Computer Input & Output Devices

Input & Output Devices

Keyboard – Keyboard is a primary input device that helps to input data. The standard keys are as follows.

Mouse – Mouse is a pointing device. The mouse can be used to control the position of the cursor.

Joystick – Joystick is also a pointing device that is used to move the cursor on the monitor. Few applications of the joystick include playing computer games, Computer Aided Designing (CAD), etc.

Light Pen – Light pen is a pointing device that looks like a pen. It is used to select a menu item, draw pictures, etc.

Track Ball – You will often find track ball in a notebook or a laptop computer. This device can be used instead of a mouse.

Scanner – You will use a scanner when you have to transfer information from paper to computer memory.

Digitizer – A digitizer converts analog information into digital form.

Microphone – Microphone is used to input sound. You can use this device for various applications like adding sound to a multimedia presentation, for mixing music, etc.

Magnetic Ink Card Reader (MICR) – MICR is used to read characters printed using special magnetic ink. (You will usually find this device in banks. Bank staff use MICR in check processing.)

Optical Character Reader (OCR) – OCR is used to read printed text. OCR scans text character by character, converts them into a machine readable code and stores the text in memory.

Bar Code Reader – You can use this device to interpret bar codes data. (You will often find this device in supermarkets.)

Optical Mark Reader (OMR) – OMR is used to read shades made by pen or pencil. (Exam boards, educational institutions, etc., often use this device for evaluation.)

List of 3 Output Devices

(These are the devices that give you data from the PC).

Monitor – Monitor is the most common output device of a computer. You can also call this Visual Display Unit (VDU).

Printer – Printer is used to print information on paper.

Plotter – You can use a plotter to print images in vector graphics format.