Output Devices of Computer

The output devices take care of displaying the result after data processing by
the input device. It may be in image, graphic, textual or audio form. These
devices show the visual elements on the display. The information on the
screen is soft copy and some of the important output devices are –

1. Monitors

The visual display units are the most important output device responsible for
showing the visual made of pixels to the user. The pixels decide the image
sharpness. There are two types of viewing screen on the monitor:
a. Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT) Monitor
The pixels make up the image on the CRT display. The smaller pixels mean the
image is more clear. Even a single character like ‘k’ is made of numerous pixels
on the screen. A screen can have limited pixels at once, it is usually 80 by 20
characters horizontally and vertically.

Disadvantages of CRT Monitor −

Large Size
Power consumption is high
b. Flat-Panel Display Monitor
These are high-level video devices with low volume, lightweight, and low
power requirements. From wall hanging to smartwatches, they are
everywhere. There are either emissive displays or non-emissive displays.
Emissive displays convert electrical energy into light like LEDs in plasma
panels. While the non-emissive display converts sunlight to light energy like
LCDs.

2. Printers

The primary feature is to print information on paper. It is mainly of two types

–

a. Impact Printers
They have a ribbon on the front which prints characters on the paper by pressing
it.
Characteristics –
• Consumable cost is less
• Noisy in nature
• Good for bulk printing
• Physical contact between paper and machine
b. Character Printers
These printer print only one character at a time and are of two types –
i. Dot Matrix Printer
They have a very economical price and are easy to use. Each character print has a
dots pattern of the size (5*7, 7*9, 9*7, or 9*9) creating a complete symbol.
Its advantages are –
• Inexpensive
• Accessible
• Multilingual Printing
Its disadvantages are –
• Slow Speed
• Quality is poor
ii. Daisy Wheel
With head lying on the wheel, the pins next to the characters form a petal
shape thus giving it its name. They print nice quality characters and are mostly
present at word-processing offices that need a few letters only.

Its advantages are –

• Reliable than the dot matrix printer
• Quality Characters
• Exchangeable Fonts
Its disadvantages are –
• Slow in speed
• Noisy Nature
• A bit expensive

c. Line Printers
They print one line at a time. They are of two types –

i. Drum Printer
They have a drum-like shape with track division equal to paper size, like 100
width paper will have 100 tracks. Each track has a character set embossed either
48 character set, 64 or 96 characters set. Each drum prints one line and is as fast
as 300 to 2000 lines per minute.
Its advantages are –
• High speed
Its disadvantages are
 • Very Costly
• Only one set of font available in one printer
ii. Chain Printer
This printer uses a character chain to print like 48, 64, or 96 characters.
Its advantages are –
• Interchangeable character fonts
• Multilingual printing
Its disadvantages are –
• Noisy in nature

d. Non-impact Printers
They don’t use a ribbon to print but instead print an entire page in one go.
Characteristics of Non-impact Printers
• Very fast
• Don’t make noise
• High-Quality printing
• Many fonts and character size available

e. Laser Printers
These use laser lights for producing dots to form characters on a page.
Its advantages are –
• Fast Speed
• Quality Output
• Great graphic quality
• Supports multiple fonts and size
Its disadvantages are –
• Very Costly
• Can’t print multiple copies at a time
Inkjet Printers
These are the new generation printers that use the spray to print the papers.
They produce high-quality characters with a focus on details. They make
relatively lower voices and also have an option to do color printing.
Its advantages are
• High quality
• Reliable
• Multiple copy printing
Its disadvantages are –
• Expensive
 • Slow compared to laser printer
3. Speakers
An output device that produces sound after receiving a command from the
computer. They support the computers as well as other hardware devices. Now
we also have wireless speakers with Bluetooth technology.
4. Projector
This is an optical device that presents visuals on the screen, stationary and
moving both. They are present at movie theatres, auditoriums, etc. It connects
to the computer and displays the image on it on a larger screen.

5. Plotter
It is a device to make graphics, prints and other vector images to give a real life
illustration vibe. It is mandatory to have a graphic card to use the device. The
pen like device that comes with it helps in replicating the exact design on the
computer.

6. Braille Reader
Made for the blind users, this device is to process computer data in braille
format. It allows users with low or no vision to recognize the data as the braille
reader put data on the paper in embossed format. They can run their fingers over
it to understand everything easily.
7. Television
A very common output device present in most of the households is a display
output device. It portrays video and audio files on the screen according to the
user’s needs. Before we had CRT screens but now most of us use plasma displays.
8. Video Card
This device goes inside the sockets of a motherboard of the computer system.
It improvises the digital content appearance in other output devices. It is very
important now with many people having multiple devices just for personal
use.

9. Global Positioning System

A device to help users with directions, GPS uses satellite technology to track
geographical location of the users. There is a continuous latitudinal and
longitudinal calculation to have an accurate result every time. Most of the
vehicles and smart devices have GPS as an inbuilt feature.

10. Headphones
Similar to speakers, this device has a lower sound frequency. They can’t be
easily heard in large areas like grounds and parks but are only accessible to a
single person using the device. A headset is another name for them.

Both Input and Output Devices of

Computer
There are many devices that have characteristics of both input and output
devices. They can receive data as well as give out a result becoming useful for
both purposes.
Some of them are –
1. USB Drive – It is a detachable device which can receive data from any
computer as well as send out data to other devices.
2. Modems – It is responsible for transmitting data from one device to another
using telephonic lines.
3. CD and DVD Drives – Saves data from the computer in the given format and
can also send out data to other devices with disk space.
4. Headset – It has a speaker which is an output device and a microphone which
is an input device.
5. Facsimile – This is a fax machine with scanner being an input device and
printer being the output device.