Chapter 7

Input/Output Technology
 Chapter 7
Input/Output Technology
Chapter Outline

Basic Concepts of Print and Display

Technology Focus – Adobe Postscript and
Portable Document Format
Video Display
Printers
Manual Input Devices
Optical Input Devices
Audio I/O Devices
 Chapter Goals
• Describe common concepts of text and image
representation and display including digital
representation of grayscale and color, bitmaps, and
image compression techniques
• Describe the characteristics and implementation
technology of video display devices
• List and describe the three predominant manual input
technologies
• Understand printer characteristics and technology
• Describe various types of optical input devices including
mark sensors, bar code readers, scanners, and digital
cameras
• Identify the characteristics of audio I/O devices, and
explain how they operate
 Chapter 7
Input/Output Technology
Basic Print and Display Concepts
• Share many features

– Character representation methods

– Measurement systems

– Methods of generating color

Matrix-Oriented Image Composition
• Display surfaces

• Fonts

• Color

• Numeric pixel content

 Display Surface
• Commonly used: paper, cathode ray tubes, flat panel
displays

• Divided into rows and columns similar to a large

matrix

– Each cell (pixel) represents one simple component

of an image

• Resolution

– Number of pixels displayed per linear measurement

unit
– Stated in dots per inch (dpi)
 Fonts
• Collection of characters of similar style and
appearance

• Usually measured in points (one seventy-

second of an inch), which refers to height of
characters
Fonts
 Color
• RGB (additive colors)
– Properly called “color”
– Generates color by mixing red, green, and blue

• CMY (subtractive colors)

– Properly called “pigment”
– Generates color using
• cyan (absence of red)
• magenta (absence of green)
• yellow (absence of blue)

• CMYK color
– Four-dye scheme using a separate black dye (K)
Colors by Electromagnetic
Wavelength and Frequency
Color Coding
RGB

One byte for each

basic color
 Numeric Pixel Content
• Bitmap
– Stored set of numeric pixel descriptions

• Monochrome display
– Displays one of two colors
– Requires only one bit per pixel

• Grayscale display
– Displays black, white, and shades of gray
 Numeric Pixel Content
• Palette
– A table of colors
– Number of bits used to represent each
pixel determines table size

• Dithering
– Generates color approximations by placing
small dots of different colors in an
interlocking pattern
– Half-toning (grayscale dithering)
Image Storage Requirements
• Depends on number of bits that represent
each pixel and on image height and width in
pixels

• Can be reduced with bitmap compression

– Graphics Interchange Format (GIF)
– Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG)
– Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG)

• All compression methods are lossy, resulting

in some loss of image quality
Image Description Languages
(IDL)
• Address drawbacks of bitmaps (large size
and device dependence) by storing images
compactly

• Can represent image components in several

ways

– Embedded fonts
– Vectors, curves, and shapes
– Embedded bitmaps
Vector Display
Adobe PostScript and Portable
Document Format
PostScript
• Used in printing and • Ability to distribute
publishing and as graphic
file interchange format
and embedded printer
technology
• Lacks features needed to
generate and manage
documents as an
integrated whole
PDF
compressed documents
with complete authorial
control over exact format
of the printed and
displayed document,
regardless of end user’s
specific computer, OS, or
printer
Adobe PostScript
 Video Display
• Character-oriented video display terminals
(VDTs)

• Video controllers

• Video monitors
 Character-Oriented VDTs
• Integrated keyboard and video display
surface
• VDTs
– Most common form of video display in
1970s and much of 1980s (until PCs)
• Network computers or thin clients
– New class of VDT in 1990s
– Limited processing capabilities
Video Display
 Wyse Technology
VDTs and Thin Clients
 Video Controller
• Enables communication between computer
system and monitor
– Accepts commands and data transmitted
via a bus from the CPU
– Generates TV-style analog video signal,
which is transmitted to the monitor
• Refresh cycle and refresh rate; video RAM;
dual porting; graphics accelerators
 Video Controller

Contains RAM, a
microprocessor, and
embedded software.
 Video Monitors
• Separate from keyboards

• Common types
– Cathode ray tubes (CRTs)
– Liquid crystal displays (LCDs)
– Plasma displays
 CRT
• Enclosed vacuum tube; electron beam is
focused toward front surface of the tube,
which is coated in phosphor

• Technology relatively old; has disadvantages

– Physical size and weight
– Power consumption
 LCD
• Contains matrix of liquid crystals sandwiched
between two polarizing filter panels

• Active and passive matrix displays

• Manufactured with thin film transistor (TFT)

technology

• Compared with CRTs

– Less contrast
– Reduced size, weight, and power consumption
– Higher cost
How
an LCD
works
 Plasma Displays
• Combine elements of CRT and LCD technology
• Flat panel, active matrix devices
• Actively generate colored light near surface
of the display; good brightness and viewing
• Require more power than LCDs, less than
CRTs

• Shortcomings
– Limited operational lifetime
– Larger pixel size reduces comparative
image quality when viewed from short
distances
 Plasma Displays

Plasma displays have no backlight and no color

filters; each pixel contains a gas that emits
ultraviolet light when electricity is applied.
 Printers
Impact • Slow, noisy
• Relatively poor-quality output
(dot matrix) • Inexpensive

Inkjet • Relatively slow

• Excellent-quality output

Laser • Relatively fast

• Excellent-quality output
 Printer Communication
• Impact printers
– ASCII or Unicode characters
• Inkjet and laser printers
– Use pixels as fundamental output unit
– Have relatively large buffers
• IDLs are commonly used to improve printer
performance
Dot Matrix Printers
Daisy Wheel Printers
 Inkjet Printers
• Most common printing technology

• Prints with liquid ink placed directly onto

paper

• Uses mechanical movement or heat to force

ink out of nozzle

• Paper is drawn past moving print head

• Resolution is up to 600 dpi

 Inkjet Printers

An inkjet printer has disposable print cartridges

that contain ink reservoirs, a matrix of ink
nozzles, and electrical wiring and contact points.
Lasar Printers
 Lasar Printers

Laser printers operate with an electrical charge

and the attraction of ink to that electrical charge.
Lasar Printers
Lasar Printers
Lasar Printers
 Plotters
• Printers that generate line drawings on wide
sheets or rolls of paper
• Use inkjet technology
• Ideal for blueprints and other engineering
drawings
• Also called large format printers
 Manual Input Devices
Keyboards • For entering text and commands

Pointing • For pointing and selecting buttons

devices or menu items
• For drawing
• For moving the position of cursor

Input pads • For many of same functions as

mice
• Also used for signature pads and
touch screens
 Keyboards
• Translate keystrokes directly into electrical
signals
• Generate bit stream outputs (scan code) with
a keyboard controller
• Can connect to computer in various ways
(e.g., PS/2, USB, wireless)
 Pointing Devices
• Mouse
• Trackball
• Joystick
• Input pads (e.g., digitizer tablet)
– Infrared detector
– Photosensor
– Pressure-sensitive pad
 Optical Input Devices
• Detect light reflected off a printed surface
or object into a photosensor
• Categories
– Mark and pattern sensors
– Image capture devices
Mark Sensors and Bar-Code
Scanners
• Mark sensor
– Scans for light or dark marks at specific
locations on a page (e.g., standardized
multiple-choice test)
• Bar code scanner
– Detects specific patterns of vertical bars
of varying thickness and spacing
– Typically used to track large numbers of
inventory items
 PDF417 Bar Code

Advanced scanning technology

can now read two-dimensional bar codes.
 Optical Scanners
• Generate bitmap representations of printed
images
• Bright white light shines on the page;
reflected light is detected by an array of
photosensors
• Optical character recognition (OCR) devices
– Combine optical scanning technology with
intelligent interpretation of bitmap
content
 Digital Cameras
• Employ optical scanning technology to capture
single or still images and store them as raw
compressed bitmaps
Portable Data Capture Devices
• Combine a keyboard, mark or bar-code
scanner, and wireless communications to a
wired base station or computer system
• Provide rapid data capture (e.g., warehouse
inventory control, package routing and
tracking)
 Audio I/O Devices
• Sound: an analog waveform that can be
sampled and stored as digital data
• Various mathematical transformations
convert complex sounds to a single numeric
representation
• Sampling and playback rely on analog-to-
digital converters (ADC) and digital-to-
analog converters (DAC)
• Monophonic versus polyphonic
Purposes of Sound Generation and
Recognition
• General-purpose sound output (e.g.,
warnings)
• General-purpose sound input (e.g., digital
recording for voice email messages)
• Voice command input
• Speech recognition
• Speech generation
 Speech Recognition
• Conceptually simple, but complicated by
speaker variability, phoneme transitions and
combinations, and real-time processing
• Most current systems are speaker dependent
• Digital signal processor (DSP)
– Specialized to process continuous streams
of audio or graphical data
– Commonly embedded in audio and video
hardware
 Speech
Recognition
 Speech Generation
• Audio response unit
– Generates spoken messages based on
textual input (e.g., automated call
routing)
• Speech synthesis
– Stores individual phonemes within the
system
• General-purpose audio hardware (sound card,
multimedia controller)
General-Purpose Audio Hardware
• Typically packaged as an expansion card that
connects to the system bus of a workstation
• Sound cards include an ADC, DAC, low-
power amplifier, and connectors (jacks) for
microphone, speaker, or headphone
• Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI)
– Compact storage format
 Typical Sound Card
Components and Connections
 Summary
• Concepts, technology, and hardware used in
communication between people and computers
– Print and display concepts
– Video display devices
– Printers
– Manual input devices
– Optical input devices
– Audio I/O devices
 Chapter Goals
• Describe common concepts of text and image
representation and display including digital
representation of grayscale and color, bitmaps, and
image compression techniques
• Describe the characteristics and implementation
technology of video display devices
• List and describe the three predominant manual input
technologies
• Understand printer characteristics and technology
• Describe various types of optical input devices including
mark sensors, bar code readers, scanners, and digital
cameras
• Identify the characteristics of audio I/O devices, and
explain how they operate