Computer and Information Systems

Chapter 5
Output hardware consists of devices that
translate information processed by the computer
into a form that humans can understand.
The computer-processed information consists of
0s and 1s, which need to be translated into
symbols that is understandable for people.
Softcopy is the output displayed on the
computer screen in audio or voice form, which is
intangible. When computer display devices readily
available and information must be quickly
accessible, it is best produced as softcopy.
Output hardware is available in two forms:
Hardcopy
Softcopy
Hardcopy is information that has been
recorded on a tangible medium that can be
touched, such as paper or micro-film. When
computer display devices are not readily available
and information has some value over time, it is
best to produce as hardcopy. Hardcopy output
software are printers, plotters and multifunction
devices.
A Printer is an output device that is capable to
printing characters, symbols, and perhaps
graphics on paper. Printers are categorized
according to whether or not the image produced
is formed by physical contact of print mechanism
with paper.
Two categories of printers:
Impact printer forms characters or images by
striking a mechanism and leaves an image on
paper.

Nonimpact printer forms characters and
images without making direct physical contact
between printing mechanism and paper.
For microcomputer users, the most common
types of impact printers are:

Daisy Wheel Printer produce a high quality
print image because the entire character is
formed with a single impact by a print wheel with
a set of characters on the outside tips of wheels
spoke.
Dot-matrix printers produce images with a
print head composed of a series of little print
hammers that look like the heads of pin. It is more
effective than Daisy wheel printer and can print
graphics.

Another type of impact printer that is not used
in micro-computer is Line printer which print a
whole line of characters at once.
The types of nonimpact printers often used
with microcomputers:
Laser printers create images on a drum, which
is then treated with a magnetically charged ink-
liker toner, and the image is transferred from
drum to paper. Laser printers are fast, quiet, have
low maintenance requirements and produce high
quality images, including graphics.
Ink-jet Printers form images by spraying tiny
electrically charged droplets of ink (black or
colors) from four nozzles through holes in a matrix
at high speed onto paper. These printers are as
fast as dot-matrix printers, and they are quieter
than laser printers. Most color printing is done on
ink-jets because the nozzles can hold four
different colors.
Thermal Printers use colored waxes and heat to
produce images by burning dots on special paper.
No ribbon or ink is involved. Thermal printers are
costly and require expensive papers. Therefore
they are not used often in jobs requiring a high
volume of output. It is needed for people who
want the highest quality color printing.
Plotters are specialized output devices that can
produce high-quality graphics in a variety of
colors. Plotters are usually useful for creating
maps, and agricultural drawings, although they
may also produce less complicated charts and
graphs. The three principal types of plotters are
pen, electrostatic, and thermal plotter.
Pen Plotter is the most popular type of plotter,
moves between one and four pens across paper
to form images, or the paper moves beneath the
pens.

Electrostatic Plotter uses electrostatic charges
to create tiny dots on specially treated paper. The
paper is then run through a developer to produce
the image which can be four colored.
Thermal plotter is electrically heated pins are
used with heat-sensitive paper to produce images.
Images can be two colored.

Multifunction Printer Technology:
Multifunction printing devices combine several
capabilities such as printing, scanning, copying,
and faxing all in one device.
The Cathode-ray tube (CRT) is the most
popular softcopy output device used with micro
computers. The CRTs screen is made up of pixels;
the smaller and closer together the pixels are, the
better the image clarity or resolution. The pixels
are illuminated under software control by electron
guns to form images.
Flat-Panel Display, used with portable
computers, are much thinner, weigh less, and
consume les power than CRTs. Flat panel displays
are better for portable computers or laptops. Flat
panel displays are made up of two plates of glass
with a substance in between them, which is
activated in different ways.
Flat-Panel Display are distinguished in two ways:

1. Substance between the plate of glass the
three types of flat panel displays each use
different substances between the plates of
glass. They are liquid crystal display (LCD),
electroluminescent display (ELD), and gas-
plasma display.
2. Arrangement of the transistors on the screen
in active-matrix displays, each pixel on the
screen is controlled by its own transistor. In
passive-matrix displays, a transistor controls a
whole row or column of pixels. The passive
matrix displays are less expensive and use less
power.
Screen Clarity depends on three qualities:

Refresh Rate is the number of times per
second that the pixels are recharged so that
their glow remains bright. In dual-scan
screens, the tops and bottoms of the screens
are refreshed independently at twice the rate
of single-scan screens, producing more clarity
and richer colors.
Dot Pitch is the amount of space between
pixels, the closer the dots, the crisper the
image.

Resolution is the clarity or sharpness of a
display screen. The more pixels there are per
square inch, the better the resolution.
Resolution is expressed in terms of the
formula horizontal pixel X vertical pixel.
Display screens can either be Monochrome or
Color screens and character-mapped or bit
mapped.

Color screen displays between 16 and 16.7
million colors, depending on their type. Most
microcomputers today are sold with color
screen display.
Monochrome screen displays only two colors
usually black and white, amber and black or green
and black.

Character-mapped display screens can display
only characters. Character-mapped displays are
drawn from prerecorded templates stored in a
video display ROM chip.
Bit-mapped Screen Displays can display
characters and free-form graphics because the
electron beam can illuminate each individual
pixel. To have bit mapping capability, a computer
must be configured with a video display adapter
card.
Video display adapter: A video display adapter,
also called a graphic adapter card is a circuit board
that determined the resolution, number of colors
and how fast images appear on the display screen.
Video display adapters embody certain
standards including video graphics array (VGA),
super VGA, extended graphics array (XGA).
Video graphics array (VGA) will support 16 or
256 colors, depending on resolution.

SVGA or super video graphics array will support
256 colors at higher resolution than VGA.

Extended graphics array (XGA) is high
resolution display, supports up to 16.7 million
colors at a resolution of 1024 X 768 pixels.
Audio output includes voice-output technology
(speed coding and speed synthesis) and sound
output technology (FM synthesis & virtual
acoustics). In the following sections we describe
the hardware devices that enable voice output
and sound output.
Voice output devices convert digital data into
speech-like sounds. Two type of voice-output
technologies are:
Sound coding: Human voices are used to
provide a digital database of words that can be
output as voice sounds.
Speech synthesis: A set of 40 basic speech
sounds is used to electronically create words.
Sound output devices produce digitized sounds,
ranging from beeps and chirps to music. All these
sounds are nonverbal. PC owners can customize
their machines to greet each new program with
the sounds they want. A sound card, which should
be plugged into an expansion slot in the
computer, is required in making computerized
music.
Two types of sound-output technologies are:
Virtual acoustics: Software models of actual
instruments are stored, such as a clarinet.
FM synthesis: A synthesizer is used to mimic
different music instruments by drawing on a
library of stored sounds. Sounds are generated by
combining wave forms of different shapes and
frequencies.