Output devices Handout

Output Device

An output device is any peripheral device that sends information from the computer to the user.

An output device is any peripheral device that plays, displays (visual or textual) or print results of
processing operations or status messages related to that processing.

Terms associated with output devices

Output is sending information from the computer to the user.

Output is the displaying, playing, printing or storing of information a computer generates as a

result of its processing.

Hardcopy is permanent printed output from the computer. This is tangible output.

Softcopy is a temporary form of output, as produced by a visual display unit or and audio output
device. This is intangible output.

Categories of Output Devices

(1) Hardcopy Output Devices
(2) Softcopy Output Devices

Soft copy output device

1. Monitor/visual display unit

A monitor is an electronic output device that is also known as a video display terminal (VDT)
or a video display unit (VDU). It is used to display images, text, video, and graphics
information generated by a connected computer via a computer's video card.
A monitor usually comprises the visual display, circuitry, casing, and power supply.

Terms associated with the Monitor:

• Softcopy- intangible output (output that cannot be touched)

A legible version of a piece of information not printed on a physical medium, especially as stored
or displayed on a computer.

A softcopy is a digital reproduction of a physical document.

For example, if you scanned a tax form into your computer, you would be creating a soft copy of
it.
The most common method of displaying a softcopy uses a computer monitor or another display,
such as a smartphone screen or music from speakers or headset.

• Pixel- these are tiny dots that make up a picture shown on a monitor. The word "Pixel" means
picture element. It is described as the smallest element shown on a monitor.

The term "pixel" is actually short for "Picture Element." These small little dots are what make up
the images on computer displays, whether they are flat-screen (LCD) or tube (CRT) monitors. The
screen is divided up into a matrix of thousands or even millions of pixels.

In which picture do you have fewer pixels making up the hair?

• Resolution -This defines the sharpness and clarity of an image and is specified as the number of
dots per character.

Types of monitors

Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)

CRT - "Cathode Ray Tube" is the technology used in traditional computer monitors and
televisions. The image on a CRT display is created by firing electrons from the back of the tube to
phosphors located towards the front of the display

Advantage

● inexpensive

Disadvantages
● Consume a lot of power
● Generate a lot of heat
● Bulky and look similar to an older model television
● Very heavy to take around or transport
● Most show in black and white
● Poor graphics quality
● Screen prone to flicker

Flat Panel displays

A flat panel display is a thin, often lightweight video display used in computer monitors and
televisions as an alternative to the cathode-ray tube. Flat-panel displays often employ liquid
crystals or electroluminescent materials such as light-emitting diodes

Advantages
● Flat
● Use less power
● Generate less heat
● Low flicker rates

Disadvantages
 Expensive
 Fragile

These are two types:

Liquid Crystal display (LCD) – uses liquid crystal which changes their appearance when the
electric current is passed through them.

Plasma- light is created by a plasma discharge from phosphors between two flat panels of glass.

Categories of displays

● Monochrome- displays text and graphics in white against a black background.

● Coloured- displays text and graphics in multiple colours.

Characteristics of the monitor

The monitor’s full capabilities depend on several factors:

● Size- this is the diagonal dimension of the screen common sizes include 15, 17, 19 inch
monitors.
● Resolution- the sharpness or clarity of an image when displayed on the screen. Resolution
is measured in pixels. The higher the resolution the
● Refresh rate- this is the number of time the image is reprinted or redrawn on the screen
per second. If this process is slow, the screen may appear to flicker. The refresh rate is
measured in hertz(HZ)
2. Audio Output devices- these are peripherals that enable the user to hear and play sounds. It
amplifies sounds so users can hear them.
Most computer systems come with a built-in speaker that is used to provide system feedback.
Audio output devices depend on a sound card to work. These sound cards are either integrated
with the motherboard or installed as a separate add-on card.

Types of audio output devices:

 Speakers- is an output device that connects to or built in a computer to generate sound.
The signal used to produce the sound that comes from a computer speaker is created by
the computer's sound card.
 Earphones – an output device that plugs into a computer line out or speakers port.
Headphones allow you to listen to audio or watch a movie without disturbing people
around you.
 Headphones – an output device that can be plugged into a computer, laptop, smartphone,
mp3 player or other device to privately listen to audio without disturbing anyone in the
vicinity. They are plug-and-play devices and do not require any sort of installation before
use.
 Headsets - is an output device that connects to a telephone or computer, allowing the user
to talk and listen while keeping their hands free. ... They are also commonly used by
computer gamers, allowing them to hear and talk with others, while using the keyboard
and mouse to play the game

3. Multimedia projectors- take the image form a computer screen and project it onto a larger screen
or wall so that it can be seen by a large audience. They are usually equipped with remote
controller devices that give the computer instructions

4. Modem is derived from the words modulator – demodulator. This is a device used to allow
computers to communicate with each other using telephone lines. Some modems are installed in
the system unit. Other modems are eternal devices. The modem converts digital to analogue and
vice-versa. The modem serves as a combination of input and output functions.

5. Speech synthesizer is a device that takes data from a computer and outputs it as spoken words,
often by combining a series of phonemes or short sound elements. The speech synthesizer reads
or sounds out, any text that is displayed on the screen. This feature is useful for the visually
impaired and for persons learning a new language. Speech synthesizers can be in the form of a
card that is inserted into the computer, a box that is attached by cables, or a program that uses the
computer’s in built sound card.

Hardcopy Output Devices

1. The Printer

The printer is an output device that produces text and graphics on a physical medium such as
paper and transparency film.

Terms associated with the Printer

Hardcopy - This is a tangible copy of a document produced by a printer. An example of a

hardcopy is a flyer, letter, card and so on.

Printing medium is the physical material on which information is printed.

Examples of printing medium are: paper, plastic, glass, wood, cloth, metal

Classification of Printers
Printers may be classified according to printing speed, printing quality and technology

Classification by printing speed:

The speed of the printer is based on how much information they print at a time. The faster the
printer the more expensive it is. The speed of the printer is measured in:
CPS- character per second
LPM-lines per minute
PPM –pages per minute
Classification by print quality

The print quality is how well the images come out on the paper. It is measured by the printer’s
resolution that is how many dots per inch (dpi) form a single character or image. The more dots
per inch, the higher the resolution, the smoother the picture, the better the print quality.

Classification by technology

Printers fall into two main categories based on how they form images on the paper namely:

Impact (physical contact with the paper) forms characters and graphics on a piece of paper by
striking a mechanism against an inked ribbon that physically contacts the paper. It usually forms
the print image by pressing an inked ribbon against the paper using a hammer or pins.

Non-impact (No physical contact with the paper) the information is either sprayed or heated on
the paper.

Impact versus Non-Impact

Impact Printers Non-Impact Printers

Technology The printing mechanism makes physical There is no physical contact

contact with the paper between the printing mechanism
and the paper.

Advantages • Produce carbon copies, Inexpensive • Produce high quality and high
(cheap), speed output,
• Maintenance is inexpensive. • Almost noiseless.

Disadvantages However, they are • Expensive,

• Relatively slow • Maintenance is also expensive
• Draft quality is low, noisy

Examples Dot-matrix and Chain printers Laser and Inkjet printers

Types of Printers
Impact Printers

● Dot matrix- Creates characters by striking pins against an ink ribbon. Each pin makes a
dot, and combinations of dots form characters and illustrations. (character printer)

● Daisy wheel- Similar to a ball-head typewriter, this type of printer has a plastic or metal
wheel on which the shape of each character stands out in relief. A hammer presses the
wheel against a ribbon, which in turn makes an ink stain in the shape of the character on
the paper. Daisy-wheel printers produce letter-quality print but cannot print graphics.
(impact printer /character printer)

● Drum\chain\band- contains characters on a drum, chain or band that rotates at a constant

speed. The keys strike the page as the required characters pass the print position. (impact/
line)

Non-impact Printers

● Thermal – uses heated electrical wires to produce characters on the surface of a heat
sensitive paper. Mostly used for label printing. Thermal printers use a thermal ribbon which
is soaked with a wax type ink which is melted and then transferred to the paper.
(non-impact character)
 ● Inkjet- Ink-jet printers work in the same fashion as dot-matrix printers in the form images
or characters with little dots. However, the dots are formed by tiny droplets of ink. Ink-jet
printers form characters on paper by spraying ink from tiny nozzles through an electrical
field that arranges the charged ink particles into characters at the rate of approximately 250
characters per second. The ink is absorbed into the paper and dries instantly. Various colors
of ink can also be used. (non-impact/ line)

● Laser- laser beam and dry powdered ink called toner produces a very fine dot matrix
pattern. This pattern is transferred to the page and then fused onto it by heat and pressure.
(Non- impact /Page)

● Mobile printer- is a small, lightweight, battery-powered printer that allows a mobile user
to print from a notebook computer, tablet PC, or PDA while traveling.

● Label printers- is a small printer that prints on an adhesive-type material that can be
placed on a variety of items such as envelopes, floppy disk, Cds, DVDs, audio-cassettes,
photographs, etc.

● Postage printer- is a special type of label printer that has a built in digital scale and prints
postage stamps.

● Photo printer- is a colour printer that produces photo-lab-quality pictures

● Dye sublimation- these printers use heat to transfer the ink from coloured ribbons into a
gas that cools into a glass-like substances on the paper. Dye sublimation printers produce
the highest quality graphics, with bright images of photographic standard. These are among
the most expensive printers on the market and are used by businesses such as advertising
agencies and photo studios.

2. Plotters
A plotter is an output device used to produce high quality drawings and graphics. Plotters have
built-in microprocessors that convert characters and instructions from the computer into a series
of coordinates, which, the plotter then plots. They require lots of memory to store highly
accurate images. They produce high quality resolution. Architects, Surveyors, Engineers and
Pattern-makers usually use plotters to help to carry out their task. Plotters are devices that are
more suitable for the output of high quality graphics than a printer.

Types of Plotters

There two types of plotters Vector and Raster Plotter

Vector Plotters – uses lines to plot the images

• Flatbed
• Drum

Flatbed Plotters
It has a flat surface that the paper is placed on. They draw their images with an arm that moves
from the left to right and a penholder that moves from top to bottom. The paper is held in place
while the pens move. Their paper size ranges from letter size up.

Drum Plotters are much bigger than Flatbed plotters and uses rolls of paper to print their image.
The drum plotter wraps the paper around a drum with pins at the edges to hold the paper. It moves
the paper back and forth for one direction of the plot and the pins move across the paper in a
different direction.

Raster Plotters – images produced from small dots rather than lines.
• Impact-uses a hammer or print head to strike an inked ribbon to produce images.
• Inkjet- sprays ink on the paper to form images
• Laser – this is a plotter that uses a laser to produce images on photographic film in raster
or vector format
• Electrostatic - A plotter that uses an electrostatic method of printing. Liquid toner models
use a positively charged toner that is attracted to paper which is negatively charged by passing
by a line of electrodes (tiny wires or nibs).
3. Computer Output on Microfilm or Microfiche (COM)
Sometimes computer users choose to put their computer output on film rather on paper. In such a
case the output is called Computer Output on Microfilm or Microfiche (COM). Both Microfiche
and Microfilm stores images on plastic films. The images are held in a much reduced form and
you can easily fit thirty pages of text on a single sheet of Microfiche, which is about 15cm2.

Microfilm as the name suggest is just reels of film use to store data or images.
Microfiche on the other hand are flat individual card size sheets of films.

While microfilm is primarily reserved for preserving journals and newspaper, and to hold hundreds
of prints on one film, microfiche is primarily used for the same purpose but to preserve government
document and college catalogues. Microfiche and microfilm are great space savers. However, the
drawback is, that a special reader is needed to look at or read the pages stored on these devices.