Input and output peripherals

Input and output peripherals

Main article: Peripheral

Input and output devices are typically housed externally to the main computer chassis. The following are either standard or very common to many computer systems.

Wheel Mouse

Input

Main article: Input device

• Text input devices
  • Keyboard - a device to input text and characters by depressing buttons (referred to as keys or buttons).
• Pointing devices
  • Mouse - a pointing device that detects two dimensional motion relative to its supporting surface.
    • Optical Mouse - uses light to determine mouse motion.
  • Trackball - a pointing device consisting of an exposed protruding ball housed in a socket that detects rotation about two axes.
  • Touchscreen - senses the user pressing directly on the display

• Gaming devices
  • Joystick - a control device that consists of a handheld stick that pivots around one end, to detect angles in two or three dimensions and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling.
  • Game pad - a hand held game controller that relies on the digits (especially thumbs) to provide input.
  • Game controller - a specific type of controller specialized for certain gaming purposes.
• Image, Video input devices
  • Image scanner - a device that provides input by analyzing images, printed text, handwriting, or an object.
  • Web cam - a video camera used to provide visual input that can be easily transferred over the internet.
• Audio input devices
  • Microphone - an acoustic sensor that provides input by converting sound into electrical signals.

Output

Main article: Output device

• Printer - a device that produces a permanent human-readable text of graphic document.
• Speakers - typically a pair of devices (2 channels) which convert electrical signals into audio.
  • Headphones - for a single user hearing the audio.
• Monitor - an electronic visual display with textual and graphical information from the computer.
  • CRT - (Cathode Ray Tube) display
  • LCD - (Liquid Crystal Display) as of 2010, it is the primary visual display for personal computers.
  • LED - (light-emitting diode) display
  • OLED - Organic Light-Emitting Diode