port

Parallel Port

Line In

Line/Speaker
Out

Mic In

PS/2 Keyboard
port Serial Ports

USB Ports
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 ATX Motherboard Parts
Chipset I/O Ports
BIOS
Chip AGP Slot

PCI Slots
CPU
Socket

ATX
CMOS Power
battery Supply
Connector

DIMM Memory IDE Drive Floppy Drive

Socket Connectors Connector
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 Motherboard Slots
• Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) standard specifies
a computer bus for attaching peripheral devices to a
computer motherboard. These devices can take the form of:
– integrated circuits fitted on the motherboard itself (called planar
devices in the PCI specification); or
– expansion cards that fit in sockets.

The PCI bus is common in modern PCs, where it has displaced

ISA and VESA Local Bus as the standard expansion bus, but it
also appears in many other computer types. The bus will
eventually be succeeded by PCI Express and other
technologies, which have already started to appear in new
computers.

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 32-bit PCI expansion slots on a motherboard
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 • The Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) (also called Advanced
Graphics Port) is a high-speed point-to-point channel for
attaching a graphics card to a computer's motherboard,
primarily to assist in the acceleration of 3D computer
graphics. Many classify AGP as a type of computer bus, but
this is something of a misnomer since buses generally allow
multiple devices to be connected, while AGP does not. Some
motherboards have been built with multiple independent
AGP slots. AGP is slowly being phased out by PCI Express.

As of 2004, newer versions of AGP increase the transfer rate

from two to eight times. Available versions include:

• AGP 1x, using a 32-bit channel operating at 66 MHz resulting

in a maximum data rate of 266 megabytes per second,
doubled from the 133MBytes/s transfer rate of PCI bus 33MHz
/ 32bit; 3.3 V signaling.
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 • AGP 2x, using a 32-bit channel operating at 66 MHz double
pumped to an effective 133 MHz resulting in a maximum data
rate of 533 megabytes per second; signaling voltages the
same as AGP 1x;
• AGP 4x, using a 32-bit channel operating at 66 MHz quad
pumped to an effective 266 MHz resulting in a maximum data
rate of 1066 megabytes per second; 1.5 V signaling;
• AGP 8x, using a 32-bit channel operating at 66 MHz octuple
pumped to an effective 533 MHz resulting in a maximum data
rate of 2133 megabytes per second; 0.8 V signaling.

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 AGP slot (maroon), although the color is usually brown.

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 • PCI Express, or PCIe, (formerly known as 3GIO for 3rd
Generation I/O, not to be mistaken for PCI-X) is an
implementation of the PCI computer bus that uses existing
PCI programming concepts, but bases it on a completely
different and much faster serial physical-layer
communications protocol.

• PCI Express is intended to be used as a local interconnect

only. As it is based on the existing PCI system, cards and
systems can be converted to PCI Express by changing the
physical layer only – existing systems could be adapted to PCI
Express without any change in software. The higher speeds
on PCI Express allow it to replace almost all existing internal
buses, including AGP and PCI.
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 PCI Express slots (from top to bottom: x4, x16, x1 and
x16), compared to a traditional 32-bit PCI slot (bottom)

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 Memory (RAM) Memory is the workspace for the
computer’s processor. It is a
temporary storage area where the
programs and data being operated
on by the processor must reside.
Memory storage is considered
temporary because the data and
programs remain there only as long
as the computer has electrical power
or is not reset. Before being shut
down or reset, any data that has
been changed should be saved to a
more permanent storage device
(usually a hard disk) so it can be
reloaded into memory in the future.

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 Random Access Memory or RAM is a type of
computer storage whose contents can be
accessed in any order. This is in contrast to
sequential memory devices such as magnetic tapes,
discs and drums, in which the mechanical
movement of the storage medium forces the
computer to access data in a fixed order. It is
usually implied that RAM can be both written to
and read from, in contrast to Read-Only Memory
or ROM. RAM is usually used for primary storage
in computers to hold actively-used and actively-
changing information, although some devices use
certain types of RAM to provide long term
secondary storage. 18

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 Common types of RAM

• SRAM or Static RAM

• NV-RAM or Non-Volatile RAM
• DRAM or Dynamic RAM
– Fast Page Mode DRAM
– EDO RAM or Extended Data Out DRAM
– SDRAM or Synchronous DRAM
• DDR SDRAM or Double Data Rate Synchronous DRAM
• RDRAM or Rambus DRAM

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 Types of RAM Package

• DIP (dual in-line package)

• SIPP (single in-line pin package)
• SIMM (singe in-line memory
module)
– 30-pin module
– 72-pin module
• DIMM (dual in-line memory module)
– 168-pin module
– 184-pin module
• RIMM (Rambus in-line memory
module) 20

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 Microprocessor (CPU)

The brain or engine of the PC is the processor (sometimes called microprocessor),

or central processing unit (CPU). The CPU performs the system’s calculating
and processing. In terms of computing power, the CPU is the most important
element of a computer system. The speed of the CPU is measured in
Megahertz (MHz) and Gigahertz (GHz)

Common microprocessors available for desktop PC’s are from Intel and AMD.

Integrated Electronics Corp. Advanced Micro Devices Corp. 21

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 Examples of Microprocessor

Intel Pentium III

Socket370

AMD Athlon XP 2200+

Socket A/462

Intel Pentium 4
uPGA 478

AMD K6/III
Socket 7 / Super 7
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 Secondary Storage Devices
Secondary storage is also called auxiliary storage and is
used to store data and programs when they are not being
processed. Secondary storage is more permanent than
main memory, as data and programs are retained when
the power is turned off.

Computer storage is the holding of data in an

electromagnetic form for access by a computer
processor. Primary storage is data in random access
memory (RAM) and other "built-in" devices. Secondary
storage is data on hard disks, tapes, and other external
devices. Primary storage is much faster to access than
secondary storage because of the proximity of the
storage to the processor or because of the nature of the
storage devices. On the other hand, secondary storage
can hold much more data than primary storage.
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 Hard Disk Drive
A rigid magnetic disk fixed permanently within a drive unit and
used for storing computer data. Hard disks generally offer
more storage and quicker access to data than floppy disks do.

Most desktop hard disks are IDE (ATAPI/EIDE), whereas SCSI

drives have traditionally been found on servers and high-
performance workstations. The SCSI advantage is that from
seven to 15 devices can be attached to the same controller
board, which uses only one slot in the PC. SCSI was the first
drive technology to employ fault-tolerant RAID systems.
Today, IDE drives are used in RAID arrays and in high-
performance machines. Hard disks provide fast retrieval
because they rotate constantly at high speed, from 5,000 to
15,000 rpm. In laptops, they can be turned off when not being
used to preserve battery life.

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 Parts of a Hard Disk Drive

Interface
Connector

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 Types of Hard Disk Drive

• IDE (IDE/ATAPI) – Integrated Drive Electronics/Advanced

Technology Attachment w/ Packet Interface - A single IDE ATA
channel can support up to two drives, master & slave. IDE can
only access one drive per channel at a time. There are four IDE
drive capabilities, IDE ATA33, IDE ATA66, IDE ATA100 and the
latest IDE ATA133.

• SCSI – Small Computer System Interface. - Narrow SCSI has 8

addresses, wide SCSI has 16. SCSI can support up to 15 devices on
a single bus & bus speeds range from Ultra SCSI at 20MB/s to
Ultra 160 SCSI at 160MB/s with further increase on the way.

• Serial ATA (S-ATA) - is a computer bus primarily designed for

transfer of data to and from a hard disk. It is the successor to the
legacy Advanced Technology Attachment standard (ATA, also
known as IDE).
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 IDE/ATAPI

Advanced Technology
Attachment (ATA), is a
standard interface for
connecting storage
devices such as hard disks
and CD-ROM drives inside
personal computers.

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 IDE ATAPI Cable

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 SCSI
SCSI is most commonly
used for hard disks and
tape storage devices, but
also connects a wide
range of other devices,
including scanners, CD-
ROM drives, CD writers,
and DVD drives. SCSI
remains popular on high-
performance
workstations, servers,
and high-end peripherals. 29

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 SCSI Cable & SCSI Host Adapter

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 Serial ATA

Serial-ATA is a serial link -- a

single cable with a
minimum of four wires
creates a point-to-point
connection between
devices. Transfer rates for
Serial ATA begin at
150MBps. One of the main
design advantages of Serial
ATA is that the thinner serial
cables facilitate more
efficient airflow inside a
form factor and also allow
for smaller chassis designs.
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 Serial ATA Cable

Serial ATA connectors on

motherboard
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 Floppy Disk Drive

• The floppy disk drive (FDD)

was the primary means of
adding data to a computer
until the CD-ROM drive
became popular. In fact,
FDDs have been an key
component of most
personal computers for
more than 20 years.
• Basically, a floppy disk drive
reads and writes data to a
small, circular piece of
metal-coated plastic similar
to audio cassette tape. 33

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 floppy disks : Relatively slow and
have a small capacity, but they are
portable, inexpensive, and universal.
Basically, a floppy disk drive reads and
writes data to a small, circular piece of
metal-coated plastic similar to audio
cassette tape.
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 Optical Storage
The optical storage device that
most of us are familiar with is
the compact disc (CD). A CD
can store huge amounts of
digital information (783 MB) on
a very small surface that is
incredibly inexpensive to
manufacture. The design that
makes this possible is a simple
one: The CD surface is a mirror
covered with billions of tiny
bumps that are arranged in a
long, tightly wound spiral. The
CD player reads the bumps
with a precise laser and
interprets the information as 35

bits of data.
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 • When you play a CD, the
laser beam passes through
the CD's polycarbonate
layer, reflects off the
aluminum layer and hits
an optoelectronic device
that detects changes in
light. The bumps reflect
light differently than the
flat parts of the aluminum
layer, which are called
lands. The optoelectronic
sensor detects these
changes in reflectivity, and
the electronics in the CD-
player drive interpret the
changes as data bits. 36

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 Flash Storage
• A keydrive is a small
removable data storage
device that uses flash
memory and a USB
connector. Keydrives are
also known as keychain
drive, micro hard drive,
pen drive, pocket drive,
thumb drive, jump drive,
USB flash drive, USB flash
memory drive, USB key,
USB memory key, and
USB stick. 37

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 • Keydrives are active only when
powered by a connection to a
computer, and require no external
power source or battery power
when not in use. To access the
data stored in a keydrive, it must
be connected to a computer,
either by direct connection to its
USB port or via a USB hub. Most
keydrives feature the larger type-
A USB connection, although some
feature the smaller "miniUSB"
connection. There is no separate
power connection; keydrives are
run from the limited supply
38
afforded by the USB connection.
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 Input Devices These are devices that are used to input
data and give instructions to the
computer. The most common input
device is the keyboard. In a GUI
environment, a pointing device,
typically a mouse is used to move and
select objects on the screen for action.

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 Keyboard

One of the most basic system components is the

keyboard, which is the primary input device. It is
used for entering commands and data into the
system.

The primary keyboard types are as follows:

– 104-key Windows keyboard
– 101-key Enhanced keyboard
– 83-key PC and XT keyboard (obsolete)
– 84-key AT keyboard (obsolete)
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 Keyboards are also classified according to their design:
• Windows keyboard – keyboards with  key
• Ergonomic keyboard – a good example of ergonomic
keyboard is the MS natural keyboard. (shown below)
• Specialized keyboards – are keyboards with special
keys or buttons added such as volume controls for
the audio, or launch the browser.

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 Keyboard Connectors

• 5-pin DIN (PC/AT) PC/AT

• 6-pin mini-DIN (PS/2)

• USB (Universal Serial Bus)

PS/2

USB
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 Mice
• A mouse is a handheld pointing device for computers,
involving a small object fitted with one or more buttons
and shaped to sit naturally under the hand. The
underside of the mouse houses a device that detects the
mouse's motion relative to the flat surface on which it
sits. The mouse's 2D motion is typically translated into
the motion of a cursor on the display.
• It is called a mouse primarily because the cord on early
models resembled the rodent's tail, and also because the
motion of the pointer on the screen can be mouse like. In
popular usage, the plural can be either mice or mouses.

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 The standard mouse consists of several components:

– A housing that you hold in your hand and move around on your
desktop
– A method of transmitting movement to the system: either
ball/roller or optical sensors
– Buttons (two or more, and often a wheel or toggle switch) for
making selections
– An interface for connecting the mouse to the system;
conventional mice use a wire and connector, whereas wireless
mice use a radio-frequency or infrared transceiver in both the
mouse and a separate unit connected to the computer to
interface the mouse to the computer

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 Opto-mechanical Mouse

Uses rollers and rubber ball to transfer mouse movement into

cursor movement on the screen.
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 Optical Mouse

Optical Mouse uses laser light to detect and transfer motion

instead of ball and rollers
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 Pointing Device Interface

• Serial
• PS/2
• USB

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 Input/Output Ports

• USB – Universal Serial Bus is an external peripheral bus standard designed

to bring Plug and Play capability for attaching peripherals externally to the
PC. USB is a high-speed I/O port which enables you to connect several
devices on a single USB port. It has a data transfer rate up to 60Mbps.

Devices which connects to USB port:

– Printers, Scanners
Parallel Port
– External drives
USB Port
– Digital cameras

• Parallel Port - Parallel ports are normally used for connecting

printers to a PC. Even though that was their sole original
intention, parallel ports have become much more useful over
the years as a more general-purpose, relatively high-speed 48
interface between devices (when compared to serial ports).
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  Serial Port - The asynchronous serial interface was designed as
a system-to-system communications port. Asynchronous
means that no synchronization or clocking signal is present, so
characters can be sent with any arbitrary time spacing. Serial
refers to data that is sent over a single wire, with each bit lining
up in a series as the bits are sent.

Devices that connects to a Serial Port

 Serial Mouse
 External Modem

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 Interface Interface cards generally refer to devices
which are inserted into the expansion
Cards slots on the motherboard to add
capabilities to the computer such as
playing music, connect to the internet
and many more. Devices such as Sound
card, internal Modems, and Network
Interface card are just some of the
examples.

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 Sound Cards

An expansion board that

enables a computer to
manipulate and output
sounds. Sound cards are
necessary for nearly all CD-
ROMs and have become
commonplace on modern
personal computers. Sound
cards enable the computer to
output sound through
speakers connected to the
board, to record sound input
from a microphone
connected to the computer,
and manipulate sound stored
on a disk. 51

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 Sound Cards converts digital signals on your computer to analog signal
and send it out to the speakers. It can also accept sound from external
sources such as microphone or stereo system for recording.

Current sound cards usually

plug into a Peripheral
Component Interconnect
(PCI) slot, while some older
or inexpensive cards may
use the Industry Standard
Architecture (ISA) bus. Many
of the computers available
today incorporate the sound
card as a chipset right on the
motherboard. This leaves
another slot open for other
peripherals. 52

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 Sound Card Jacks MIDI / Game
Port (gold)
Line IN (blue or light blue)

Mic IN (pink Line Out (no 53

or red) Speaker Out standard color)

(lime or green)
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 Video Cards
A graphics card or video
card is a component of a
computer which is designed
to convert a logical
representation of an image
stored in memory to a signal
that can be used as input for
a display medium, most
often a monitor utilizing a
variety of display standards.
Typically, it also provides
functionality to manipulate
the logical image in
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 Video Adapter Types
The three ways computer systems connect to either
CRT or LCD displays are as follows:
– Add-on video cards. This method requires the use of an
AGP or a PCI expansion slot but provides the highest
possible level of performance, the greatest amount of
memory, and the largest choice of features.
– Video-only chipset on motherboard. Performance is
generally less than with add-on video cards because older
chipset designs are often used.
– Motherboard chipset with integrated video. This has the
lowest cost of any video solution, but performance can
also be very low, especially for 3D gaming or other
graphics-intensive applications. Resolution and color-
depth options are also more limited than those available
with add-on video cards.

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 ATX Motherboard with on-board Video,
Sound, and Network Interface card.
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 Network Interface card

• A network card (also called

network adapter, network
interface card, NIC, etc.) is
a piece of computer
hardware designed to
provide for computer
communication over a
computer network.
• Most newer computers have
a network interface built
into the motherboard, so a
separate network card is not
required unless multiple
interfaces are needed or
some other type of network
is used. 57

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 Modem
• The word "modem" is a contraction of the words
modulator-demodulator. A modem is typically used to
send digital data over a phone line. The sending modem
modulates the data into a signal that is compatible with
the phone line, and the receiving modem demodulates
the signal back into digital data.
• Modems come in two forms: External modem which are
connected to your PC by means of Serial Port or USB
Port. USB modem doesn’t require external power source,
it get its power from the USB port. Internal modems are
installed on the expansion slot on the motherboard,
usually on the PCI slot.
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 Typical 56K Internal Modem

External 56K USB Modem

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 Power
Supply
• The basic function of the power supply is to convert the type of electrical
power available at the wall socket to the type the computer circuitry can
use. The power supply in a conventional desktop system is designed to
convert either 115-volt (nominal) 60Hz AC (alternating current) or 230v
(nominal) 50Hz AC power into +3.3v, +5v, and +12v DC (direct current)
power.

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 Power Supply Form Factor
Form factor is used to describe the size and format of
PC motherboards, but also of hard drives, power
supplies, cases, and add-in cards. The term can also
be used refer to the shape of a housing or package
or mechanical connection associated with a device
or mechanism within the context of its interface
with other devices or mechanisms, also in regards
to a human interface.

Other power supply form factors are already obsolete,

below are the still available in modern PC:

– AT/Baby AT (being phased out)

– ATX (new PC’s have this type of power supply)

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 Power supply removed from the PC case

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 Power supply output voltage

AT power supply ATX power supply

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 All power supplies are generally sold based on their wattage rating.
What people don't know is that this is the combined total wattage
rating of the power supply at full load across each of the individual
voltage lines. Since the power supply has multiple voltage outputs,
each voltage rail will pull its own current from the power supply.
Below is a chart of various PC case sizes and the recommended
ratings of a power supply for that size case with the number of
devices that could potentially be installed in the case:

Case Size Recommended Wattage Min. +12v Max Load

Mini-tower 330-350 W 15 A
Mid-tower 350-380 W 15 A
Full tower 380-450 W 18 A
Server tower 450-550 W 20A

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 Monitor
A computer display, monitor or screen is a computer peripheral device
capable of showing still or moving images generated by a computer and
processed by a graphics card. Monitors generally conform to one or more
display standards. Monitors can either be CRT (cathode ray tube or LCD
(liquid crystal display)

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 CRT monitor

• The original display

technology, and still the most
popular, is cathode ray tube
(CRT) technology—the same
technology used in television
sets. CRTs consist of a vacuum
tube enclosed in glass. One
end of the tube contains an
electron gun assembly that
projects three electron beams,
one each for the red, green,
and blue phosphors used to
create the colors you see
onscreen; the other end
contains a screen with a
phosphorous coating.
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 LCD monitor

• LCD or flat panel computer

displays are the latest and
greatest offerings in the
desktop computer industry.
They have been used for
years in the portable and
notebook computing
markets, but recent
developments have increase
performance and size while
reducing costs making them
viable in the desktop
environment. LCD displays
are lightweight, extremely
thin and use much less power
than CRT based monitors. 67

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 Resolution is the amount of detail a monitor can render. This
quantity is expressed in the number of horizontal and vertical
picture elements, or pixels, contained in the screen. The greater the
number of pixels, the more detailed the images. The resolution
required depends on the application. Character-based applications
(such as DOS command-line programs) require little resolution,
whereas graphics intensive applications (such as desktop publishing
and Windows software) require a great deal.

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 Casing This is the box where all the components
of the PC are installed. Usually made of
plastic and metal. The case provides
electromagnetic insulation to keep
radio radiation within. It also offers
structural integrity for all the
components in the system. It also
provide a hard mounting point for all
the components is the system, keep the
system cool by providing good
ventilation. Most of all, it defines the
cosmetic look of the system.

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 The PC case also has form factors. These includes:

• Full Tower
• Mid-Tower
• Mini Tower
• Desktop
• Cube

Cube Cases are designed for micro-

ATX motherboards.
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 Different case form factors:
(right to left) desktop case, mini-tower, full-tower, mid-
towers,
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 • A peripheral is a type of computer
Peripherals hardware that is added to a host
computer, in order to expand its
abilities. More specifically the term
is used to describe those devices
that are optional in nature, as
opposed to hardware that is either
demanded, or always required in
principle.
• The term also tends to be applied to
devices that are hooked up
externally, typically though some
form of computer bus like USB.
Typical examples include joysticks,
printers and scanners. Devices such
as monitors and disk drives are not
considered peripherals because they
are not truly optional, and video
capture cards are typically not
referred to as peripheral because
they are internal devices.

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 Printers
A computer printer is a computer peripheral device that produces a
hard copy (permanent human-readable text and/or graphics,
usually on paper) from data stored in a computer connected to it.

Methods of image creation

The media for most printers is paper, so they are usually classified
according to the method of image creation:
• Non-impact printing
Toner-based printers - Laser printers refer to the method used
to adhere toner to the media. The advent of cost-effective,
precision lasers has made them the dominant toner-based
monochrome printer type for home and office applications.

Ink jet printers - Ink jet printers spray very small, precise
amounts (usually a few picolitres) of ink onto the media. For
color applications including photo printing, ink jet methods are
dominant.
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 • Impact printers
Impact printers rely on a forcible impact to transfer ink to the
media, similar to typewriters, that are typically limited to
reproducing text. A daisy wheel printer is a specific type of
impact printer where the type is carried on a wheel.

Dot-matrix printers - in the general sense many printers rely on a

matrix of pixels, or dots, that together form the larger image.
However, the term dot matrix printer is specifically used for
impact printers that use a matrix of small pins to create precise
dots. The advantage of dot-matrix over other impact printers is
that they can produce graphical images in addition to text;
however the text is generally of poorer quality than type-based
impact printers. Dot matrix printers are still commonly used in
low-cost, low-quality applications like cash registers. The fact
that they use an impact printing method allows them to be used
to print multi-part documents using carbonless copy paper (like
sales invoices and credit card receipts), whereas other printing
methods are unusable with paper of this type. Dot-matrix
printers have been superseded for general computing use.

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Joseph R. Camarote
 Dot matrix
printer

Laser printer

Inkjet printer

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 Scanners

A scanner is a device which analyzes a physical image

(such as a photograph, printed text, or handwriting) or
an object (such as ornament) and converts it to a digital
image.
Most scanners today are variations on the desktop (or
flatbed) scanner. Hand-held scanners, where the device is
moved by hand, were briefly popular but are now not
used due to the impossibility of obtaining a high-quality
image. Both these types of scanners use a CCD as the
image sensor, whereas a drum scanner uses a
photomultiplier tube (PMT) as the image sensor.

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 Early scanners had parallel connections that could not
go faster than 70 kilobytes/second. Professional
models adopted the SCSI-II connection, which was
much faster (a few megabytes per second) albeit
expensive, and frequently requiring a dedicated
expansion card to be put inside the host computer.
Recent economic models come equipped with USB
connections. In its first version, USB was capable of
roughly 1 megabyte per second. Recent models use
USB 2.0 connections that can transfer about 40
megabytes per second, eliminating the bottleneck.

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Joseph R. Camarote
 Flatbed scanner
Handheld
image scanners

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 That’s All Folks!

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Joseph R. Camarote 79