INPUT AND OUTPUT DEVICES 

WHAT IS INPUT DEVICE?

An input device is a part of computer hardware in computing system equipment used to provide data and control signals to an information processing unit such as a computer or information appliance. Input devices include keyboards, mouse, scanners, digital cameras, joysticks, and microphones.

WHAT IS OUTPUT DEVICE?

An output device is any peripheral that receives data from a computer, usually for display, projection, or physical reproduction. For example, the image shows an inkjet printer, an output device that can make a hard copy of anything shown on the monitor.

COMPARISON BETWEEN INPUT AND OUTPUT DEVICES:

The major comparison between an input and output devices are as follows:

1) An input device sends information to a computer system for processing, and an output device reproduces or displays the results of that processing.

2) An input device is any hardware device which enables the user to enter data and instructions into a computer  and an output device is any hardware component that use received data from a computer to perform a task.

3) An input device can send data to another device but it cannot receive data from another device and  an output device can receive data from another device and generate output with that data, but it cannot send data to another device.

4) Input devices are relatively complicated as they have complex coding that ensures that the user can interact with the computer correctly and output devices are simpler for the user since they only see the results and do not have to learn the processes.

5) Input devices are controlled by the user and output devices are controlled by the computer.

6) Input devices are necessary for a computer to receive commands from its users and data to process and output devices are necessary for a computer to share its results and prompt users for more information and commands.

7) An input device can send data to another device but it cannot receive data from another device and an output device can receive data from another device and generate output with that data, but it cannot send data to another device.

8) Input devices are relatively complicated as they have complex coding that ensures that the user can interact with the computer correctly and output devices are simpler for the user since they only see the results and do not have to learn the processes.

9) Widely used input devices are keyboard and mouse, microphone, webcam, image scanner, Microphone, pointing device, touch screens, graphics table, Optical character reader (OCR), joystick etc. and widely used output devices are printer, monitor, speakers, projector LCD projection panels, computer output microfilm, plotters etc.

PROCESS OF GETTING DATA IN THE COMPUTER THROUGH INPUT & OUTPUT DEVICES:

Some input data can go directly to the computer for processing. Input devices in this category includes bar codes, speech that enters the computer through a microphone, and data entered by means of a device that converts motions to on-screen action. Some input data, however, goes through a good deal of intermediate handling, such as when it is copied from a source document and translated to a medium that a machine can read, such as a magnetic disk. In either case the task is to gather data to be processed by the computer sometimes called raw data and convert it into some form the computer can understand and then processing it in the monitor or any other output devices.