Displaying

What is the definition of displaying? Displaying is the method by which information is output to the
user to meets the purpose of the system

Hardware for displaying

Hardware for displaying includes screens, printers, speakers and plotters. They are commonly
referred to as output devices. They are further classified into dynamic and static displays. Dynamic
displays are devices that present a non-permanent form of display and are also referred to as a soft
copy (ie monitors and speakers). Static displays are devices that present a permanent form of display,
ie once created they cannot be changed and are also referred to as hard copy (eg printers and
plotters).

Screens (CRT, LCD and plasma)

A screen is a display surface that provides immediate feedback about what a computer is doing. It can
display text, numeric, image and video data. All images on the screen are made up of tiny dots called
pixels. A pixel (picture element) is the smallest part of the screen that can be controlled by a
computer. The total number of pixels on a screen is called its resolution. The most common types of
screens available today are the CRT, LCD and plasma screens.

Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)

The CRT monitor uses technology similar to that of a traditional television. Images are produced by
firing a beam of electrons onto the inside of the screen, which contains a coating of phosphor. Colour
monitors use three beams to strike red, green and blue phosphor. The electron beam starts in the
upper left-hand corner and moves from left to right and top to bottom in a series of zigzag lines called a
raster scan. The raster scan is repeated to maintain the image as the phosphor only glows for a short
time. This is called refreshing. The entire screen is refreshed at least 30-100 times per second.

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)

The LCD screen is a flat screen that does not use CRT technology. It consists of a layer of liquid
crystal material placed between two polarising sheets. Light is passed through the liquid and a current
is applied at particular points. This causes a pixel to be activated. LCD technology provides displays
that are very light, take up less room, produce no heat, have no glare, and emit no radiation. They
also require less electricity and can therefore run on batteries. Their most common use is for laptops
but are now common for phones and TVs. .

Plasma
A plasma display is a computer video display in which each pixel on the screen is illuminated by a tiny
bit of plasma or charged gas, somewhat like a tiny neon light. Plasma displays are thinner than CRT
displays and have better viewer angles than LCDs.

Printers and plotters

Printers and plotters are output devices that are used to display text, numerical and image data.
There are three types of printers: dot matrix, inkjet and laser printers.

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Dot matrix printers
A dot matrix printer prints characters or images using dots. Each dot is formed by the impact between
a pin, a printer ribbon and the paper. Dot matrix printers are reliable and cheap, but they are noisy
and do not produce the highest quality output. They have resolutions up to 180 dpi (dots per inch).
They were once widely used in businesses and homes but are now restricted to particular applications
such as financial printouts.

Inkjet printers
Inkjet printers produce characters by spraying very fine drops of ink onto the paper. The printhead of
an inkjet contains a nozzle with anywhere from 50 to several hundred small holes. The ink is propelled
through a combination of nozzle holes to form the characters. Inkjet printers produce high-quality
output in black and white or in colour. They are capable of printing at a quality of 600 dpi or higher.
They are the ideal solution for people who want high-quality printing but not at a high volume.

Inkjet printers are quiet, light and relatively cheap but are quite expensive and the ink cartridges used
are often expensive. Another disadvantage is that the ink is not waterproof and may leak.

Laser printers
When a document is sent to a laser printer, a laser beam "draws" the document on a drum using
positive charges. After the drum is charged, it is rolled in toner, a dry powder type of ink. The toner
sticks to the charged image on the drum. The toner is transferred onto a piece of paper and fixed to the
paper with heat and pressure. Most laser printers print only in monochrome at a standard resolution of
600 dpi but a high-end production printer may have a resolution of up to 2400 dpi. A colour laser printer
is up to 10 times more expensive than a monochrome laser printer.

Even though the initial cost of a laser printer is higher than an inkjet printer, the difference in the cost
per copy quickly makes up the difference for a high-volume user. Laser printers are fast, quiet and
produce waterproof output.

Plotters
A plotter is a printer that interprets commands from a computer to make high-quality drawings on
paper with one or more automated pens. Unlike a regular printer, the plotter can draw continuous
point-to-point lines directly from vector graphics files or commands. Plotters were the first type of printer
that could print with colour and render graphics and full-size engineering drawings. As a rule, plotters
are much more expensive than printers. They are most frequently used for CAD ( computer-aided
design) and CAM (computer-aided manufacture) applications.

Speakers
Speakers (or headphones) are the hardware used for audio output. Speakers produce fluctuations in
air pressure accurately so that we hear different pitched sound.

Projectors
Digital projector is an output device that is used to display video, image, numerical and text data.
Projectors use a strong light source to project images onto a screen. They direct light through a smaller
transparent image which goes through a focusing lens and is enlarged onto a screen.

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Interactive whiteboards
Interactive whiteboard is a touchscreen board which is one of several kinds of writeable presentation
display systems that can be used in a classroom or videoconference. They are an effective and
sophisticated option. They are like large touch screen monitors that can be synchronized to an attached
computer. Users can interact with the display, visit web sites, and access databases directly from the
board.

Software for displaying

Interfaces for hardware display devices
Just as with all other peripherals, display devices connected to the computer require device drivers
which include the set of different software applications require to communicate with each device.

The device driver provides the user with the interface that allows it to change the settings of the
device. For example, with monitors, the user is able to change the screen resolution and colour quality
used. With audio devices users are able to set the volume levels for recording and playback. With
printing devices, the user is able to select different options for printing by customising features such as
sorting, back to back printing, printing multiple pages on one sheet and many more.

Display features in application software

Application software provide users with special display features that allow them to control how
information is outputted. Each of these areas prepares information for final display. They do not
change the actual information; rather their purpose is to enhance information by presenting it in a form
suited to the intended audience and the display devices which it will be viewed.

There is a wide variety of display features available, but our discussion is limited to the following:
Reporting: is used to organise and display data from database management software or

spreadsheets for printing. The purpose of the report determines its content, format and
style. The DBMS gives the user control of what data to include in the report and using what
layout and formatting.
Formatting: means using methods to improve the appearance of the document in hard or

soft copy. Text formatting involves changing the font, indenting, bullets, and style. Image
formatting may involve indenting and rotating .
Spacing: refers to text space borders and frames and the general arrangement of objects on
a page to allow for white space that has no objects. Spacing is an important element of
display as white space is as vital as the text or graphics on the page.
Charts: are graphical representations of numerical data that can be read at a glance. They

are used to show a pattern, trend or comparison which will be easier to understand than
a table with a set of numbers.
Tables: are rows and columns of cells that are filled with text and graphics. Text can be

displayed horizontally or vertically and the table can be displayed using different borders,
shading, size and style.
Merging: used for organising one or more sets of data with another set of data. An example
of merging data is mail merge. However, there are other types of merges that may occur
and they are either static merging or dynamic merging. In static merging (static links),
data is merged into a document as a final set of data eg copy and paste. In dynamic

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 merging, the data merged has a dynamic link which means that any updating in the source
document results in the merged document being updated too.

Exercise
Experiment with each of the display features above using documents created previously or newly
created files as source documents.

Non-computer tools for displaying

Methods for displaying different types of data have changed as a result of development in technology.
However the traditional methods for displaying data are still in use today and it is very unlikely that
they will be completely taken over by technological methods.

Exercise
Why are non-computer methods of displaying still used? For each data type, consider whether this is
true or not and discuss why. Word process your answers.

Non - computer based methods of displaying due to cost, speed and human - based reasons. In many
cases, it would be much cheaper to use a non - computer based method to display information, due to
the expensive cost of computers and other VDUs(phone, tablet). Also, when considering the loading
times and startup times of multiple computer - based devices, it is much slower to power on a
computer, find the file to display, than to simply open a book or read a piece of paper. Finally, for those
who are not as proficient with new technologies, it is difficult for them to use computer - based methods
for displaying and choose to use the traditional methods.

Text - Text will always remain a part of non computer displaying as it is fast, efficient and simple to use.

Numerical - Similar to text, it is really simple and effective to understand numerical data displayed in a
non - computer form.

Image - Images can be viewed on computers, and this takes away the necessity of printing, and also
they can be damaged easily. Images can be transferred easier, and can have backups created, so for
long periods of time, it is easier to keep a soft copy for displaying.

Video: Videos are already mainly displayed through computers.

Audio: Computer - based technology is better to collect audio data, and when displaying, it can be more
flexible with playback, and is already becoming the most common form of displaying audio.

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Social and ethical issues
Communication skills of those presenting displays
Technology has allowed displays to be more easily and rapidly created with higher quality than in the
past. However, any display is wasted if it does not communicate with the users. It is also said that the
communication skills of the presenter are at least as important as the information they are presenting.
Presentations are effective if the information displayed is well organised, attractive and easy to
understand. The following are common mistakes presenters have done during presentations:
Reading every sentence of a presentation
Using excessive slides in a presentation slides should have important points or summarise
points using graphs and images.
Including large amounts of information on slides audience is left reading rather than
listening
Using too many and inappropriate design features (tacky transitions, animations, sound
effects and other effects- they detract from the actual information rather than enhance delivery.
Presenting information or information that is too overwhelming this results in less information
been understood.

Past, current and emerging trends in displays

Current trends in display are changing the way people interact with computers. Twenty years ago
screens were small and unable to handle different font sizes and graphics. Today larger monitors can
display text, graphics photographs and video. Display technology using large flat screens is becoming
more common.

Speakers are also able to produce sound of very high quality. People are now able to produce sound
that is of cinema quality in their own homes. In contrast, years ago, the only sound computers were
able to display was a small volume .

Appropriate displays for a wide range of audiences

When designing displays for any information system, you need to ensure that as many people from
your intended audience are able to access the information you have provided regardless of any
disability or impairment. In this section we will look at factors that we need to consider when
designing displays for the visually impaired and young children.

Visually impaired
Most information is output visually from information systems using either screen or printers. This may
pose a problem to visually impaired people because they wont be able to see or read the information.
Therefore, a number of different techniques and strategies are used to ensure that displays are more
appropriate for visually impaired people. They include:
Braille readers: raise and lower six dots that can be read by a person's fingertips where each
pattern represents different letters and numbers. Software translates any text displayed on the
screen into Braille patterns on the device.
Screen magnifiers: a software program that acts like a magnifying glass held over a part of a
screen. The text and images under the magnifier are enlarged.

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 Screen readers: a software program that reads the contents of the screen aloud to the user.
They only read text data and dont read text within an image. Screen readers also announce
events that occur on screen.
Do not rely on the use of colour alone to convey your message as there are many colour blind
people who cannot differentiate colours and this cannot be explained by screen readers.
Provide alternative information for images, video, audio and animations. This could be done
via the use of captions which could be recognised and read by software programs such as
screen readers.
Ensure that users are able to control moving text as screen and Braille readers are unable to
recognise moving text.
Allow users to interact with the keyboard as well as the mouse.
Provide documents that are clear and simple and have a consistent navigation.
Young children
When designing displays for children, you need to consider factors that may not be necessary when
designing displays for adults. Computer displays for young children need to have a balance between
familiar elements and opportunities for exploring new areas of interest. This is because children love
exploring and discovering on their own but at the same time like to repeat activities they really enjoy.
Any children display should have the following features:
The program should be fun to use but at the same time have an educational value.
Reading ability should not be assumed. Rather, large graphical icons are more important. Many
displays replace a drop down menu with a large image that contains 'hot spots' for the different
activities.
The use of colour animation, speech and sound greatly improves the experience for young
children but should not be overused as children are easily distracted.
Inappropriate inputs such as randomly pounding on the keyboard should be i gnored.
Children should be able to use the program without assistance as they like to choose their own
path. This means navigation should be intuitive.
Feedback in response to input should always be considered and understood even if there is a
mistake.
It should be easy to return to activities or get out of activities as well as go back a step.

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