MULUNGUSHI UNIVERSITY
Pursing frontiers of Knowledge
ICT131 Introduction to Computers
Unit 2 and 3
LECTURER A. Siame SSET
UNIT - 2
oInput Devices
oOutput Devices
2
Input Devices
❑Users can command the computer and communicate with it by
using one or more input devices. Each input device accepts a
specific form of data.
❑Keyboards, for example transmit typed characters, and
handwriting recognizers “read” handwritten characters.
❑Communication with computers has to be simple, fast, and error
free. Therefore the need for different input devices for different
needs.
❑Note that input devices are the only means humans manipulate
computers. Output devices don’t.
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Input Devices cont./
CATEGORY EXAMPLES
Keying devices Punched card reader
Keyboard
Point-of-Sale Terminal
Pointing devices Mouse
(Devices that point to objects Touch screen
on the computer screen) Light pen
Joysticks
Optical character recognition Bar code scanner
(Devices that scan characters) Optical character reader
Optical mark reader
Cordless reader
Handwriting Recognizers Pen
Voice Recognizers Microphone
(Data are entered by voice)
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Input Devices cont./
❑Keyboard:
The most common input device is the keyboard. The keyboard is
designed like a typewriter but with many additional special keys.
❑Mouse:
The computer mouse is a handheld device used to point a cursor at a
desired place on the screen, such as an icon, a cell in a table, an item
in a menu, or any other object.
❑Once the arrow is placed on an object, the user clicks a button on the
mouse, instructing the computer to take some action.
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Input Devices cont./
❑Joystick:
Joysticks are used primarily at workstations that can display dynamic
graphics. They are also used in playing video games. The joystick
moves and positions the cursor at the desired object on the screen.
❑Automated Teller Machine:
Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) are interactive input/output
devices that enable people to obtain cash, make deposits, transfer
funds, and update their bank accounts instantly from many locations.
One drawback of ATMs is their vulnerability to computer crimes and
to attacks made on customers as they use outdoor ATMs.
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Input Devices cont./
❑Point-of-Sale Terminals:
The POS terminal has a specialized keyboard. POS devices increase the
speed of data entry and reduce the chance of errors. POS terminals may
include many features such as scanner, printer, voice synthesis and
accounting software.
❑Bar Code Scanner
Bar-Code scanners scan the black-and-white bars written in the
Universal Product Code (UPC). This code specifies the name of the
product and its manufacturer (product ID). Then a computer finds in the
database the price equivalent to the product’s ID.
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Input Devices cont./
❑Optical Character Reader
With an optical character reader (OCR), source documents such as
reports, typed manuscripts, and books can be entered directly into
a computer without the need for keying. An OCR converts text and
images on paper into digital form and stores the data on disk or
other storage media.
❑Voice Recognisers
An example is a microphone that coverts audio voice into a
computer data format like mp3 or wave file format.
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Output Devices
❑The output generated by a computer can be transmitted to the user
via several devices and media.
❑The data processed by the computer is presented to the user by
means of output devices in the required form.
Monitors
This is the most common form of output device
❑The data entered into a computer can be visible on the computer
monitor, which is basically a video screen that displays both input
and output. The major benefit is the interactive nature of the
device.
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Output Devices - Printers
Impact Printers
❑Like typewriters, impact printers use some form of striking action to press
a carbon or fabric ribbon against paper to create a character. Impact
printers are slow and noisy, cannot do high-resolution graphics, and are
often subject to mechanical breakdowns.
Non-Impact Printers
❑Laser printers are of higher speed, containing high-quality devices that use
laser beams to write information on a page at a time.
Thermal printers create whole characters on specially treated paper that
responds to patterns of heat produced by the printer.
Ink-jet printers shoot tiny dots of ink onto paper. They are relatively
inexpensive and are suitable for low-volume graphical applications when
different colours of ink are required. 10
Output Devices - Plotters
Plotters
❑Plotters are printing devices using computer-driven pens for
creating high-quality black-and-white or colour graphic images—
charts, graphs, and drawings. They are used in complex, low-volume
situations such as engineering and architectural drawing, and they
come in different types and sizes.
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UNIT – 3
oMain Memory
oSecondary Storage Memory
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Data units
❑Data is the component stored in whichever form of storage, be it
main memory or secondary storage memory.
❑A bit is a basic unit of data/information storage in memory.
❑It is the information stored by a physical device and it can only exist
in two distinct states:
➢ The binary digits 0 and 1.
❑ They may also be interpreted as logical values :
➢ either "true" or "false";
➢or two settings of a switch, either "on" or "off".
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Data units cont./
❑Every data notation is based on the bit.
Byte
❑A byte is an ordered collection of bits, with each bit denoting a single
binary value of 1 or 0.
❑A byte most often consists of 8 bits in modern systems;
❑The size of a byte can vary and is generally determined by the
underlying computer operating system or hardware.
❑Historically, byte size was determined by the number of bits required
to represent a single character from a Western Character Set.
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Data units cont./
Word
❑A word simply is a group of bytes.
❑In computing, word is a term for the natural unit of data used by a
particular processor design.
❑A word is basically a fixed sized group of bits that are handled as a
unit by the instruction set and/or hardware of the processor.
❑Modern processors usually have a word size of 8, 16, 24, 32 or 64
bits, while modern general purpose computers usually use 32 or 64
bits.
❑The wider the word, the higher the processing power.
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Memory
❑There are two categories of memory:
➢the register, which is part of the CPU and is very fast,
➢the internal memory chips (RAM & ROM), which reside outside the
CPU and are slower.
❑A register is circuitry in the CPU that allows for the fast storage and
retrieval of data and instructions during the processing.
❑The control unit, the CPU, and the primary storage all have
registers. Small amounts of data reside in the register for very short
periods, prior to their use.
❑The internal memory (RAM)is used to store data just before they
are processed by the CPU.
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Random Access Memory (RAM)
❑RAM is the place in which the CPU stores the instructions and data
it is processing.
❑The larger the memory area (RAM), the larger the programs that
can be stored and executed.
❑New computers have RAM that can support more than one
program operating at a time, each occupying a portion of RAM.
❑Most personal computers as of 2011 needed about 2 to 4 gigabytes
of RAM to process “multimedia” applications which combine sound,
graphics, animation, and video, thus requiring more memory.
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RAM cont./
❑The advantage of RAM is that it is very fast in storing and retrieving
any type of data.
❑Its disadvantages are that it is relatively expensive and volatile.
Volatile means that all data and programs stored in RAM are lost
when the power is turned off.
❑To lessen this potential loss of data, many of the newer application
programs perform periodic automatic “saves” of the data.
❑Software programs are larger than the internal, primary storage
(RAM) are usually divided into smaller blocks, with each block
loaded into RAM only when necessary.
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RAM
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Types of RAM
Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM)
❑These are known to be volatile since they need to be recharged and
refreshed hundreds of times per second in order to retain the
information stored in them.
• Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) This type of DRAM has a synchronized
design which permits support for much higher bus speeds.
Static Random Access Memory (SRAM):
❑ Unlike dynamic RAM (DRAM) which must be regularly refreshed,
SRAM will retain a value as long as power is supplied. It is however, still
volatile.
❑SRAM is usually faster than DRAM but since each bit requires several
transistors (about six) you can get less bits of SRAM in the same area.
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Read Only Memory (ROM)
❑ ROM is that portion of primary storage that cannot be changed
or erased. ROM is non-volatile; i.e. Data is continually retained
within the ROM, with or without power.
Types of ROM
❑ Programmable Read-Only Memory (PROM) is a memory type
with a chip which is programmable but once the PROM has been
used, it cannot be wiped clean and reused to store something
else.
❑Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM) is a special
type of PROM that can be erased by exposing it to ultraviolet
light.
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Secondary Storage
❑ Secondary storage is separate from primary storage and the CPU,
but directly connected to it. An example would be the 3.5-inch disk
you place in your PC’s A drive.
❑ Secondary storage provides the computer with vastly increased
space for storing and processing large quantities of software and
data.
❑ Primary storage is volatile, contained in memory chips, and very
fast in storing and retrieving data.
❑ Secondary storage is non-volatile, uses many different forms of
media that are less expensive than primary storage, and is relatively
slower than primary storage.
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Secondary memory cont./
❑Secondary storage media include
➢magnetic tape,
➢ magnetic disk,
➢magnetic diskette,
➢optical storage,
➢and digital videodisk.
Magnetic Tapes
❑Magnetic Tape is kept on a large reel or in a small
cartridge or cassette. Today, cartridges and cassettes are
replacing reels because they are easier to use and access.
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Magnetic Tapes cont./
❑ The principal advantages of magnetic tapes are that it is
inexpensive, relatively stable, and long lasting, and that it
can store very large volumes of data.
❑A magnetic tape is excellent for backup or archival
storage of data and can be reused. The main disadvantage
of magnetic tape is that it must be searched from the
beginning to find the desired data.
❑The magnetic tape itself is fragile and must be handled
with care. Magnetic tape is also labour intensive to mount
and dismount in a mainframe computer.
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Magnetic Disk
❑ Magnetic disks, also called hard disks, alleviate some of the problems
associated with magnetic tape by assigning specific address locations
for data, This process is called direct access.
❑ Most computers today rely on hard disks for retrieving and storing
large amounts of instructions and data in a non-volatile and rapid
manner.
❑ The speed of access to data on hard-disk drives is a function of the
rotational speed of the disk and the speed of the read/write heads
❑ Small disk drives each with 10- to 50-gigabyte capacity, developed
originally for microcomputers to replace large disks are called
Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks (RAID). 25
cont./
Magnetic Disks
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Magnetic Diskette
❑ Diskettes are also called “floppy disks,” a name first given the very
flexible 5.25-inch disks used in the 1980s and early 1990s.
❑ The magnetic diskette used today is a 3.5-inch, removable,
somewhat flexible magnetic platter encased in a plastic housing.
❑ Diskettes themselves are very inexpensive, thin enough to be
mailed, and able to store relatively large amounts of data. A
standard high-density disk contains 1.44 megabytes.
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Digital Video Disk (DVD)
❑ DVD is a new storage disk that offers higher quality and
denser storage capabilities.
❑ In 2001, the disk’s maximum storage capacity was 17 GB,
which is sufficient for storing about five HQ movies.
❑It includes superb audio (six-track vs. the two-track
stereo).
❑ Like CDs, DVD comes as DVD-ROM (read-only) and DVD-
RW. Rewritable DVD-RAM systems are already on the
market, offering a capacity of 4.7 GB. 28
BD, DVD & CD
Disc Drive
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Flash Memory
❑ Flash memory is a non-volatile computer memory that can be
electrically erased and reprogrammed. It is a technology that is
primarily used in memory cards and USB flash drives for general
storage and transfer of data between computers and other digital
products.
❑ It is a specific type of EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable
Read-Only Memory) that is erased and programmed in large blocks;
in early flash the entire chip had to be erased at once.
❑ Flash byte-programmable EEPROM is cheap and therefore has
become the dominant technology wherever a significant amount of
non-volatile, solid state storage is needed.
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Flash memory storage
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