computer applications

Output Devices- what is output Devices- what is monitor- what is Plotter- what is Printers- what is impact Printers- what is non impact Printers-what is speakers- what is Multimedia Projectors

(1) Monitor:

Monitor is the most commonly used output device to display the information. It looks like a TV. Pictures on a monitor are formed with picture elements called PIXELS. Monitors may either be Monochrome which display text or images in Black and White or can be color, which display results in multiple colors. There are many types of monitors available such as CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and LED (Light Emitting Diodes). The monitor works with the VGA (Video Graphics Array) card. The video graphics card helps the keyboard to communicate with the screen. It acts as an interface between the computer and display monitor. Usually the recent motherboards incorporate built-in video card. The first computer monitor was part of the Xerox Alto computer system, which was released on March 1, 1973.

(2) Plotter:

Plotter is an output device that is used to produce graphical output on papers. It uses single color or multi color pens to draw pictures.

(3) Printers:

Printers are used to print the information on papers.

Printers are divided into two main categories:

• Impact Printers

• Non Impact printers

Impact Printers

These printers print with striking of hammers or pins on ribbon. These printers can print on multi-part (using carbon papers) by using mechanical pressure. For example, Dot Matrix printers and Line matrix printers are impact printers.

A Dot matrix printer that prints using a fixed number of pins or wires. Each dot is produced by a tiny metal rod, also called a “wire” or “pin”, which works by the power of a tiny electromagnet or solenoid, either directly or through a set of small levers. It generally prints one line of text at a time. The printing speed of these printers varies from 30 to 1550 CPS (Character Per Second).

Line matrix printers use a fixed print head for printing. Basically, it prints a page-wide line of dots. But it builds up a line of text by printing lines of dots. Line printers are capable of printing much more than 1000 Lines Per Minute, resulting in thousands of pages per hour. These printers also uses mechanical pressure to print on multi-part (using carbon papers).

Non-Impact Printers

These printers do not use striking mechanism for printing. They use electrostatic or laser technology. Quality and speed of these printers are better than Impact printers. For example, Laser printers and Inkjet printers are non-impact printers.

Laser Printers

Laser printers mostly work with similar technology used by photocopiers. It makes a laser beam scan back and forth across a drum inside the printer, building up a pattern. It can produce very good quality of graphic images. One of the chief characteristics of laser printer is their resolution – how many Dots per inch(DPI). The available resolution range around 1200 dpi. Approximately it can print 100 pages per minute(PPM)

piezoelectricity in which tiny electric currents controlled by electronic circuits are used inside the printer to spread ink in jet speed. An Inkjet printer can spread millions of dots of ink at the paper every single second.

Speakers:

Speakers produce voice output (audio) . Using speaker along with speech synthesize software, the computer can provide voice output. This has become very common in places like airlines, schools, banks, railway stations, etc..

Multimedia Projectors:

Multimedia projectors are used to produce computer output on a big screen. These are used to display presentations in meeting halls or in classrooms.

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