UNIT 4 THE I/O TECHNOLOGY

Structure Page No.

HI
4.0 Introduction
4.1 Objectives
4.2 Keyboard
4 2 1 Keyboard Layout
4.22 Keyboard Touch
4.2.3 ~ e ~ b o aTechnology
rd
4,3 Mouse
4.4 Video Cards
4.4,l Resolution
4.4.2 Colour Depth
4,4.3 Video Memory
4.4.4 Refresh Rates
4,4.5 Graphic Accelerators and 3-DAccelerators
4.4.6 Video Card Interfaces
43 Monitors
43.1 Cghade Ray Tubes
4S.2 Shadow Mask
4.5.3 Dat Pitch
4.5.4 Monitor Reaolutisns
4.5.5 aar
4.5,6 Interlacing
4.5,7 Bandwidth
4.6 Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD)
4.7 Digital Camera
4.8 Sound Cards
4.9 Printers
4.9.1 Classification of Printers
4.9.2 Print Resolutions
4.9.3 Print Speed
4.9.4 Print Quality
4.9.5 Colour Management
4.10 Modems
4,11 Scanners
4.1 1.1 Resolution
4.1 1.2 Dynamic Range/Colour Depth
4.1 1.3 Size and Speed
4.1 1.4 Scanning Tips
4.12 Power Supply
SMPS (Switched Mode Power Supply)
4.13 Summary
4.14 Solutions /Answers
References

4.0" INT~ODUCTION
In the previous units you have been exposed to InputIOutput interfaces, control and
techniques etc. This unit covers Input/Output devices and technologies related to
them. The basic aspects covered include:
r The characteristics of the Device.
r How does it fynption?
How does it relate with the Main computing unit?
 The 110 Technolog)
I 4.1 OBJECTIVES
After going through this unit you will be able to:
describe the characteristics, types, functioning and interfacing of Keyboards;
describe the characteristics, technology and working of Mice;
describe characteristics, technology and working of Video ~ & d including
s
various parameters, Video Memory, interfaces and Graphic accelerators;
describe the characteristics, technology and working of Monitors;
describe the characteristics, technology and working of Liquid c b s t a l Displays
(LCDs), and Video Cameras;
describe the characteristics, technology and working of Sound Cards;
describe the characteristics, technology and working of Printers;
describe the characteristics, technology and working of Modems;
describe the characteristics, technology and working of Scanners; and
describe the the purpose of Power Supply and explain SMPS.

4.2 KEYBOARD
The keyboard is the main input device for your computer. It is a fast and accurate
device. The multiple character keys allow you to send data to your computer as a
stream of characters in a serial manner. The keyboard is one device which can be used
in public spaces or offices where privacy is not ensured. The keyboard is efficient in
jobs like data entry. The keyboard is one device which shall stay on for years to come,
probably even after powerful voice-based input devices have been developed.

The precursor of the keyboard was the mechanical typewriter, hence it has inherited 1
many of the properties of the typewriter.

The Keys
A full size keyboard has the distance between the centres of the keycaps (keys) as
19mm (0.75in).The keycaps have a top of about 0.5in (12.5in) which is shaped as a
sort of dish to help you place your finger. Most designs have the keys curved in a
concave cylindrical shape on the top.

4.2.1 Keyboard Layout

A keyboard layout is the arrangement of the array of keys across the keyboard. There
is one keyboard layout that anybody who has worked on a standard keyboard or
typewriter is familiar with; that layout is QWERTY. However, there are other less
popular layouts also.

QWERTY
q,w,e,r,t,y are the first six letters of the top row of the alphabets of the QWERTY
layout. The QWERTY arrangement was given by Sholes, the inventor of the
typewriter. The first typewriter that Sholes created had an alphabetic layout of keys.
However, very soon Sholes designed QWERTY as a superior arrangement though he
Basic Computer QWERTY-based keyboards
Organisation
Besides the standard alphabet keys having the QWERTY arrangement, a computer
keyboard also consists of the control (alt, Del, Ctrl etc. keys), the function keys (Fl,
F2 .. etc.), the numerical keypad etc.

PC 83-key and AT 84-key Keyboards

The PC 83-key was the earliest keyboard offered by IBM with its first Personal
Computers (PC). This had 83 keys. Later IBM added one more key with its PC AT
computer keyboards to make it a 84-key keyboard. The special feature of these
keyboards was that they had function keys in two columns on the left side of the
keyboard.

101-key Enhanced Keyboard

With its newer range of PCs IBM introduced the 10 1-key Enhanced/Advanced
keyboard. This keyboard is the basic keyboard behind modern QWERTY keyboards.
This has the function keys aligned in a separate row at the top of the PC, to

Figure 1: IBM 101-key Keyboard layout

correspond to the hnction keys shown by many software on the monitor. However,
this has also been criticised at times for having a small enter key and function keys on
the top! ! ! .

Windows 104-key key board

This is enhancements of the 101-key keyboard with special keys for Windows
functions and popup. Individual vendors sometimes make changes to the basic
keyboard design, for example by having a larger enter key.

Dvorak-Dealey keyboard
This was one keyboard layout designed to be a challenger to the QWERTY layout.
This was designed by August Dvorak and William Dealey after much scientific
research in 1936. This layout tries to make typing faster. The basic strategy it tries to
incorporate is called hand alteration. Hand alteralion implies that if you press one
key with the left hand, the next key is likely to be pressed by the right hand, thus
speeding up typing (assuming you type with both hands).

I
 The 110 Tecnnolc~gy 1

Figure 2: Dvorak keyboard layout

However, the Dvorak has not been able to compete with QWERTY and almost all
systems now come with QWEKTY 101-key or 104-key based keyboards. Still, there
may be a possibility of designing new keyboards for specific areas, say, for Indian
scripts.

4.2.2 Keyboard Touch

When using a keyboard, the most important factor is the feel of the keyboard, i.e.,
how typing feels on that particular keyboard. The keyboard must respond properly to
your keypress. This not only means that keys must go down when pressed and then
come up but also that there must be a certain feedback to your fingers when a key gets
activated. This is necessary for you to develop faith in the keyboard and allow fast,
reliable typing.

Linear travel or linear touch keyboards increase resistance linearly with the travel of
, the key. Therefore, you have to press harder as the key goes lower. There can be
audible feedback as a click and visual feedback as the appearance of a character on
screen letting you know when a key gets activated. Better keyboards provide tactile
feedback (to your fingers) but suddenly reducing resistance when the key gets
actuated. This is called an over-center feel. Such keyboards are best for quick touch
typing. These were implemented by using springs earlier but now they are usually
elastic rubber domes. Keyboards also differ in whether they 'click' or not (soundless),
on the force required and the key travel distance to actuate a key. The choice is
F usually an issue of personal liking. Laptops usually have short travel keys to save
space which is at a premium in laptops.
P

4.2.3 Keyboard Technology

Each key of a keyboard is like an electric switch changing the flow of electricity in
some way. There are two main types - capacitor-based and contact-based
keyboards.
Capacitor-Based Keyboards
These keyboards are based on the concept of Capacitance. A simple capacitor consists
of a pair of conductive plates having opposite charges and separated by an insulator.
This arrangement generates a field between the plates proportional to the closeness of
the plates. Changing the distance between the plates causes current to flow. Capacitive
keyboards have etched circuit boards, with tin and nickel-plated copper pads acting as
 Basic Computer well but have the drawback that they follow an indirect approach though they have a
Organisation
longer life than contact-based keyboards. These keyboards were introduced by IHM.

Contact-Based Keyboards
Contact-based keyboards use switches directly. Though they have a comparatively
shorter life, they are the most preferred kind nowadays due to thdir lower cost. Three
such kinds of keyboards have been used in PCs:
1. Mechanical Switches: These keyboards use traditional switches with the metal
contacts directly touching each other. Springs and other parts are used to confrol
positioning of the keycaps and give the right feel. Overall, this design is not
suited to PC keyboards.

Rubber Dome: In rubber dome keyboards, both contact and positioning ate
controlled by a puckered sheet of elastomer, which is a stretchy, rubber-like
synthetic material. This sheet is moulded to have a dimple or dome in each
keycap. The dome houses a tab of carbon or other conductive material which
serves as a contact. When a key is pressed, the dome presses down to touch
another contact and complete the circuit. The elastomer then pushes the key back.
This is the most popular PC keyboard design since the domes are inexpensive
and proper design can give the keyboards an excellent feel.

3. Membrane: These are simiiiar to rubber domes except that they use thin plastic
sheets (membranes) with conductive traces on them. The contacts are in the form
of dimples which are plucked together when a key is pressed. This design is often
used in calculators and printer keyboards due to their low cost and trouble-free
life. However, since its contacts require only a slighf travel to actuate, it makes
for a poor computer keyboard.

Scan Codes
A scan code is the code generated by a microprocessor in the keyboard when a key is
pressed and is unique to the key struck. When this code is received by the computer it
OPERATOR issues an interrupt and looks up the scan code table in the BIOS and finds out which
keys have been pressed and in what combination. Special memory locations called
- means dash which is status bytes tell the status of the locking and toggle keys, e.g., Caps lock etc. Each
longer. keypress generates two different scan codes - one on key-push down called Make
- means hypen which is code, another on its popping back called Break code.This two-key technique allows
shorter.
the computer to tell when a key is held pressed down, e.g., the ALT key while
pressing another key, say, CTRL-ALT-DEL.

There are three standards for scan codes: Model (83-key keyboard PC, PC-XT),
Mode2 (84-key AT keyboard), Mode3 (101 -key keyboard onwards). In Model Make
and Break codes are both single bytes but different for the same key. In Mode2 and
Mode3, Make code is a single byte and Break code i v t\\ o 17). I C \ (byte FO(Hex) + the
make code).

Interfacing
The keyboard uses a special 110 port that is like a serial port but does not explicitly
follow the RS-232 serial port standard. Instead of multiple data and handshaking
signals as in RS-232, the keyboard uses only two signals, through which it manages a
bi-directional interface with its own set of commands.

Using its elaborate handshaking mechanism, the keyboard and the PC send commands
and data to each other. The USB keyboards work differently by using the US9
coding and protocol.
 Table 1: Some Scan Codes Tbe I10 ~ e c % i & l o ~ ~
~

Model I Mode2 Mode 3

I1 1
I I

Key KeyNo.

A 31 1E 9E 1C FO 1C
0 11 OB 8B 45 FO 45
Enter 43 1C 9C 5A FO SA
Left Shift 44 2A AA 12 FO 12
F1 112 3B BB 07 FO 07

Connections
5-pin DIN connector: This is the connector of the conventional keyboard having 5
pins (2 IN,2 OUT and one ground pin), used for synchronization and transfer.

PSI2 connector (PSI2 keyboards): These were introduced with IBM's PSI2
computers and hence are called PSI2 connectors. They have 6-pins but in fact their
wiring is simply a rearrangement of the 5-pin DIN connector. This connector is
smaller in size and quite popular nowadays. Due to the similiar wiring, a 5-pin D M
can easily be connected to a PSI2 connector via a simple adapter.

Ergonomic Keyboards
Ergonomics is the study of the environment, conditions and efficiency of workers1 .
Ergonomics suggests that the keyboard was not designed with human beings in mind.
Indeed, continuous typing can be hazardous to health. This can lead to pain or some
ailments like the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

For normal typing on a keyboard, you have to place your hands apart, bending them at
the wrists and hold this position for a long time. You also have to bend your wrist
vertically especially ifyou elevate your keyboard using the little feet behind the
keyboards. This stresses the wrist ligaments and squeezes the nerves runnlng into the
hand through the Carpal tunnel, through the wrist bones.

To reduce the stress, keyboards called ergonomic keyboards have been designed.
These split the keyboard into two and angle the two halves so as to keep the wrists
straight. To reduce vertical stress, many keyboards also provide extended wrist rests.
For those who indulge in heavy, regular typing, it is recommended that they use more
ergonomics based keyboards and follow ergonomic advice in all aspects of their
workplace.

4.3 MOUSE
The idea of the Mouse was developed by Douglas C. Engelbart of Stanford Research
institute, and the first Mouse was developed by Xerox corporation. Mouse itself is a
device which gives you a pointer on screen and a method of selection of commands
through buttons on the top. A single button is usually sufficient (as in Mouse with
Apple Macintosh machines) but Mice come with upto 3 buttons.

Types of Mice
Mice can be classified on the basis of the numbers of buttons, position sensing
technology or the type of Interface:

'oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Basic Computer Sensing Technology
Organisation
The Mice can be Mechanical or Optical.

Mechanical Mice have a ball made from rough rubbery material, the rotation of
which effects sensors that are perpendicular to each other. Thus, the motion of the
ball along the two axes is detected and reflected as the motion of the pointer on the
screen.

Optical Mice can detect movement without any moving parts like a ball. The typical
optical Mouse used to have a pair of LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) and photo-
detectors in each axis and its own Mousepad on which it is slided. However, due to
the maintenance needs of the Mousepad, this was not very successful, Recently,
optical Mice have made a comeback since they can now operate without a Mousepad.

Interface
Mouse is usually a serial device connected to a serial port(RS232), but these
connections can themselves take various forms:
Serial Mouse
Mice that use the standard serial port are called "serial". Since Serial ports 1 and 4
(COM1, COM4 under DOS, IdevIttySO and ldevlttyS3 under UnidGNU-Linux
systems) and ports 2 and 3 (COM2, COM3 or IdevIttyS lldevlttyS2) share the same
interrupts respectively, one should be careful not to attach the mouse so that it shwes
the interrupt with another device in operation like a modem.

Bus Mouse
These Mice have a dedicated Mouse card and port to connect to. Recently, USB
mouse has become popular.

Proprietary
Mouse ports specific to some PCs e.g., IBMYsPSI2 and some Compaq computers.

Mouse Protocols
The mouse protocol is the digital code to which the signal fiom the mouse gas
converted. There are four major protocols: Microsoft, Mouse Systems
Corporation(MSC), Logitech and IBM. Most mice available do support at least the
Microsoft protocol or its emulation.

&solution versus Accuracy

Resolution of mouse is given in CPI(Counts per Inch) i.e. the number of signals per
inch of travel. This means the mouse will move faster on the screen but it also means
that it will be more difficult to control theaccuracy.

Check Your Progress 1

1. Discuss the merits and demerits of Dvorak-Dealey keyboard vs. QWERTY
keyboard.
2. Why is keyboard touch important? What kind of touch would you prefer and The I/0 Techr~ology
which kind of keyboard will give that touch?

..................................................................................................................................
3. What precautions should be taken while attaching a Serial Mouse?

4. You enter 'a' as left-shift + 'A' ? What will be the scan-code generated in
Mode-3 by the keyboard?
a) 2AlE9EAA b) lCFOlC
c) 121CFOlCF012 d) 1CFO I CSAFOSA

4.4 VIDEO CARDS

Before discussing in detail video hardware, let us have a brief overview of graphic
display technology. The purpose of your graphic display system is to display bit-
mapped graphics on your monitor. The image displayed on your system thus consists
of small dots called pixels (short for 'picture elements') and your video system
contains a description of each of these dots in the memory. At any moment, the
display memory contains the exact bit-map representation of your screen image and
what is coming next. This is like a time-slice of what you see on your monitor.
.
Therefore, display memory is also called a framebuffer. These frames are read dozens
of times a second and sent in a serial manner through a cable to the monitor. The
monitor recieves the train of data and displays it on the screen. This happens by a
scanning raster movement from up to down one row at a time. A CRT (Cathode Ray
Tube) based monitor will light its small phosphor dots according to this raster
movement. In this respect, it is like a television, whioh is also a CRT based device.

--1
L
Q)
Scan line
----
Return line
I

87
Figure 3: Raster Display
Basic Computer The more the number of dots, i.e., the higher the resolution of the image, the sharper
Organisation
the picture is. The richness of the image is also dependant on the number of colours
(or gray levels for a monochrome display) displayed by the system. The higher the
number of colours, the more is the information required for each dot. Hence, the
amount of memory (framebuffer) required by a system is directly dependent on the
resolution and colour depth required.

4.4.1 Resolution
Resolution is the parameter that defines the possible sharpness or clarity of a video
image. Resolution is defined as the number of pixels that make up an image. These
pixels are then spread across the width and height of the monitor. Resolution is
independent of the physical characteristics of the monitor. The image is generated
without considering the ultimate screen it is to be displayed upon. Hence, the unit of
resolution is the number of pixels, not the number of pixels per inch. For example, a
standard VGA native graphic display mode has a resolution of 640 pixels horizontally
by 480 pixels vertically. Higher resolutions mean the image can be sharper because it
contains more pixels. .
The actual on-screen sharpness is given as dots-per-inch, and this depends on both the
resolution and the size of the image. For the same resolution, gn image will be
sharper on a smaller screen, i.e., an image which may look sharp on a 15" monitor
may-be a little jagged on a 17" display. -

4.4.2 Colour Depth

. It is clear that an image consists of an array of pixels.
If we tell which pixels are 'on'
and which are 'off to the monitor, it should be able to display the image as a pure
black and white image. But what about Colour and Contrast? Clearly, if only a single
bit is assigned to a pixel, we cannot give any additional quality to the image. It will
look like a black and white line drawing. Such a system is typically called a two-
colour system. Such black and white picture can be converted to gray levels by
assigning more bits, e.g., with two bits we can get the following levels: White, Light
Gray, Dark Gray and Black.
To add colour to an image, we have to store colour of the pixel with each pixel.This is
usually stored as intensity measures of the primary light colours -Red, Green and
Blue. That means we have to assign more than 1 bit to describe a pixel. Hence, 1 bit
per pixel implies 2 colours or 2 gray-levels, 2 bits per pixel 4 colours or 4 gray-levels
and so n bits per pixel means a display of colours or gray-levels is possible.

Colour Depth ( or the number of Colour Planes) is the number of bits assigned to
each pixel to code colour information in it. These are also called Colour Planes
because each bit of a pixel represents a specific colour and the bit at the same position
on every pixel represents the same colour. Hence, the bits at the same position can be
thought of as forming a plane of a particular colour shade and these planes piled on
top of each other give the final colour at each point. Thus, if each pixel is described
by 3 bits, one each for red, green and blue colour, then, there are 3 Colour Planes (one
each for red, green and blue) and 6 colour planes if there are 6 bits - see Figure 4.

Figure 4: Colour Planes

 What Colour depths are practically used?
The 110 Technology I
Practically, the number of colours are an exponential power of 2, since for Colour
Depth n, colours can be displayed. The most popular colour modes are given in
Table 2.
- Colour
-
Mode
-
Depth(bits1pixel)
1 Monochrome 1
2 16-Colours 4
3 256-Colour~ 8
4 High Color 16
5 I True Color 1 24

P The Bad News

Table 2: Major Colour Depths

The bad news is that most monitors can only display upto a maximum of 262,144
colours (= i.e. 18 bitslpixel Colour Depth). The other bad news is that the human eye
can only perceive a few million colours at the most. So, even if you had lots of bits
per pixel and very advanced display systems, it would be useless. Maybe, this is good
news rather than bad news for the hardware developer!

This also implies that 24-&t colour bit-depth is the practical upper limit. Hence, this
depth is also called true colour because with this depth the system stores more colours
than can ever be seen by the human eye and, hence, it is a true colour representation of
the image. Though, 24-bit colour or true colour systems have more colour than
possibly useful, they are convenient for designers because they assign 1 byte of
storage for each of the three additive primary colours (red, green and blue). Some
new systems even have 32 bits per pixel. Why? Actually, the additional bits are not
used to hold colours but something called an Alpha Channel. This 8-bit Alpha
Channel stores special effect information for the image.

i Why are all resolutions in the ratio of 43? The answer you'll find in a later section.

4.4.3 Video Memory

As stated before, video memory is also called framebuffer6because it buffers video
I
frames to be displayed. The quality of a video display depends a lot on how quickly
I can the framebuffer be accessed and be updated by the video system. In early video
systems, video memory was just a fixed area of the system RAM. Later, there was
video RAM which came with the video cards themselves and could be increased by
putting additional video RAM under the UMA (Unified Memory Architecture). Video
RAM is again part of the system RAM. UMA is what you get in the modem low-cost
motherboards with on-board video and sound cards etc.

The amount of video memory required is dependant on the resolution and colour-
depth required of the system. Let us see how to calculate the amount of video
memory required. The video memory required is simply the resolution (i.e., the total
number of pixels) multiplied by the Colour Depth. Let us do the calculations for a
standard VGA graphics screen (640 x 480) using 16 colours.
 Basic Computer Therefore, 16-colour VGA needs at least 153,600 bytes of memory but memory is
Organisation
only available in exponential powers of 2, hence, the next highest available memory is
= 256 KB.

What is a good resolution? Actually, it depends on your hardware. So, it is the

maximum your hardware can allow you. However, one odd-looking resolution which
has become popular is 1152 x 864 pixels. Can you judge why this should be so?
(Hint: Think of this resolution at 8-bit colour).

If you can't wait any longer, here is the answer: 1152 x 864 is nearly one mil'lion
pixels. Since 8-bit colour depth means 8 million bits or 1 MB. This is the highest
resolution you can get in 1 MB video memory at 8-bit colour depth, plus this still
leaves you square pixels (in the ratio 4: 3) to allow easy programming.
The above calculations hold good for only two-dimensionsal display systems. This is
because 3-D systems require much more memory because of techniques such as
"Double Buffering" and "Z-Buffering".

4.4.4 Refresh Rates

A special circuit called the Video Controller scans the video memory one row at a
time and reads data value at each address sending the data out in a serial data stream.
This data is displayed by a process called Scanning where the electron beam is swept
across the screen one-line-at-a-time and left-to-right. This is controlled by a vertical
and a horizontal field generated by electromagnets -one moving the beam
horizontally and another vertically.
The rate at which horizontal sweeps take place is called horizontal frequency or
horizontal refresh rate and the rate at which vertical sweeps take place are called '
vertical frequency or vertical refresh rate or simply refresh rate or frame rate. The
term frame rate is used because actually one vertical sweep means display of a single
frame. Since each frame contains several hundred rows, horizontal frequency is
hundreds of times higher than vertical frequency. Therefore, the unit of horizontal
frequecny is KHz and that of vertical frequency is Hz.

>Themost important thing is maintaining the same frequencies between the Video
system and monitor. The monitor must support these refresh rates, hence the
supported refresh rates are given with the manual of the monitor. More about this
topic will be discussed in the section on Monitors.

4.4.5 Graphic Accelerators and 3-D Accelerators

A Graphic Accelerator is actually a chip, in fact the most important chip in your video
-I
card. The Graphic Accelerator is actually the modern development of a much older
technology called the Graphic Co-Processor. The accelerator chip is actually a chip
that has built-in video functions. These functions execute the algorithms for image
construction and rendering. It does a lot of work which would otherwise have to be
done by the microprocessor. Hence, the accelerator chip is actually optional but very
important for good graphics performance.
\

The graphic accelerator determines whether your system can show 3-D graphics, how
quickly your system displays a dropdown menu, how good is your yideo playback,
etc. It determines the amount and kind of memory in the framebuffer and also the
resolution your PC can display.

The first major graphic accelerators were made by the S3 corporation. Modem
Graphic accelerators have internal registers at least 64-bit wide to work on at least 2
pixels at a time. They can use the standard Dynamic RAM (DRAM) or the more
expensive but faster dual-ported Video RAM (VRAM). They support at least the
standard resolutions up to 1024 x 768 pixels. They often use RAMDACs for colour
support giving full 24-bit or 32-bit colour support. A RAMDAC (Random Access
90
I
Memory Digital-to-Analog Converter) is a microchip that converts digital image data The 110 Techneiq:y
into the analog data needed by a computer display. However, the higher the
resolution required, the higher is the speed at which the chip has to function. So, for a
resolution of 1280 x 1024, the chip operates at 100 MHz. At the cutting edge of
technology, chips now run even as fast as 180 or 200 Mhz.

[ What is a 3-D Accelerator?

1;-D Accelerator is no magic technology. It is simply an accelerator chip that has
built-in ability to carry out the mathematics and the algorithms required for 3-D image
generation and rendering. A 3-D imaging is simply an illusion, a projection of 3-D

i .
reality on a 2-D screen. These are generated by projection and perspective effects,
depth and lighting effects, transparency effects and techniques such as Ray-Tracing
(Tracing the path of light rays emitting from a light source), Z-buffering (a buffer
:toring the Z-axis positions) and Double-Buffering (two buffers instead of one).

4.4.6 Video Card Interfaces

11video interface is the link of the video system to the rest of the PC. To enhance
video performance, there is sought to be an intimate connection between the
rnicroprocessor and the video system, especially the framebuffer. In modem displays,
only in the UMA system is the framebuffer actually a part of the main memory; in the
rest the connection is through a bus, which may be PC1 or AGP. Let us briefly discuss
these interfaces:
I'CI
I'CI stands for Peripheral Connect Interface. It is the revolutionary high speed
expansion bus introduced by Intel. With the growing importance of video, video
cards were shifted to PC1 from slower interfaces like ISA. The PC1 standard has now
tleveloped into the even more powerful AGP.

AGP stands for Advanced (or Accelerated) Graphics Port. It is a connector standard
describing a high speed bus connection between the PC video system, {he
rnicroprocessor and the main memory. It is an advancement of the PC1 interface.
AGP uses concepts such as pipelining to allow powerful 3-D graphic accelerators to
junction when used in conjuction with fast processors. AGP uses three powerful
innovations to achieve its performance:
4 Pipelined Memory: The use of Pipelining eliminates wait states allowing faster
operation.
4 Seperate Address and Data Lines.
4 High speeds through a special 2X mode that allows running AGP at 133 MHz
instead of the default 66 MHz.

'Through AGP, the video board has a direct connection to the microprocessor as a
dedicated high speed interface for video. The system uses DMA (Direct Memory
Access) to move data between main memory and framebuffer. The accelerator chip
uses the main memory for execution of high level functions like those used in 3-D
iendering.

lJMA stands for Unified Memory Architecture. It is an architecture which reduces the
cost of PC construction. In this, a part of the main memory is actually used as
fiamebuffer. Hence, it eliminates the use of a bus for video processing. Therefore, it
is less costly. Though it is not supposed to perform as well as AGP etc., in some
Basic Computer
Organisation

I Frame I
I I

Display
Graphic
Chip
-- Chipset - Texture
Memory
1
A.G.P
I Texture 2

1 Disk Drive I
Figure 5: ACP Video Architecute and its working

- 4.5 MONITORS
A Monitor is the television like box connected to your computer and giving you a
vision into the mind of your PC. It shows what your computer is thinking. It has a
display which is technically defined as the image-producing device, i.e., the screen
one sees and a circuitry that converts the signals from your computer (or similiar
devices) into the proper form for display.
Monitors are or were just like television sets except that television sets have a tuner or
demodulator circuit to convert the signals. However, now monitors have branched
beyond television. They have greater sharpness and colour purity and operate at
higher frequencies.
Generally, when you go to purchase a monitor from the market, you see the following
specifications: The maximum Resolution, the Horizontal and Vertical Frequencies
supported, the tube size and the connectors to the monitor. There are many vendors on
the market like Samsung, LO, Sony etc. Home users generally go in for monitors of
size 1 7", 1 5" or 14" , Monitors are also available as the traditional curved screens,
flat screens or LCD. The technology behind Monitors and the above specifications
are discussed ahead.

4.5.1 Cathode Ray Tubes

Cathode ray tube is the major technology on which monitors and televisions have
been based. CRT is a partially evacuated glass tube filled with inert gas at low
pressure. A specially designed Cathode (negatively charged electrode) shoots beams
of electrons at high speed towards an anode (positively charged electrode) which
impinges on the screen which is coated with small phosphor coated dots of the three
primary colours. This cathode is also called an Electron Gun. In fact, there can be
three seperate guns for the three colours (Red, Green and Blue) or one gun for all
three.

Four factors influence the quality of image of the monitor:

- 1. The Phosphor coating : This affects the colour and the persistence (The period
the effect of a single hit on a dot lasts).
2. The Cathode (Elecqon Gun) : The sharpness of the image depends on the good
functioning of this gun.
 3. Shadow MasW Aperture Grill :This determines the resolution of the screen in
colour monitors.
4. The Screen, glare and lighting of the monitor.

4.5.2 Shadow Mask

The Shadow Mask is a metal sheet which has fine perforations (holes) in it and is
located a short distance before the phosphor coated screen. The Phosphor dots and
the holes in the shadow mask are so arranged that the beams from a particular gun will
strike the dots of that colour only. The dots of the other two eolours are in the
shadow. In an attempt to overcome some shortcomings of Shadow masks due to thelr
round holes, Sony introduced Aperture grills (in their Trinitron technology) which are
slots in an array of vertically arranged wires,

Metsl mask
Glass iaccplatc
8

Slotted mask Phosphor 51ripcs 7gj ,Iln

Figure 6: Shadow Mask and Apertum

4.5.3 Dot Pitch

Dot Pitch of a CRT is the distance between phosphor dots of the same colour. In
Trinitron screens, the term Slot Pitch is used instead of Dot Pitch -this is the
distance between two slots of the same colour. Dot Pitch is a very important
pwameter of monitor quality. For a particular resolution, you can get the minimum
d ~ pitch
i required by dividing the physical scren size by the number of pixels.
. Therefore, for smaller screens, you require finer Dot Pitch.

4.5.4 Monitor Resolutions

We have discussgd about resolutions and vertical and horizontal refresh rates in the
section on Video Cards. Let us refer to them from the monitor point of view. So, we
have the following definitions (fiom the manual of a mrnitor available in the market):
Basic Computer Horizontal Frequency: The tirncl:to scan m e line connecting the rlpht edge to the left
Organisation
edge of the screen horizostally is called the I-lorizontal cycle and the inverse number
of the Horizontal c y ~ l eis called Horizontal Frequency. The unit is KHz IKlloHerta),

Verfical Frequency: Like a Flouroscent lamp, the screen has to repeat the same
Image many times per second to dlsplay an image to the user, The frequency of this
repetition is called Vertical Frequency or Refresh Rate.

If the resolution generated by the video card and the monitor resolution is properly
matched, you get a good quality display. Wowever, the actual resolution achieved is a
physical quality of the monitor. In colour systems, the resolution is limited by
Convergence (Do the beam of the 3 colours converge exactly on the same dot? ) and
the Dot Pitch. In monochrome monitors, the resolqtion is only limited by the highest
frequency signals the monitor caq~handle.

DPJ(Dop Per Inch) ie q measyre for t h actual

~ sharpness of the onscre: a image. This
depends on bath the resolution and the size of the image. Pyactica1,expeyjence shows
that a smaller sci-een hati a sharper image at the same resolution than does a larger
screen. This is because it will require more dots per ippb 10 display the same number
of pixels. A 15-invh monitor is 12-inches horizontally. 4 10-inch'monitor is 8 inches
horizontally. To display a VGA image (640U480) the 15-inch monitor will require
53DPI and the 10-inch monitor 80 DPI.

4.5.6 Interlacing
Interla~ingis a technique in which instead of scanning the image one-line-af-a-tiwe if
is scanned alterunately, j.e., alternate lines are scanned at each pass. This achieves a
doubling of the fiarni rate with the same amQpnt of signal input. jnterlacing is used to
keep bandwidth (amount of signal) dawn. Presently, only the !3514/A display adapters
use interlacing. S i n ~ Interlaced
e displays have been reported to be more flickery, with
better technology available, most monitors are non-interlaced now.

4.5.7 Bandwidth
Bandwidth is the amount of signal the monitor can handle and it is rated in
MegaHertz. This is the most commonly quoted specification o f a monitor. The
Bandwidth should be enough to address each pixel plus synchronizing signais.

Check Your Progress 2

'1. Redraw Figure 4 showing Colour-Planes for a true-colour system,
.................................................................................................7................................
. . ,.. ....
@
...................................................................................................................................
. . . . . ..,. .

..................................................................................................................................
, ., . . , .
..................................................................................................................................
. . .
,, .. . . . . . .
2. What is a FrarpeBuffe~?D i s ~ ~ (the
s s plqcerqen{ ofthe FrameBuffer w.r.t. ta the .
different Video 'card jgferfaceq,
....................................................................................................................................
.. ,

.............................................................................................................................
,. . .., . ... . . . . . . :..... .,.
..................................................................................................................................
.......... . ., ........ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

..................................................................................................................................
.,. . . . . . . . . .
 The 110 Tochnolrlgy
3. What is the difference between Shadow Mask and Dot Pitch for Trinitron and
non-Trinitron monitors?

4. How much Video-RAM would you require for a high-colour (16-bits) Colour-
Depth at 1024L1768 resolution? What would be the size of the corresponding
single memory chip you would get from the market?
a) 900KB, 1 MB b) 1.6 MB, 4MB
c) 12.6MB, 16MB d)7.6MB, 8MB

5. There is an image of resolution 1024x768. It has to be displayed on a 15-inch

monitor ( 12-inch horizontal, 9-inch Vertical display). What is the minimum Dot-
pitch required for this image? (minimum here means the largest useful dot
pitch).
a) 1.4 X inches b) 2.8 X 1 0 'inches
~
c) 1.4 X 1o4 inches d) 1.2 X inches

4.6 LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAYS (LCD)

LCDs are the screens of choice for portable computers and lightweight screens. They
consume very little electricity and have advanced technologically to quite good
resolutions and colour support. They were developed by the company RCA in the
1960s. LCDs function simply by blocking available light so as to render display
patterns.

.tCDs can be of the following types:

1. Reflective LCDs: Display is generated by selectively blocking reflected light.
2. Backlit LCDs : Display is due to a light source behind LCD panel.
3. Edgelit LCDs : Display is due to a light source adjacent to the LCD panel.

LCD Technology
The technology behind LCD is called Nematic Technology because the molecules of
*
the liquid crystals used are nematic i.e. rod-shaped. This liquid is sandwiched
between two thin plastic membranes. These crystals have the special property that
they can change the polarity and the bend of the light and this can be controlled by
grooves in the plastic and by applying electric current.

Passive Matrix
In a passive matrix arrangement, the LCD panel has a grid of horizontal and vertled
conductors and each pixel is located at an intersection. When a current is recievad by
the pixel, it becomes dark. This is the technology which is more commonly used,

Active Matrix
This is called TFT (Thin Film Transistor) technology. In this there is a transistor at
every pixel acting as a relay, receiving a small amount and making it much higher to
activate the pixel. Since the amount is smaller, it can travel faster and hence response
times are much faster. However, TFTs are much more dificult to fabricafe and are
costlier.
Basic ~ s m b u t e r -,

Organisation 4.7 DIGITAL CAMERA

4 Digital camera Is a Pamora that captures and stores still images and video (Digital
Video Cameras) as dlgital data instead of on photographic film. The first digital
cameras became available in the early 1990s. Since the images are in digital form
they can be later fed to a computer or printed on a printer.

Like a conventional camera, a digital camera has a series of lenses that focus light to
create an image of a scene. But instead of this light hitting a piece of film, the camera a

focuses it on to a semiconductor device that records light electronically. An in-built

computer then breaks this electronic information down into digital data.

Thiq semicosductpr device i8 called an Image sensor apd converts light intq ~Iectrica]
pharges. There are two maip W ~ d ofs l m a p sensors: CCP and CMOS. CCD stands
for Charge couplecl devices and is the more populq and more powerful kind of
sensor. CMOS"staqds for Complementary Metal oxide semiconductor and this kind
of techpology i s now only used in some lower end cameras. While CMQS sensors
may improve and becgme more,popular in the future, they probably won't replace
CCD sensors in higher-end digital cameras,

Ip brief, the CCR is a oollection of tiny light-sensitive diodes called photosltes, which .
convert photons (light) into electrons (electrical charge). Each photosite is
proportionally sensitive to light - the brighter the light that hits a single photosite, the
greater the electrical charge that will accumulate at that site.

A digital Camera is also characterised by its resolution (like monitors and printers)
which i,s measured in pixels. The higher the resolution, the more detail is avallable in
an image.

Mobile Cameras r
Mobile cameras are.typically low-resolution Digtial cameras integrated into the
mobile set. The photographs are typically only good enough to show on the low
resolution mobile screen. They have become quite popular devices now and the
photographs taken can be used for MMS messages or uploading to a Computer.

4.8 SOUND CARDS

Multimedia has become a very important part of today's PC. The home user wants tq
watch movies and hear songs. The Software developer hacking away at her computer
wants to have the computer playing MP3 or OGG (The latest Free Sound format
standard) in the background. Thus, the sound system is a very importwt part of the
system.

As' you must have read in your high school physics, sound is a longitudinal wave
travelling in a medium, usually air in the case of music. Sound cm be encoded into
electrical form using electrical signals which encode sound strengths. This is called
analog audio. This analog audio is converted to digital audio, which is conversion of
those signals into bits and bytes through the process called Sampling. In Sampling,
analog 'samples' are taken at regular intervals and the amplitude (Volta~e)ofthese
samples is encoded tq bits. These sounds are manipulated by your PCs
microprocessor etc. To play back these digital audio sounds, the data are sent to the
Sound card which converts them to analog audio, whiph is played back thr~ugh
speakers.
 4
The t/O Tethnoiolv
The Sound card (The card is often directly built into motherboards nowadays) is a
board that has digital to analog sound conveoer, amplifier, etc., circuitry to play
sound and to connect the PC to various audio sources.
A sound card may support the following functions:
1. Convert digital sound to analog form using digital-to-analog converter to play
back the sound.
2. May record sound to play back later with analog-to-digital converter.
3. May have built-in Synthesizers to create new sounds.
4. May use vqrious inpit sourds (Microphone, CD, etc.) and mixer circuits to play
these sounds together.
5. Amplifiers to amplify the sound signals to nicely audible levels.

/ Sound cards are described by the Compatibility, Connections and Quality.

Cbmpatibility: Sound cards must be compatible at both hardware and software levels
I
with industry standards. Most software, especially games, require sound cards to be
compatible with the two main industry standards: AdLib (A Basic standard) and
Sound Blaster (an advanced standard developed by Creative Labs).

Connections: Sound cards should have connections to allow various functions. One
of the most important is the MIDI port (MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Device
Interface). MIDI port allows you to create music directly with your PC using the
Sound Cards synthesizer circuit and even attach a Piano keyboard to your PC.

Quality: Sound Cards vary widely in terms of the quality they give. This ranges
from the frequency range support, digital quality and noise control.

I 4.9 PRINTERS
Printers are devices that put ink on paper in a controlled manner. They manually
produce readable text or photographic images. Printers have gone through a large
transition in technology. They are still available in a wide range of technology and
prices from the dot matrix printer to Inkjet printers to Laser Printers.

4.9.1 Classification of Printers

Printers can be classified on the following bases:
a) Impact: Impact printers print by the impact of hammers on the ribbon (e.g., Dot-
. Matrix Printers) whereas non-impact printers use other means (e.g., Inkjet,
Laser).
b) Character formation: Character fbrmed by Bit-maps or by dots.
c) Output : The quantity of output processed at a time: Serial, Line or Page Printers.

Actually, there are many specifications one has to keep in mind while purchasing a
printer. Some of these are Compatibiltiy with other hardware, in-built Memory,
maximum supported memory, actual technology, Printer resolution (Colour, BW),
Postscript support, output type, Printer speed, Media capacity, Weight, Height and
Width of the Printer.
Basic Camputer
Organisation 4.9.2 Print Resolution
Print Resolution is the detail that a printer can give determined by how many dots a
printer can put per inch of paper. Thus, the unit of resolution is Dots per inch. This is
applicable to both impact and non-impact printer though the actual quality will depend
on the technology of the printer.

The required resolution to a great extent determines the quality of the output and the
time taken to print it. There is a tradeoff between quality and time. Lower resolution
means faster printing and low quality. High resolution means slower printing of a
higher quality. There are three readymade resolution modes: draft, near letter quality
(NLQ) and letter quality. Draft gives the lower resolution print and letter quality
higher resolution. In Inkjet and Laser Printers, the highest mode is often called 'best'
quality print.

4.9.3 Print Speed

The speed at which a printer prints is often an important issue. However, the printer
has to take a certain time to print. Printing time increases with higher resolution and
coloured images. To aid printing, all operating systems have spooling software that
accumulates print data and sends it at the speed that the printer can print it.
The measure of speed depends on whether the printer is a Line Printer or Page

Printer. Let us understand these:

Line Printer: Line Printer processes and prints one line of text at a time.
Page Printer: A page printer processes and prints one full page at a time.

Actually, it rasterizes the full image of the page in its memory and then prints it as one
line of dots at a time. For a line printer, the speed is measured in charactersper
second (cps) whereas for page printing, it is pages per minute (ppm). Hence, Dot
Matrix usually have speeds given in cps whereas Lasers have speed in ppm. 'Ihe
actual speed msy vary from the rating speed given by the manufacturer because, as
expected, the printer chooses the more favourable values.

4.9.4 Print Quality

Print quality depends on various factors but ultimately the quality depends on the
design of the~printerand its mechanical construction.

DotMatrixIInkJet Printers
Three main issues determine the quality of characters produced by DotMatrixlInkJet
Printers: - Number of dots in the matrix of each character, the size of the dots and the
addressability of the Printer. Denser matrix and smaller dots make better characters.
Addressability is the accuracy with which a dot can be produced (e.g., 11120 inch
means printer can put a dot with 11120 inch of the required dot). Minimum dot matrix
used by general dot matrix printers is 9 x 9 dots, 18-pin and 24-pin printers use
12 x 24 to 24 x 24 matrices. Inkjets may even give up to 72 x 120 dots. Quality of
output also depends on the paper used. If the ink of an Inkjet printer gets absorbed by
the paper, it spreads and spoils the resolution.
Laser Printer
Laser Printers are page printers. For print quality, they also face the same
addressability issues as DMPlInkJet Printers. However, some other techniques are
possible to use for better quality here.
 .
The I/0 Technology
c5ne of these is ReT(Reso1ution Enhancement Technology) introduced by Hewlett-
I'ackard, It prints better at the same resolution by changing the size of the dots at
character edges and diagonal lines reducing jagged edges.

,4 very important requirement for Laser Printers to print at high quality is Memory.
]Memory increases as a square of resolution, i.e., the Dot density, i.e., the dpi.
'Therefore, if 3.5 MB is required for a 600 dpi page, approximately 14 ME is required
l'or 1200 dpi. Ygu need even more memory for colour.

For efficient text printing, the Laser printer stores the page image as ASCII characters
itnd fonts and prints them with low memory usage. At higher resolutions, the quality
of print toner also becomes important since the resolution is limited by the size of
loner particles.

4.9.5 Colour Management

'There are three primary colours in pigments - Red, Yellow and Blue. There are two
ways to produce more colours:
' t
1Physical Mixing: Physically mix colours to make a new colour. This is difficult for
printers because their colours are quick drying and so colours to be mixed must be
;~ppliedsimultaneously.

Optical Mixing: Mixing to give the illusion of a new colour. This can be done in
'Nays:
o Apply colours one upon another. This is done using inks which are somewhat
transparent, as modem inks are.
Applying dots of different colours so close to one another that the human eye
. cannot distinguish the difference. This is the theory behind Dithering.
11 or 4 colour Printing?
For good printing, printers do not use RBY, instead they use CMYK (Cyan instead of
\ Blue. Magenta instead of Red, Yellow, and a separate Black). A separate Black is
lequired since the 3 colours mixed to produce a black (which is called Composite
Black) is often not satisfactory.
'What is Dithering?
CMYK gives only 8 colours ( C, M, Y K, Violet= C + M, Orange= M + Y,
Green = C + Y, and the colour of the paper itself! ). What about'other colours? For
these, the technique of Dithering is used. Dithering is a method in which instead of
being a single colour dot, it is a small matrix of a number of different colour dots.
Such pixels are called Super-pixels. The dots of a given colour in a Super-pixel
decide the intensity of that colour. The problem with dithering is that it reduces the
resolution of the image since more dots are taken by a single pixel now.

Iklonitors versus Printer

Monitor screens and Printers use different colour technologies. The monitor uses
ItGB and the Printer CMYK. So, how does one know that the colour that is seen is
going to be printed. This is where the Printer driver becomes very important, and
where many computer models and graphic oriented machine score. For long, a claim
to fame of the Apple Macintosh machin.es has been its very good correspondence
between print and screen colours.
Bssie Computer
Drgahisatlon 4.10 MODEMS
A Modem is one device that most computer users who have surfed the Internet are
aware of. A modem is required because though most of the telecommunications have
become digital, most telephone connections at the user end are still the analog POTS
(Plain Old Telephone Systems/Sets/Semice). However, the computer is a digital
device and hence another device is needed which can convert the digital signals to
analog signals and vice-versa. Such a device is the Modem.
Modem stands for Modulator/Demodulator. Modulation is the process which puts
digital information on to the analog circuit by modifying a constant wave (signal)
called the Carrier. This is what happens when you press a button to connect to the
Internet or to a web site. Demodulation is the reverse process, which derived the
digital signal from the modulated wave. This is what happens when you receive data
from a website which then gets displayed by your browser.

Discussion of modulation techniques is out of scope here (you can refer to your course
on Computer Networks).

Modems are available as the following .types:

1. Internal Modems: Internal Modems plug into expansion slots in your PC.
,Internal Modems are cheap and efficient. Internal Modems are bus-specific and
hence may not fit universally.
2. External Modems: Modems externally connected to PC through a seriaf or
parallel port and into a telephone line at the other end. They can usually connect
'
to any computer with the right port and have a range of indicators for
troubleshooting..
3. Pocket Modems: Small external Modems used with notebook P.Cs.
4. PC-Card Modems: PC and Modems are read with PCMCIA slots found in
notebooks. They are like external Modems which fit into an internal slot, Thus,
they give the advantage of both external and internal modems but are more
expensive,

~ o d e m s ' c o m eaccording to CCITTATU standards, e.g., V.32, V.32bis, V.42 etc.

Modem Language
Modems understand a set of instructions called Hayes Command Set or the AT
Command Set. These commands are used to communicate with the Modem.
Sometimes, when you are in trouble setting up your Modem, it is useful to know some
basic commands, e.g., ATDT 17776 will dial the number 17776 across a Tone Phone
and ATDP 17776 to the number 17776 if it is a Pulse phone.

4.11 SCANNERS
A Scanner is a device that allows you to capture drawings or photographs or text from
tangible sources (paper, slides etc.) into electronic form. Scanners work by detecting
differences in brightness of reflections from an image or object using light sensors.
These light sensors are arranged in an array across the whole width that is scannable.
This packing determines the resolution and details that can be scanned.

Scanners come in various types: Drum Scanners, Flatbed Scanners, Hand Scanners
and Video Scanners. Drum Scanners use a rotating drum to scan loose paper sheets.
Flatbed scanners have movable sensors to scan images placed on a flat glass tray.
These are the most expensive kind land held Scanners are the cheapest and most The 114 Technolflgy 1
portable.

They are useful for many applls8tlpns but &resmall iq size and need good hand
control for hlgh quality scrtn~lng.Video $canners use Video technology and Video
cameras instead of Scanning technology. Potentially, they can give high resolutions,
scanners in the economical range give poor resolutions.

Faltbed Scanner Hand-held 'Scanner

Figure 7: Scqnaers

When yau buy a scanngr, there are many fwtors that can be looked at: Compatjbility
af the Scanner with your Cqmputer, The Technology (Depth, Resolution), the mediq
types supported for scqnning, How media can be loaded, Media size supported,
interfaces supported, physical dimensions, style and ease of use of the scanner.
One exciting application of Scanners is Optical Recognition of Characters (OCR).
OCR software tries to recognise characters from their shapes and write out the
scanned text as a text file. Thoqgh this technology is steadingly improving, it is still
not completely reliable especially w.r.t. Indian scripts. Houcver, it can be very
useful to digitize the ancient texts written in Indian scripts.

Scanning technology is :~lsoeverpresent nowadays in Bar-Code readers and MlCR

(Magnetic lnh Character Recognition) cheques. This technology is very useful for
automating data at source of origin, thereby avoiding problems like inaccuracies in
data entry, etc.

4.1 1.1 Resolution

Rptical Resolution
Qptical resolution or hardware resolution is the mechanical limit on resolution of the
Scanner. For scanning, the sensor has to advance after each line it scans. The
smallness of this advancement step gives the resolution of the Scanner. Typically,
Scanners may be avqilable with mechanical resolutions of 300,600, 1200 or 2400 dpi.
Some ~pecialscanners even scan 2 10,000 dpi.

tnterp~latedResolution
Each Scanner is accompanied by a s~ftwwe.This software can increase the apparent
resol~tionof the scan by a tecbniqye called Interpolation. By this technique,
additional dots are interpolated (adqed) between existing dats. This gives a higher
resolution and smoother picture but without adding any additional information. The
added dots will howeyer lead to larger file sizes.
Basic Computer
Organisation
Dynamic Range is the number of $?lours 9 ~ g l g ~ r pr the number nf@rausa
ponocluomg scanrlpr can diff~rfqi?teThe d u n w i ~rygf is ~sugllygiven P bit:
depth o i colbur depth. This is simply the pumper of bits ip distinguish #IF cploprv.
Most scanners can do 256(8-bit), 1024(19-bit) or 409@(12-bit)for each rimpry
f'
colour. This adds up to and is advertised as 24-bit, 30-bit and 36-bit co our scanners.
Actually though, to utilise the Colour Depth, the image under scanning must be
properly focused upon and properly illuminated by the scanner.

Since the minimum colour range useful for human vision is 24-bits, more bits mgy
seem useful. ow ever,extra bits of scanning give you firm control fpr filtering thg
image colour to your requirements.

4.11.3 Size aqd f$peed

Before actual scanning, a qui~J(,low resolution s c called
~ prg-scan is mpdp tg
prgviety the image and select scanning area. Aftgr this only does the pctual scan take
place. Early colbur scanners used to take three passes for a scan - one pass for each
colour. Now, Scanners use just one pass and use photodetectors to detect the colours.
Then, they operate as fast as monochrome Bcanners. However, other isspes wp also
involved.

High resolution scans of large images result in large file sizes. These can slow down
processing since they need Hard Disk VO for virtual memory. Hence, for large s c k s ,
it is necessary to have higher RAM in your PC.

4.11.4 Scanning Tips

Do not scaq ?t more r~solutiont h y r~quiyeg.This saves both time pnd Disk
Space.
Usually, it is not useful to scan at more than the optical resolution since it adds no
new information. Interpolation can be done later with Image precessing
softwares.
If scanning photographs for Printers, it is enough to scan at one-third the .
resolution of printing, since Printers usually use Super-pixels (Dithering) for
printing. Only for other kind of Printers, like continuous tone Printers, do you
need to scan at the Printer resolution for best quality.
For images to be seen only at the Computer Monitor, you may need to only SCW
so that the image size in pixels is the same as display resolution. That is, @can
resolution =Height of image in pixels divided by the screen size in inches. This
may be surprisingly small.

Computer operate electronically -eitber tbrou b power supply obtained fiom your
f
electric plug or batteries as in the case of portap e computers. Howevpy, the current
coming through your electric line is too sfrong for the delicate computpr cir~pits.
Also, electricity i$ $upplied AG but the corhputer uses Dc. Thus, pQwFrsvpply j~
that equipment which f+eg 413 f@G e l e ~ t r i ~supply
al p d converts ~tto DC to supply
to coniputer circuit$. ~ g r l ypower supplies were linear power supplies and they
worked by simply blocking one cycle of the AC current. They were superseded by
the SMPS.
 The 110 Technology

SMPS Is the unit ~ Q I Qwhich the electric supply @omthe mains is attached to your PC
@mdthis supplies DC to the iqtema) circuits. It iq pore efficient, less e~pensivean4
more complex than linear suppiles.

SMPS works in the following way: The electric supply received is sent to a
component called trlac which shifts it from 50 Hz to a much higher frequency (almost
20.000 Hz). At the same time, using a technique called Pulse Width moduiation, the
pulse is varied to the needs of the computer circuit. Shorter pulses give lower output
voltage. A transformer then reduces back the voltage to the correct levels and
rectifiers and filters generate the pure DC current.
SMPS has two main advantages: They generates less heat since they waste less power,
and use less expensive transfsrmers md circuits since they operate qt higher
frequencies.

The power requirement of a PC depends on the motherboard and the peripherqls in

your computer. Still, in modem PCs, your requirement may not be more than 158-
200 Watts.

Check Your Progress 3

1. In what ways does a digital camera differ from a conventional camera?

2. Explain the term Resolvtisn an4 how it ap~lies

.. ts Monitoss, Caper?, Printer?,
Scanners etc,
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....................................................

3, Explain the process of C o l ~ u management

r in Printers.
................. ..........................................................................................
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...................................................................................................................................
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
....................................................................................................................................

4. C~mpwL ~ pqsiye mat@%and TFT technology. yhich are. cheaper

e a. p t. ~ pUS/F& . . , i..i

in priee'l
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Basic Computer 5.
Oyganilation
To connect my modem to an ISP, 1 have ta diql to t h Pulse
~ pbang nvmber
261 76661, uyhat Uqyes Command set ~ornplapdw ~ y l dI givg:
a) 4TDT 1777626176661 b) 4TDT 26 176661

C)ATDP 1 777626 176661 d) ATDP 26 176661

6. It i s gibsn that to print a 31)l)di)l page on a particular Laser Printer, 2MB of

memory is required. How rnu1.h memory is required for a 6OOdpi page?
a ) 2h10 b) 1 X1B

C) 8MB d) 16MB

7. Which of the fpllowing are Sound storage @rmqt standqrds?

a) MID1 b) WAVE

c) MP3 d) OGG
.- . - A - -

4.13 SUMMARY
-" --
In this unit. we discussed various Input/Output devices. We have covered the input
devices Keyboard, Mouse and Scanner. Various types of Keyboards, Keyboard
layouts (QWERTY, Dvorak) and technologies have been discussed. Various types of
mice and their operation have been discussed. Different types of Scanners, the
underiying technology and use in applications like OCR have been discussed.

Tbe output devices discussed are Monitor, LCD and Printer. The technologies an4
specifications behind hllr~litors,LCD and Printers have been discussed. Colour
management has also been discussed. Video cards, which control the display o l ~
monitors froin the CPU and their system of display have been discussed with their
characteristics like depth, resolution and memory. Modem is a communication device
and thereby a!; 113 de4ice. Its functioning has been discussed. The Power supply, and
especially. :5e SMPS, which is actually i ~ . :ut of electric power for the computing unit,
has a!so been discussed.

4.14 SOLUTIONS! ANSWERS

Check Your Progress 1

1. The main Merit of Dvorak-Dealey keyboard is the scientific design using Hand
alteration. However, since it came much later than QWERTY it did not become
popular, as QWERTY was already well established.

2. Keyboard touch gives you a feedback mechanism. This tells you when yo9
have pressed a key enough and involuntarlily allows faster typing. The
preferred touch is an individual choice but the best feedback is provided with an
overcenter feel with a 'click' sound. The most suitable touch is given by
Rubber Dome keyboards. (refer text for details).

3. Besides the standard precautions while attaching Hardware, one has to take
precaution regarding interrupt conflict for serial devices., since Serial ports
share their interrupts. (refer text for details).
Cheek Your Progress 2 The 110Techno~ogy ~
1. A true-colour system has a depth of 24 bits per pixel. This means that 8 bits
each are assigded to #,O titid B 1.e. there are 8 Colottr Planes. Hence, in figure-
4 replace ' h' by 8 to dralt the ne* f;rgut@.
2. Ffamebui'fet Is another name for the Display Memory. This Is like a time-slice
of what you see on yout riionit~t. Discuss how framebuffet is handled
diffetehtly In early display hysteihs, PCf, AGP and uMA. (refer text for
detah).

3, Shadow Mask: Trinitt.on uses Aperture Grills ihstead of Shadow Mask, for the
same putpose.
Dot Pitch: Similiarly, ihstead of Dot Pitch, there is Slot Pitch.
explain the terms Shadow Mask,Aperture Orill. Dot pitch and Slot Pitch (refet.
text).
4. Ans. (b) 1024 x 768 x2Bytes = 1.6ME3. M M islwas available as lMB, 4MB,
16MB etc.
5. Ans. (a) Total screen size = 12 x 9 = 108 inches. image size
= 1024 x 768 = 786432 pixels. divide 108 inches by 786432.

Cheek Your Progress 3

1. In a digital camera, photos ate stored in digital format. Instead of film, these
cameras use Semiconductor devices, called image sensors. There are many
other differences regarding quality, resolution etc.

2. Resolution is a generic term the parameter that defines the possible sharpness or
clarity of something i.e. how clearly that thing can be resolved. This applies
especially to images. See in what different ways it is used for Monitors,
Cameras, Printers, Scanners and even Mice.

3. It tells about physical mixing, optical mixing and RGB and CMYK schemes.
The technique of dithering is used for rich colour quality, Colours also differ on
monitors and printers. To maintain similarity is also an important issue.

4. Compare Laptops made using passive matrix and TFT technology. Which are
cheaper in price?
In a Passive matrix arrangement, the LCD has a grid of horizontal and vertical
conductors. Each pixel is located at an intersection. When a current is recieved
by the pixel, it becomes dark whereas in Active Matrix, also called TFT (Thin
Film Transistor) technology, each pixel is active, working as a relay. Hence, it
needs less power and gives better quality display. Passive matrix LCDs are
cheaper but now, TFT LCDs are also economically available. (find out the
latest from the market).
5. Ans. (d) ATDP 26 176661.

6. Ans. (c) 8MB. The memory requirement increases as a square of the

resolution(dpi), so an increase of two times in the dpi leads to an '
increase of four times in the memory requirement.

7. Ans. All of them.