COPPERBELT UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTING (CS 110)

UNIT 4: Input and Output Devices

Introduction

A computer interacts with the external environment via the input-output (I/O) devices attached to
it. An Input device is used for providing data and instructions to the computer. After processing
the input data, a computer provides output to the user via the output device. The I/O devices that
are attached, externally, to the computer machine are also called peripheral devices. Different
kinds of input and output devices are used for different kinds of input and output requirements. In
this chapter, we shall discuss different kinds of input devices and output devices.

INPUT-OUTPUT UNIT
An I/O unit is a component of computer. The I/O unit is composed of two parts—input unit and
output unit. The input unit is responsible for providing input to the computer and the output unit
is used for receiving output from the computer.

Input Unit
The input unit gets the data and programs from various input devices and makes them available
for processing to other units of the computer.

The input data is provided through input devices, such as—keyboard, mouse, trackball and
joystick. Input data can also be provided by scanning images, voice recording, video recording,
etc.

Irrespective of the kind of input data provided to a computer, all input devices must translate the
input data into a form that is understandable by the computer, i.e., in machine readable form. The
transformation of the input data to machine readable form is done by the input interface of the
input device.

In brief, the input unit accepts input data from the user via input device, transforms the input data
in computer acceptable form using input interface for the input device and provides the
transformed input data for processing.

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Output Unit
The output unit gets the processed data from the computer and sends it to output devices to make
them available to the user of computer.

The output data is provided through output devices like display screen, printer, plotter and speaker.

The processed data sent to the output device is in a machine understandable form. This processed
data is converted to human readable form by the output interface of the output device.

In brief, the output unit accepts output data from computer via output device, transforms the output
information to human readable form using the output interface of output device and provides the
transformed output to user.

In addition to input devices and output devices, some devices function as both input and output
devices. The I/O devices provide the input to computer as well as get output from computer. The
I/O devices are used by both the input unit and the output unit. Hard disk drive, floppy disk drive,
optical disk drives are examples of I/O devices.

INPUT DEVICES
Input devices allow users and other applications to input data into the computer, for processing.
The data input to a computer can be in the form of text, audio, video, etc. The data is entered
manually by the user or with minimal user intervention. Input devices are classified as follows—

• Human data entry devices

o Keyboard
o Pointing devices—mouse, trackball, joystick, digitizing tablet
o Pick devices—light pen, touch screen
• Source data entry devices
o Audio input—speech recognition
o Video input—digital camera
o Scanner—hand-held scanner, flat-bed scanner
o Optical Scanner—OCR, OMR, MICR, barcode reader

The input is provided to the computer using an input device, and must be translated to a form that
the computer can understand. The translation is done by the input interface of the input device.

In addition to the above devices, the input to a computer can also be provided from a storage device
on the computer, another computer, or another piece of equipment, such as a musical instrument,
thermometer or sensors.

HUMAN DATA ENTRY DEVICES

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Input devices that require data to be entered manually to the computer are identified as human data
entry devices. The data may be entered by typing or keying in, or by pointing a device to a
particular location.

Keyboard
Features - Keyboard is a common input device. It is provided along with the computer, and is
easy to use. It is used for entering the text data. For inputting the data, the user types the data using
the keyboard. When the data is being typed, the display monitor displays the typed data. Cursor is
a vertical line, an underscore, blinking line, etc. Cursor moves with each typed character. The
position of cursor indicates the location on monitor where the typed-in character will be displayed.

Description The design of a keyboard is similar to a standard typewriter. The modern keyboards
are QWERTY keyboard (Q, W, E, R, T, Y are the sequence of keys in top row of letters). Standard
keyboard contains 101 keys which are arranged in the same order as a typewriter. The keyboard
has five sections

1. Typing keys (1, 2, 3..., A, B, C...),

2. Numeric keypad (numeric keys on right side),
3. Function keys (F1, F2... on top side),
4. Control keys (cursor keys, ctrl, alt...), and
5. Special-purpose keys (Enter, shift, spacebar...). Some keyboards have 110 keys, where the
extra keys are designed to work with the Windows operating system.

Working: When a key is pressed, keyboard interacts with a keyboard controller and keyboard
buffer. The keyboard controller stores the code of pressed key in keyboard buffer and informs the
computer software that an action has happened on the keyboard. The computer software checks
and reads the keyboard buffer and passes the code of pressed character to the system software.
Due to a time gap between pressing of a key on keyboard and reading by the system software,
keyboard buffer is designed to store many keystrokes together.

Pointing Devices
Pointing devices are used for providing the input to computer by moving the device to point to a
location on computer monitor. The input data is not typed; instead, the data is entered by moving
the pointing device. The cursor on the computer monitor moves with the moving pointing device.
Operations like move, click and drag can be performed using the pointing devices.

Mouse, trackball, joystick and digitizing tablet are some of the common pointing devices.

Mouse

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Features - It is the most common pointing input device. The data is entered by pointing the mouse
to a location on the computer screen. The mouse may also be used to position the cursor on screen,
move an object by dragging, or select an object by clicking. The key benefit of using a mouse is
that the cursor moves with the mouse. So, the cursor can be positioned at any location on the screen
by simply moving the mouse. Moreover, it provides an easy way to select and choose commands
from menus, dialog boxes, icons, etc. Mouse is used extensively, while working with graphics
elements such as line, curve, shapes, etc.

Description - Mouse is a small hand-held device having two or three buttons on its upper side. In
addition to the buttons, mouse also has a small wheel between the buttons. The wheel of the mouse
is used for the up and down movement, for example, scrolling a long document. A mouse is
classified as physical mouse or optical mouse.

Physical Mouse has a rubber ball on the bottom side that protrudes when the mouse is moved. It
requires a smooth, dust free surface, such as a mouse pad, on which it is rolled.

Optical Mouse uses a Light Emitting Diode (LED) and a sensor to detect the movement of mouse.
Optical mouse requires an opaque flat surface underneath it. Optical mouse was introduced by
Microsoft in 1999. Optical mouse is better than physical mouse as there is no moving part that can
cause wear and tear, and dirt cannot get inside it.

Working - In a physical mouse, rollers and sensors are used to sense the direction and rate of
movement of mouse. When the ball of mouse moves, the rollers sense the horizontal and vertical
movement and sensors sense the speed of movement. This information is passed to computer via
the mouse chord. When an optical mouse is moved, a beam of light is reflected from its underside.
These pulses of light determine the direction and rate of movement. This information is sent to
computer via the mouse chord.

Using the mouse - The mouse can be used in five different ways, as follows—

• Pointing points to a location or object on the computer screen. Moving the mouse by hand
moves the cursor on computer screen. The cursor moves in the direction in which the mouse
moves.
• Left Click or Click means pressing the left button of mouse and releasing it. Clicking is
used to select a button, command or icon on the screen.
• Right Click involves pressing the right button on mouse and releasing it. Right click
displays a menu that contains options like cut, copy, paste, font, paragraph, etc. for the item
on which the mouse is pointing.
• Double Click means pressing the left button of mouse twice successively, without moving
the mouse, and then releasing the mouse. It is used to start a program or open a folder.
• Drag and Drop drags an object and drops it at another location. Drag means pointing mouse
to an object on screen, pressing the left button of mouse, keeping it pressed and moving

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 the mouse to point to a new location. The object gets dragged to the new location along
with the mouse. When the left button of mouse is released, the object gets dropped at the
new location. Drag and drop is used for moving folders, files and icons to new locations
on the screen.

TrackBall
Features Trackball is a device that is a variant of the mouse but has the functionality of mouse. It
is easy to use and takes less space than a mouse. Trackball is generally built in laptops since there
is no space for the mouse to move on the lap. Trackballs come in various sizes—small and big.

Description Trackball looks like an upside-down mouse. Instead of moving the whole device to
move the cursor on computer screen, trackball requires the ball to be rotated manually with a
finger. The trackball device remains stationary. The cursor on the computer screen moves in the
direction in which the ball is moved. The buttons on trackball are used in the same way as mouse
buttons. A trackball is shown in Figure 4.4.

Working Trackball works in the same way as a physical mouse.

Joystick
Features Joystick is a device which is commonly used for playing video games. Joystick is mainly
used to control the speed of the cursor and is thus popular in games involving speed like racing
and flying games. The direction of push of the stick and the amount of deflection determines the
change in position and the change in speed, respectively.

Description It is a stick with its base attached to a flexible rubber sheath inside a plastic cover.
The plastic cover contains the circuit that detects the movement of stick and sends the information
to computer. The position of the stick movement is given by the x and y coordinates of the stick.

Digitizing Tablet
Features - It is an input device used primarily to input drawings, sketches, etc. Digitizing tablet is
used for Computer Aided Design (CAD) for the design of buildings, automotive designs, and
designing of maps, etc. Description Digitizing tablet consists of two parts—electronic tablet and
pen. The electronic tablet is a flat bed tablet. The pen looks like a ball pen but has an electronic
head. The pen in moved on the tablet. Each position on the tablet corresponds to a fixed position
on the screen.

Drawings can be made on the tablet using a pen, and is provided as input to computer, where, a
location on the tablet corresponds to a specific location on the screen.

The tablet contains circuit that can detect the movement of pen on the tablet, convert the
movements into digital signals and send the digital signal to the computer.

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Pick Devices
Pick devices are used for providing input to the computer by pointing to a location on the computer
monitor. The input data is not typed; the data is entered by pointing the pick device directly on the
computer screen. Light pen and touch screen are some common pick devices.

Light Pen
It is a light sensitive pen-like input device and is used to select objects directly on the computer
screen. It is used for making drawing, graphics and for menu selection. Figures and drawings can
be made by moving the pen on computer screen.

The pen contains a photocell in a small tube. When the pen is moved on the screen, light from the
screen at the location of pen causes the photocell to respond. The electric response is transmitted
to the computer that can identify the position on screen at which the light pen is pointing.

Touch Screen
It is an input device that accepts input when the user places a fingertip on the computer screen.
The computer selects the option from the menu of screen to which the finger points. Touch screen
are generally used in applications like Automated Teller Machine (ATM), public information
computers like hospitals, airline reservation, railway reservation, supermarkets, etc.

Touch screen consists of a clear glass panel that is placed over the view area of computer screen.
In addition to the glass panel with sensors, it has a device driver, and a controller that translates
the information captured by the glass panel sensors to a form that the computer can understand.

Touch screens have an infrared beam that criss-cross the surface of screen. When a fingertip is
touched on the screen, the beam is broken, and the location is recorded. Some touch screens have
ultrasonic acoustic waves that cross the surface of screen. When a fingertip is touched on the
screen, the wave is interrupted, and the location is recorded. The recorded location is sent to the
computer via the controller of touch screen, in a form that the computer can understand.

SOURCE DATA ENTRY DEVICES

Source data entry devices are used for audio input, video input and to enter the source document
directly to the computer. Source data entry devices do not require data to be typed-in, keyed-in or
pointed to a particular location.

Audio Input Device

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Audio input can be provided to the computer using human voice or speech. Audio input to the
computer can be used for different purposes. It can be used for making telephone calls, for audio
and video conferencing over Internet, to record voice, to create audio files and embed these files
to be sent over e-mail, or, to translate spoken words into text, etc.

Audio input devices like a microphone are used to input a person’s voice into the computer. A
sound card translates analog audio signals from microphone into digital codes that the computer
can store and process. Sound card also translates back the digital sound into analog signals that
can be sent to the speakers. Translating spoken words into text is also known as speech recognition
or voice recognition. The audio input along with the software for voice recognition forms the
speech recognition system or voice recognition system.

The computer can be operated using voice commands. The user can dictate the commands to the
computer, instead of typing them. The computer has to be trained to recognize the voice of user
using the speech patterns and pronunciation of words. The system thus adapts to the voice of user.
Speech recognition systems are costly and difficult to develop. They are generally used by people
who have difficulty in typing, people with disabilities or by corporate world for dictation. Audio
input can be recorded on an mp3 recorder and provided as an input to computer. Open source
software like Audacity is used for recording and editing of audio files.

Video Input Device

Video input is provided to the computer using video camera and digital camera. Video camera can
capture full motion video images. The images are digitized and can be compressed and stored in
the computer disk. Webcam is a common video camera device. It is placed on the computer above
the screen to capture the images of the user who is working on the computer. A video capture card
allows the user to connect video devices like camcorders to the computer.

Digital camera works like video camera but can capture still images. The digital camera digitizes
images, compresses them and stores them on a memory card like flash memory. The information
from the digital camera can be brought into the computer and stored. The video files can be edited
using software like VLC media player. Computer vision is an area of computer science that deals
with images. Computer vision has applications in areas like robotics and industrial processing.

OPTICAL INPUT DEVICES

Optical input devices allow computers to use light as a source of input. Scanner is an example of
optical input device. Other common optical input devices are magnetic ink character reader used
for Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR), optical mark reader used for Optical Mark
Recognition (OMR), optical character reader for Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and
Barcode Reader.

Scanner

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Scanner is an input device that accepts paper document as an input. Scanner is used to input data
directly into the computer from the source document without copying and typing the data. The
input data to be scanned can be a picture, a text or a mark on a paper. It is an optical input device
and uses light as an input source to convert an image into an electronic form that can be stored on
the computer. Scanner accepts the source paper document, scans the document and translates it
into a bitmap image to be stored on the computer. The denser the bitmap, the higher is the
resolution of the image. The quality of scan increases with the increase in resolution. Scanners
come with utility software that allows the stored scanned documents to be edited, manipulated and
printed. Hand-held scanner and flat-bed scanner are the two common types of scanners.

Hand-held Scanners are portable and are placed over the document to be scanned. They consist of
light emitting diodes. The scanned documents are converted and stored as an image in the computer
memory. Hand-held scanners have to be moved at a constant speed over the document to be
scanned, to get good quality scans. They are preferably used for low volume of documents, small
pictures or photos. They are difficult to use if there is a need to scan a full page document. Some
of the documents that are primarily scanned using hand-held scanners are price tags, label and
ISBN number on books.

Flat-bed Scanners provide high quality scan in a single pass. It is a box shaped machine similar to
a photocopy machine and has a glass top and a lid that covers the glass. The document to be
scanned is placed on the glass top, which activates the light beam beneath the glass top and starts
the scan from left to right. They are largely used to scan full page documents.

Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

OCR is a technique for the scanning of a printed page, translating it, and then using the OCR
software to recognize the image as ASCII text that is editable. OCR uses optical character reader
for recognition. The optical character reader stores the scanned image as bitmap image which is a
grid of dots. Thus, you cannot edit the text that has been scanned. To edit the scanned text, you
need OCR software. The OCR software translates the array of dots into text that the computer can
interpret as words and letters. To recognize the words and letters of text, the OCR software
compares the pattern on the scanned image with the patterns stored inside the computer.

The text files generated via OCR can be stored in different formats. Figure 4.12 shows the working
of the OCR system.

Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR)

MICR is used in banks to process large volumes of cheques. It is used for recognizing the magnetic
encoding numbers printed at the bottom of a cheque. The numbers on the cheque are human
readable, and are printed using an ink which contains iron particles. These numbers are
magnetized. MICR uses magnetic ink character reader for character recognition. When a cheque

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is passed through Magnetic Ink Character Reader, the magnetic field causes the read head to
recognize the characters or numbers of cheque. The readers are generally used in banks to process
the cheques. The numbers in the bottom of the cheque include the bank number, branch number
and cheque number. The reading speed of MICR is faster than OCR.

Optical Mark Recognition (OMR)

OMR is used to detect marks on a paper. The marks are recognized by their darkness. OMR uses
an optical mark reader to read the marks. The OMR reader scans the forms, detects the mark that
is positioned correctly on the paper and is darker than the surrounding paper, and passes this
information to the computer for processing by application software. For this, it uses a beam of light
that is reflected on the paper with marks, to capture presence and absence of marks. The optical
mark reader detects the presence of mark by measuring the reflected light. The pattern of marks is
interpreted and stored in the computer.

OMR is widely used to read answers of objective type tests, where the student marks an answer
by darkening a particular circle using a pencil. OMR is also used to read forms, questionnaires,
order forms, etc. Figure 4.14 shows a marked OMR answer sheet.

Barcode Reader
Barcodes are adjacent vertical lines of different width that are machine readable. Goods available
at supermarkets use barcode for identification. Barcodes are read using reflective light by barcode
readers. This information is input to the computer which interprets the code using the spacing and
thickness of bars. Hand-held barcode readers are generally used in departmental stores to read the
labels, and in libraries to read labels on books.

Barcode Readers are fast and accurate. They enable faster service to the customer and are also
used to determine the items being sold, number of each item sold or to retrieve the price of item.

OUTPUT DEVICES
Output devices provide output to the user, which is generated after processing the input data. The
processed data, presented to the user via the output devices could be text, graphics, audio or video.
The output could be on a paper or on a film in a tangible form, or, in an intangible form as audio,
video and electronic form. Output devices are classified as follows—

• Hard Copy Devices

o Printer

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 o Plotter
o Computer Output on Microfilm (microfiche)
• Soft Copy Devices
o Monitor
o Visual Display Terminal
o Video Output
o Audio Response

The output device receives information from computer in a machine-readable form. The received
output is translated to a human understandable form. The translation is done using the output
interface of output device.

Hard Copy Devices

The output obtained in a tangible form on a paper or any surface is called hard copy output. The
hard copy can be stored permanently and is portable. The hard copy output can be read or used
without a computer. The devices that generate hard copy output are called hard copy devices.
Printer, plotter and microfiche are common hard copy output devices.

Printer
A printer prints the output information from the computer onto a paper. Printers are generally used
to print textual information, but nowadays printers also print graphical information. The print
quality (sharpness and clarity of print) of the printer is determined by the resolution of the printer.
Resolution is measured in dots per inch (dpi). Printers with a high resolution (more dpi) provide
better quality output. Different kinds of printers are available for different types of applications.
Printers are classified into two categories— impact printer and non-impact printer.

Impact printers use the typewriter approach of physically striking a typeface against the paper
and inked ribbon. Impact printers can print a character or an entire line at a time. Impact printers
are low-cost printers useful for bulk printing. Dot matrix printers, daisy wheel printers and drum
printers are examples of impact printers.

Dot Matrix Printers print one character at a time. The speed of dot matrix printer lies between
200 and 600 characters per second (cps) and their resolution ranges from 72 to 360 dpi. Dot matrix
printers normally come in two sizes—80 column printer and 132 column printer. Dot matrix
printers can print alphanumeric characters, special characters, charts and graphs. They can print
only in black and white. Some dot matrix printers can print in both directions - left to right and
right to left. Dot matrix printers are commonly used for printing in applications like payroll and
accounting.

Daisy Wheel Printers print one character at a time. They produce letter quality document which
is better than a document printed by a dot matrix printer. The speed of daisy wheel printers is about

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100 cps. The print head of the printer is like a daisy flower, hence the name. These printers are
slow, can only print text (not graphics), and are costly in comparison to dot matrix printers. Daisy
wheel printers are used where high quality printing is needed and no graphics is needed.

Drum Printers are line printers. They are expensive and faster than character printers but produce
a low quality output. They can print 200–2500 lines per minute. Drum printers are generally used
for voluminous print outputs.

Non-Impact Printers do not hit or impact a ribbon to print. They use electro-static chemicals and
ink-jet technologies. Non-impact printers are faster and quieter than impact printers. They produce
high quality output and can be used for printing text and graphics both in black and white, and
color. Ink-jet printers and laser printers are non-impact printers.

Ink-jet Printers spray ink drops directly on the paper like a jet. Their resolution is more than 500
dpi. They produce high quality graphics and text. Ink-jet printers are commonly found in homes
and offices.

Laser Printers provide highest quality of text and graphics printing. Laser printers process and
store the entire page before printing and are also known as page printers. The laser printer can print
5-24 pages of text per minute and their resolution ranges from 400 to 1200 dpi. They are faster and
expensive than impact printers. Laser printers are used in applications requiring high quality
voluminous printing.

Plotter
A plotter is used for vector graphics output to draw graphs, maps, blueprints of ships, buildings,
etc. Plotters use pens of different colors (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) for drawing. Plotters
draw continuous and accurate lines, in contrast to printers where a line is drawn as closely spaced
dots. Plotter is a slow output device and is expensive. Plotters are of two kinds—drum plotter and
flatbed plotter. In a drum plotter, pens mounted on the carriage are stationary and move only
horizontally; for vertical movement, the drum on which the paper is fixed moves clockwise and
anti-clockwise. In a flatbed plotter, the paper is fixed on a flat bed. The paper is stationary and the
pens mounted on the carriage move horizontally and vertically to draw lines. Plotters are mainly
used for drawings in AUTOCAD (computer assisted drafting), Computer Aided Design (CAD)
and Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) applications.

Computer Output on Microfilm

A microfilm is in a fiche or roll format, and is used to record computer output directly from the
computer tape or cartridge. Computer Output on Microfilm (COM) is a high speed and low cost
process. It can produce data in microfilm form at a much faster speed from that of a paper printer.
The standard roll film is 16 mm wide with a film image that is 1/24 of the original document. The

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copy of the image on microfilm retains its original clarity. Microfilm can be indexed to facilitate
retrieving information from it.

For reading images stored on microfilm, a microfilm reader is used. A screen is used for viewing
the enlarged images. COM is suited for storing large amounts of data for manuals and archive
records for long periods of time that have to be referenced occasionally. COM is used for storing
output in banking and insurance applications, medical X rays, etc.

SOFT COPY DEVICES

The output obtained in an intangible form on a visual display, audio unit or video unit is called
soft copy output. The soft copy allows corrections to be made, can be stored, and, can be sent via
e-mail to other users. The soft copy output requires a computer to be read or used. The devices that
generate soft copy output are called soft copy devices. Visual output devices like computer
monitor, visual display terminal, video system and audio response system are common soft copy
output devices.

Monitor
Monitor is a common output device. The monitor is provided along with the computer, to view the
displayed output. A monitor is of two kinds - monochrome display monitor and color display
monitor. A monochrome display monitor uses only one color to display text and color display
monitor can display 256 colors at one time. The number of colors displayed by a color monitor
varies with the kind of color adapter attached to it—CGA, EGA, VGA, XGA and SVGA. The
CGA monitor supports four colors and SVGA supports around 16,000,000 colors. Monitors are
available in various sizes like 14, 15, 17, 19 and 21 inches.

An image on the monitor is created by a configuration of dots, also known as pixels. The clarity
of image on the computer screen depends on three factors —

1. Resolution of Screen—the number of pixels in horizontal and vertical direction. More the
number of pixels, the sharper is the image. The common resolution of computer screen is
800x600 and 1024x768,
2. Dot Pitch—the diagonal distance between two colored pixels on a display screen, and
3. Refresh Rate—the number of times per second the pixels are recharged so that their glow
remains bright.

Monitors may be Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitors that look like a television or Liquid Crystal
Display (LCD) monitors that have a high resolution, flat screen, flat panel display. Nowadays,
LCD monitors are generally used.

Visual Display Terminal

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A monitor and keyboard together are known as Visual Display Terminal (VDT). A keyboard is
used to input data and monitor is used to display the output from the computer. The monitor is
connected to the computer by a cable. Terminals are categorized as dumb, smart and intelligent
terminals. The dumb terminals do not have processing and programming capabilities. Smart
terminals have built-in processing capability but do not have its own storage capacity. Intelligent
terminals have both built-in processing and storage capacity.

Video Output
Screen image projector or data projector is an output device that displays information from the
computer onto a large white screen. The projector is mainly used to display visual output to a large
gathering of people required for the purposes of teaching, training, meetings, conference
presentations, etc.

Audio Response
A complete sound system consists of sound card, microphone, speaker and the appropriate
software. In addition to recording and playing the sound, the software allows editing of sound, like
cutting, copy, amplification and creation of vibrant sound effects.

Audio response provides audio output from the computer. Audio output device like speakers,
headset or headphone is used for audio output sound from computer. The signals are sent to the
speakers via the sound card that translates the digital sound back into analog signals. The audio
response from the computer may be generated by synthesizing the input human speech to give
audio output, or may be a result of a set of rules that are used to create artificial speech.

Audio output is commonly used for customer service in airlines, banks, etc. It is also used in video
conferences, surveys, etc. Audio response is used by visually impaired to read information from
the screen. For speech impaired people, audio response helps them to communicate with other
people.

I/O PORT
The peripheral devices can be connected to computer in several ways. Devices such as network
adapters and sound cards are connected to expansion slots inside the computer. Printers and
scanners are connected to ports on the backside of the computer. Also in a portable computer, the
PC Card connects to the PC Card slot on it.

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The I/O ports are the external interfaces that are used to connect input and output devices like
printer, modem and joystick to the computer. The I/O devices are connected to the computer via
the serial and parallel ports, Universal Serial Bus (USB) port, Firewire port, etc.

Parallel Port A parallel port is an interface for connecting eight or more data wires. The data
flows through the eight wires simultaneously. They can transmit eight bits of data in parallel. As
a result, parallel ports provide high speed data transmission. Parallel port is used to connect printer
to the computer.

Serial Port A serial port transmits one bit of data through a single wire. Since data is transmitted
serially as single bits, serial ports provide slow speed data transmission. Serial port is used to
connect external modems, plotters, barcode reader, etc.

USB Port Nowadays, USB is a common and popular external port available with computers.
Normally, two to four USB ports are provided on a PC. USB allows different devices to be
connected to the computer without requiring re-boot of the computer. USB also has the plug and
play feature which allows devices ready to be run simply by plugging them to the USB port. A
single USB port can support connection of up to 127 devices.

Firewire (IEEE 1394), Firewire is used to connect audio and video multimedia devices like video
camera. It is an expensive technology and is used for large data movement. Hard disk drive and
new DVD drives connect through Firewire. It has data transfer rate of up to 400 MB/sec.

In addition to the above ports, other ports also exist like Musical Instrument Digital Interface
(MIDI) port to connect musical instruments like synthesizers and drum machines, PC expansion
boards, and PC card and many more. (TODO – Check the back of a computer and identify all
ports by names and what is connected to each port)

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