Input device

In computing, an input device is any peripheral (piece of computer hardware equipment) used to
provide data and control signals to an information processing system such as a computer or other
information appliance.

Examples of input devices include keyboards, mouse, scanners, digital cameras and
joysticks.

Many input devices can be classified according to:

 modality of input (e.g. mechanical motion, audio, visual, etc.)

 the input is discrete (e.g. key presses) or continuous (e.g. a mouse's position, though
digitized into a discrete quantity, is fast enough to be considered continuous)
 the number of degrees of freedom involved (e.g. two-dimensional traditional mice, or
three-dimensional navigators designed for CAD applications)

Pointing devices, which are input devices used to specify a position in space, can further be
classified according to:

 Whether the input is direct or indirect. With direct input, the input space coincides with
the display space, i.e. pointing is done in the space where visual feedback or the pointer
appears. Touchscreens and light pens involve direct input. Examples involving indirect
input include the mouse and trackball.
 Whether the positional information is absolute (e.g. on a touch screen) or relative (e.g.
with a mouse that can be lifted and repositioned)

Direct input is almost necessarily absolute, but indirect input may be either absolute or relative.
[clarification needed]
For example, digitizing graphics tablets that do not have an embedded screen
involve indirect input and sense absolute positions and are often run in an absolute input mode,
but they may also be set up to simulate a relative input mode like that of a touchpad, where the
stylus or puck can be lifted and repositioned.

Input and output devices make up the hardware interface between a computer and a scanner or
6DOF controller.

Keyboards
A 'keyboard' is a human interface device which is represented as a layout of buttons. Each
button, or key, can be used to either input a linguistic character to a computer, or to call upon a
particular function of the computer. Traditional keyboards use spring-based buttons, though
newer variations employ virtual keys, or even projected keyboards.
Examples of types of keyboards include:

 Computer keyboard
 Keyer
 Chorded keyboard
 LPFK

Pointing devices

A computer mouse

A pointing device is any human interface device that allows a user to input spatial data to a
computer. In the case of mice and touch screens, this is usually achieved by detecting movement
across a physical surface. Analog devices, such as 3D mice, joysticks, or pointing sticks,
function by reporting their angle of deflection. Movements of the pointing device are echoed on
the screen by movements of the pointer, creating a simple, intuitive way to navigate a computer's
GUI.

High-degree of freedom input devices

Some devices allow many continuous degrees of freedom as input. These can be used as pointing
devices, but are generally used in ways that don't involve pointing to a location in space, such as
the control of a camera angle while in 3D applications. These kinds of devices are typically used
in CAVEs, where input that registers 6DOF is required.

Composite devices
Wii Remote with attached strap

Input devices, such as buttons and joysticks, can be combined on a single physical device that
could be thought of as a composite device. Many gaming devices have controllers like this.
Technically mice are composite devices, as they both track movement and provide buttons for
clicking, but composite devices are generally considered to have more than two different forms
of input.

 Game controller
 Gamepad (or joypad)
 Paddle (game controller)
 Wii Remote

Imaging and video input devices

Microsoft Kinect sensor seen here on a TV, works by detecting human motion visually

Video input devices are used to digitize images or video from the outside world into the
computer. The information can be stored in a multitude of formats depending on the user's
requirement.

 digital camera
 digital camcorder
 portable media player
 webcam
 Microsoft Kinect Sensor
 image scanner
 fingerprint scanner
  Barcode reader
 3D scanner
 Laser rangefinder

Medical Imaging

 Computed tomography
 Magnetic resonance imaging
 Positron emission tomography
 Medical ultrasonography

Audio input devices

In the fashion of video devices, audio devices are used to either capture or create sound. In some
cases, an audio output device can be used as an input device, in order to capture produced sound.

 Microphone
 MIDI keyboard or other digital musical instrument

[or]

Input device

An input device is any hardware device that sends data to the computer,
without any input devices, a computer would only be a display device and not allow users to
interact with it, much like a TV. In the picture to the right, is a Logitech trackball mouse and an
example of an input device. Below is a complete listing of all the different computer input
devices that can be used on a computer.

Types of input devices

  Audio conversion device
 Barcode reader
 Biometrics (e.g. fingerprint scanner)
 Business Card Reader
 Digital camera and Digital Camcorder
 Finger (with touchscreen)
 Gamepad, Joystick, Paddle, Steering wheel, and Microsoft Kinect
 Graphics tablet
 Keyboard
 Light gun and light pen scanner
 Magnetic ink (like the ink found on checks)
 Magnetic-stripe reader
 Medical imaging devices (e.g., X-Ray, CAT Scan, and Ultrasound images)
 Microphone (using voice speech recognition or biometric verification)
 MIDI keyboard
 MICR
 Mouse, touchpad, or other pointing device
 Optical Mark Reader (OMR)
 Pen or Stylus
 Punch card reader
 Remote
 Scanner
 Sonar imaging devices
 Touch screen
 Video capture device
 VR helmet and gloves
 Webcam

Tip: Keep in mind that drives such as a CD-ROM, DVD, and a Floppy diskette drive may be
capable of sending the computer information, but they are not input devices. These devices are
considered storage devices.

[or]

Input Devices
An input device is a peripheral device that converts symbols that people understand into bits that
computers can process. An input device includes a keyboard, a terminal, a touch screen, a mouse,
a scanner, etc.

Keyboard Entry
In keyboard entry, a user types characters, numerics and special symbols using a keyboard. The input
usually appears on a monitor. A keyboard entry might be the most common way to input data.

Keyboards

A keyboard is a device used to encode data by key depression, which enters information into a system.
The keyboard converts alphabets and numbers, and other special symbols into electrical signals that
processor can understand and process. These signals are sent to the computer's CPU. There are three
different layouts.

o QWERTY: This is a standard keyboard layout. QWERTY indicates the arrangement of the upper
left corner six letters in the first row of the alphabetic keys.
o AZERTY: This is a keyboard layout that is similar to the QWERTY layout and some European
countries use this keyboard. This layout is slightly modified from the QWERTY keyboard.
o Dvorak: This is another keyboard layout modified greatly from a standard layout. The keyboard
is devised to increase typing speed by placing frequently used keys more naturally. In the past,
mechanical jams were a problem in typing. Thus, the standard keyboard layout was designed to
limit typing speed. Interesting, huh?

Terminals
A terminal is an input/output device that usually includes a keyboard for input, a video display for
output, and a communications link to send and receive information. There are three different types:

o Dumb Terminal: This is an input/output terminal that does not have a capability of processing. It
only enters and receives data without processing.
o Smart Terminal: This terminal has some processing capability. It has a small memory. It
performs some editing of data before sending them to a main computer.
o Intelligent Terminal: This is a terminal that has a full processing capability. The terminal has a
processing unit, primary storage. It may or may not have local storage. Recently, most intelligent
terminals have local disk. An intelligent terminal is actually a microcomputer with
communications capability.

Direct Input Devices

Direct input is a data entry form that does not use a keyboard to input data. Today, more data and
instructions are entered a CPU of microcomputers directly using direct input devices used to provide a
more natural user interface. These entry devices reduce users' typing errors. While direct input is an
advanced fourth generation data entry form, voice input (speech input) is the mode of next generation
input technology. There are many forms of direct input devices:

 Mouse
 Touch screen
 Light Pen
 Graphics Tablet
 Scanner
  Bar-code readers
 Magnetic Entry
 Voice-Input Devices

Mouse
An object used as a pointing and drawing device. The mouse usually has a ball and buttons and is
connected to the system unit through serial port. As a mouse is rolled across the flat desktop in any
direction, it locates the pointer correspondingly on the screen. Then it issues commands using the
selection buttons on the mouse. Many portable microcomputers such as lap-tops use track balls instead
of mice.

Touch Screen
A touch screen is a monitor screen that allows users to interact with a computer system by touching an
area of the display screen. The screen is covered with a clear plastic layer that has a matrix of cells. A
user touches a graphic button that displays option on the screen. Touch screens are easy to use. Thus,
many kiosks use touch screens as input forms.

Light Pen
A light pen is a light-sensitive pen-like device used by pointing it at the display surface. A user brings the
light pen to the desired point on the screen and presses a button, causing it to identify the current
location. It is used to select options from a menu or to draw images.

Digitizer Tablet
A digitizer tablet is also called a graphics tablet or just a digitizer. The digitizer is a drawing tablet used to
sketch new images or trace old drawing or photograph. The user uses a pen-like device called a cursor to
draw images. Designers and architects usually use digitizers. Light pen and digitizer technologies are
used for pen-based computing.

Scanner
A scanner is a device that reads spatial pattern such as images, graphics and texts, and then generates
digital signals of that pattern. Converted digital data may be processed by a computer, stored in a disk,
printed by a printer or displayed on a monitor. Scanners are commonly used to capture graphic images
that can then be placed in a page or on any document.

Scanners usually include optical character recognition (OCR) software so that scanners can read
and capture texts directly through optical scanning.

Bar Code Readers

A bar code is a specialized code represented by sets of parallel bars of varying thickness and separation.
This is used for fast identification of items with an optimal scanner. The optical scanner is called a bar
code reader. The bar code reader is a photoelectric scanner that read the bar code.

Magnetic Data Entry

There are two technologies in magnetic data entry. A magnetic ink character recognition (MICR)
technology reads iron oxide ink preprinted or encoded on checks, deposit slips or on documents. An
MICR reader electronically captures data, by first magnetizing the magnetic ink characters and then
sensing the signal.
Another form of magnetic data entry is the magnetic stripe technology that makes computers read
credit cards. The dark magnetic stripe on the back of credit cards is the iron oxide coating. A magnetic
stripe reader reads this magnetic stripe.

Voice Input Devices

Voice input devices are also called speech- recognition devices or voice-recognition systems. This device
uses a voice recognition technology that converts a user's speech into a digital code. Spoken words are
first digitized and then matched against a dictionary of patterns previously stored in the computer.
Speaker-dependent systems should be trained by taking actual user's word sample before using, but
speaker-independent systems can recognize only limited vocabularies. The advantage of the voice input
systems is that they enable users to keep their hands free for other tasks.

[or]
Camera - most
cameras like this
are used during
live
conversations. 
The camera
transmits a
picture from one
computer to
another, or can
be used to record
a short video.
Compact Disc
(CD) - CDs store
information.  The
CD can then be
put into another
computer, and
the information
can be opened
and added or
used on the
second computer.
Note:  A CD-R
or CD-RW can
also be used as
an OUTPUT
device.
Keyboard - The
keyboard is a way
to input letters
or numbers into
different
applications or
programs.  A
keyboard also has
special keys that
help operate the
computer.
Mouse - The
mouse is used to
open and close
files, navigate
web sites, and
click on a lot of
commands (to tell
the computer
what to do) when
using different
applications.
Digital Camera -
A digital camera
can be used to
take pictures.  It
can be hooked up
to a computer to
transfer the
pictures from the
camera to the
computer.  Some
digital cameras
hold a floppy
disk, and the
floppy disk can
be taken out of
the camera and
put directly into
the computer.
Drawing Tablet -
A drawing tablet
is similar to a
white board,
except you use a
special pen to
write on it and
it's connected to
the computer. 
Then the word or
image you draw
can be saved on
the computer.
Microphone - A
microphone is
used to record
sound.  The
sound is then
saved as a sound
file on the
computer.
Scanner - A
scanner is used
to copy pictures
or other things
and save them as
files on the
computer. 
Disk Drive - A
disk drive can
hold a CD or a
floppy disk.  It
reads the
information on
the disk so that
the computer can
use it.
Joystick - A
joystick is used
to move the
cursor from place
to place, and to
click on various
items in
programs.  A
 joystick is used
mostly for
computer games.
Touch Screen - A
touch screen is a
computer screen
or other screen
that you can
touch with your
finger to enter
information. 
Examples of
touch screens
include a smart
board, a
microwave, a
dishwasher, or an
ATM at a bank.
Bar Code Scanner
- A bar code
scanner scans a
little label that
has a bar code on
it.  The
information is
then saved on the
computer.  Bar
code scanners are
used in libraries a
lot.

[or]

Input Device
An input device is any device that provides input to a computer. There are
dozens of possible input devices, but the two most common ones are a keyboard and
mouse. Every key you press on the keyboard and every movement or click you make
with the mouse sends a specific input signal to the computer. These commands allow
you to open programs, type messages, drag objects, and perform many other
functions on your computer.
 Since the job of a computer is primarily to process input, computers are pretty
useless without input devices. Just imagine how much fun you would have using your
computer without a keyboard or mouse. Not very much. Therefore, input devices are a
vital part of every computer system.

While most computers come with a keyboard and mouse, other input devices
may also be used to send information to the computer. Some examples include
joysticks, MIDI keyboards, microphones, scanners, digital cameras, webcams, card
readers, UPC scanners, and scientific measuring equipment. All these devices send
information to the computer and therefore are categorized as input devices.
Peripherals that output data from the computer are called output devices.