OUTPUT DEVICES

Output devices are computer hardware equipment which converts information into human-
readable form. It can be text, graphics, tactile, audio, and video.  

Most common output devices are:

1. Monitor - It is the main output device of a computer. It displays text as well as pictures in
black and white or color.

– The monitor screen consists of an array of tiny dots called pixels (picture elements).
Typical sizes of this array of pixels are 640 by 480 or 800 by 600 or 1024 by 768. This is
also referred as the resolution.

– Each pixel can be independently illuminated by a color. The number of colors

displayable on a monitor can be 16 or 256 or 2 16 (high color) or 224 (true color).

– Resolution and number of colors can be set by user.

There are two (2) Types of Monitor:

 CRT (cathode-ray tube) monitor - was based on the same technology as early
televisions. CRT is a specialized vacuum tube in which images are produced
when an electron beam strikes.

 FPD (front panel display - a display technology which succeeds CRT as the new standard
for desktop computer displays. Unlike CRT monitors, flat-panel displays
use LCD (liquid crystal display) or LED (light-emitting diode) screens, making
them lighter and thinner.

 LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor - uses LCD technology to show clear images,
and is found mostly in laptop computers and flat panel monitors.
  LED (light-emitting diode) monitor or LED display - a flat screen, flat-panel
computer monitor or television. It has a very short depth and is light in terms of
weight.

The actual difference between this and a typical   LCD  monitor is the backlighting.
The first LCD monitors used  CCFL  instead of LEDs to illuminate the screen.

2. Printer - Another output device to which the computer can directly send the data to
obtain hard copy printouts of the results.

There are two (2) Types of Printer:

 Impact Printer - a class of printers that functions by making physical contact with an
ink ribbon before striking the page. 

 Daisy Wheel printer - uses a metal or plastic disk containing each of the letters,
numbers, and other characters it supports. When printing, the printer rotates the
disk to each character and then using a hammer strike each character into an ink
ribbon to create the character on paper.

 Dot Matrix printer - use print heads to shoot ink or strike an ink ribbon to place
hundreds to thousands of little dots to form text and images.

 Line printer - a high-speed printer capable of printing an entire line of text at

once.

 Non-Impact Printer - prints without making contact with the paper. They are generally
 quieter and more efficient than their impact counterparts. 

 Laser printer - utilizes laser technology to print images on the paper. Laser

printers are often used for corporate, school, and other environments that require
print jobs to be completed quickly and in large quantities.

 Inkjet printer - The most popular printer for home computer users that prints by
spraying streams of quick-drying ink on paper. The ink is stored in disposable
ink cartridges, and often a separate cartridge is used for each of the major colors.

3. Speaker - connects to a computer to generate sound