Output Devices

What is a Computer Output Device? In the world of computers, input/output (I/O) refers to the communication between a computer and the user. Input is the data sent to the system, whereas output is the data sent by the system to the outside world. Computer output devices are computer hardware equipment, that are used to communicate the results of data processing carried out by a computer to the user. There are a number of devices, which produce data in different forms, which includes audio, video or hard copy. Output device of computer are types of peripheral hardware connected, that is connected to the computer, either using cables or over a wireless network. Immaterial whether you have desktop computers, laptop computers, supercomputers, etc., you will require at least one computer output device. Which Devices are Computer Output Devices? An output given by the computer can be in the form of a display on the screen or a printed document or a song, that is played. Most of the computer output devices are common to home as well as office environments. At the same time, there are some devices, which are not as commonly available. Having said that, lets take a look at computer output devices list.

Monitor
A monitor is also called as Video Display Terminal (VDT) or VDU Video Display Unit. The visual display of the processed data, which the users can view is got through the monitor. Computer monitors come in a variety of screen sizes and not to forget visual resolutions. There are two types of computer monitors available, namely CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) and flat panel {(TFT= Thin Film Transistor), (LCD = Liquid Crystal Display), (LED = Light-emitting diode)}. All monitors rely in a video card, which is located on the motherboard to display the information. It is the video card, which processes the data into images, which is eventually displayed on the monitor.

TFT = Thin Film Transistor

CRT (Cathode Ray Tube)

Speaker
A speaker is a hardware device, that is connected to a computers sound card, which outputs sound generated by the card. Audio data generated by the computer is sent to the audio card, that is located in the expansion slot. The card translates the data into audio signals, which are then sent to either the speakers or headphones. In the initial phase, computers had on-board speakers, which generated series of different tones and beeps. When the popularity of multimedia and computer games grew, higher quality computer speakers came into the market. These new speakers were known for higher quality sound effects and music.

Projector
It is a hardware device, with which an image like a computer screen is projected onto a flat screen. Image data is sent to the video card, by the computer which is then translated into a video image and sent to the projector. A projector is often used in meetings or to make presentations, because they allow for a large image to be shown, with which the display is available for a large audience.

Discs

There are different types of discs, such as CD, DVD and floppy discs, which are output devices, that are also used to store data, hence they are also input devices at the same time. The data is sent to the disc and the data is embedded on the disc, which is retrieved, when required. This is computer output devices information in short. All computers might not have all the computer output devices, but it certainly does have one of the visual output device, namely either a monitor or projector.

Printer
A printer is an output device that produces text and graphics on a physical medium such as paper. Printed information is often called hard copy because the information exists physically and is a more permanent form of output than that presented on a VDU (Monitor). Printers can be grouped into impact and non-impact printers. An impact printer forms characters and graphics on a piece of paper by striking a mechanism against an ink ribbon that physically contacts the paper. A non-impact printer forms characters and graphics on a piece of paper without actually striking the paper. The printing speed of a printer is usually expressed in pages per minute (ppm). Printer resolution is often expressed in dpi (dots per inch). The larger the number, the higher the resolution. Advantages of printers include Information produced is permanent.

Disadvantages of printers include The time to get the printout is slow, when compared with display devices. Paper is wasted for obtaining the output. Printers are generally noisier than display devices.

The following types of printers will be considered in more detail; 1. Daisy wheel Printer 2. Dot-matrix printer 3. Line printer 4. Ink-jet printer 5. Laser printer 6. Plotter