1

Subject: Foundation of Information Technology

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80% plus 2 Class

attendance Tests

Internal
Project
Assigments
of each
Marks Work or
Lab Work
chapter

Class Mid Term

behaviour and Pre-
board
0 Assignments and Lab Reports should be
submitted within the deadline.

1 Your mobile should be in silent mode.

2 Be organized
directions.
and follow the

3 Be on time and be prepared.

4
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CHAPTER 1
INRODUCTION TO COMPUTER
SYSTEM
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1.1 INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER

• The term computer is derived
from the Latin word
“Compute” which means to
calculate and to calculate
means to perform arithmetic
and logical evaluations.
• Computer is an electronic,
digital, programmable and
automatic machine which
takes raw fact as input from
the user and gives meaningful
information as output to the
user.
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• A computer is a fast and accurate electronic data

manipulating system that is designed to automatically
accept and store input data, process them and produce
output under the direction of stored program
instruction.
• A computer is a programmable machine capable of:
a) Accept data
b) Input, store and execute instruction
c) Perform mathematical and logical operation on data
d) Output results.
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Characteristics of Computer
Computer is the powerful electronic device. It can use to
process large amount of data and information. The
characteristics of computer are given below:
a) Word Length:
A digital computer operates on binary digit 0 and 1. A
binary digit is called a bit. The number of bits that a
computer can process at a time in parallel is called its word
length. Word length of the computer varies such as 8, 16,
32 , 64 bits etc. It is the measurement of the computing
power of a computer i.e. the longer the word length, the
more powerful the computer is. When we talk of a 32 bit
computer, its means the word length is 32.
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b) Speed:
The time taken to perform any task by computer
is called speed of computer. A microcomputer can
process millions of instructions per second over and
over again without any mistake. A modern computer
can execute millions of instructions in one second. The
speed of computer is affected by various factors such as
processor speed, clock cycle, size of RAM, etc.
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The fractions of seconds are given below:

Unit of time Part of second
Milliseconds (ms) One thousands 1/1000
Microseconds (µs) One millionth 1/1000000
Nanoseconds (ns) One billionth 1/1000000000
Picoseconds (ps) One trillionth 1/1000000000000
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c) Storage:
The physical space inside the computer where we can
store huge amount of data is called storage. Computers
have ability to store the results. Computer storage can be
divided as primary storage and secondary storage. Primary
storage is where CPU can directly interact. The data can be
stored in large volume using secondary storage devices like
magnetic disks, tape storage, etc. The storage in computer
is measured in terms of Nibble, Byte, Kilo Byte (KB),
Mega Byte (MB), Giga Byte (GB) and Tera Byte (TB).
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d) Accuracy:
Computer’s physical circuits rarely make errors, if
the data and instructions are correctly fed. Most of the
errors occurring in computers are either hardware errors or
human errors. In addition of being fast, computers are very
accurate. The accuracy of computer is very high. Error in
computer is due to the user rather than technological
weakness. For instance, if the data we entered is wrong or
the instructions we have given are not proper, computer is
not going to give desired output. Computer error caused
due to incorrect input data or improper instructions are
often called Garbage in, garbage out (GIGO).
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e) Diligence:
It is the capability of performing the same task
over and over again with the same speed, accuracy as
in the first time for a long period of time without
feeling it tired and bored. It can work for hours without
creating any error. If millions of calculations are to be
performed, a computer will perform every calculation
with the same accuracy.
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f) Versatility:
The feature of computer to perform more than
one task having different characteristics is called
versatility of computer. It can carry out processes
ranging from simple mathematical calculations to
highly complex and logical evaluations for any
extended period of time. Computers are being used in
different areas for different purposes like in office,
banks, etc.
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Components of Computer
The major components of computer are:
a. Hardware:
The physical component that makes up the computer
are called hardware. Eg: monitor, keyboard, mouse,
etc.
b. Software:
Software is a set of instructions that make the
computer to perform tasks. [i.e. it tells the computer what
to do.]
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c. Data:
Data is the raw fact and figures often used to
produce the information as per the demand of the
user. Data can be letters, numbers, sound, images
or videos.
d. People:
People are users of the computer system and
are responsible for designing, building programs
and repairing computer system.
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e. Procedure:
It us simply the way of doing thing. Computer
always performs the task based on the specific
procedure based on the nature of the task to be carried
on.
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1.3 Types of Computer

Computers

Special Computer (Analog, General Purpose

Hybrid and super computers) (Digital Computers)

Mainframe IBM Compatible AT Computers

Mini Computer IBM PC XT Computers

Micro Computer Apple Macintosh PS/2 Computer

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On the Basis of Work

a) Analog computer:
The word “Analog” means continuously varying in
quantity. The analog computers accept data in continuous
form and output is obtained in the form of graphs. The
voltage, current, sound, speed, temperature, pressure, etc.
values are examples of analog data. These values
continuously increase and decrease. The thermometer is an
example of analog device because it measures continuously
the length of mercury column.
The analog computers have low memory size and
have fewer functions. These are used in industrial units to
control various processes and also used in different fields of
engineering.
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b) Digital computer:
The word Digital means discrete. It refers to binary
system, which consist of only two digits 0 and 1. Digital
data consists of binary digits represented by OFF (low) and
ON (high) electrical pulses.
In digital computers, quantities are counted rather
than measured. A digital computer represents the data in
digital signals and then processes it using arithmetic and
logical operations. Eg: calculators, personal computers, etc.
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c) Hybrid computer:
The hybrid computer have best features of both
analog and digital computers. These computers contain
both the digital and analog components. In this, the user
can process both the continuous and discrete data. These
are used in scientific fields, hospitals to see the status of
health condition of patients, spaceships, etc.
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On the basis of size

Computers are classified according to their data processing
speed, amount of data that they can hold and price.
1. Supercomputer:
It is the most powerful and fastest, and also very
expensive. It was developed in 1980s. It is used to process
large amount of data and to solve the complicated scientific
problems. It can perform more than one trillion calculations
per second. It has large number of processors connected
parallel. In a single supercomputer, thousands of users can
be connected at the same time and it can handle the work of
each user separately.
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They are mainly used for:

- Weather forecasting
- Nuclear energy research
- Aircraft design
- Study of DNA structure
Examples of
supercomputers are: CRAY-1,
CRAY-2, Control Data
CYBER 205 and ETA A-10,
etc
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2. Mainframe Computer:
Mainframe computers are also large, fast and
expensive computers, but they are smaller, slower and less
expensive than the super computers.
Mainframe the name itself describe that it is a cabinet
containing the central processing unit which controls a
large number of I/O hardware. The mainframe computers
support large database, vast I/O hardware, and
multiprogramming simultaneously. The mainframe
computer acts as a server and serves several users
simultaneously.
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The mainframe
computers are specially used as
servers on the World Wide Web.
These type of computers are
used in large organizations such
as Banks, Airlines, and
Universities, etc. where many
users need frequent access of
same data, which is usually
organized into one or more
human databases.
Examples: IBM S/390, Control
Data CYBER 176 and Amdahl
580, etc.
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Difference between supercomputer

and mainframe
A supercomputer is a powerful computer which is used
for processing data at fastest possible speed. A
mainframe is a large computer which is used for
calculations dealing with a huge amount of data. Thus,
the primary focus of a supercomputer is speed, whereas
for a mainframe it is to deal with extensive amount of
data. Mainframe computers are not as powerful as
supercomputers.
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ASSIGNMENT 1:
1. WRITE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
ANALOG AND DIGITAL COMPUTER.
2. WRITE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
SUPERCOMPUTER AND MAINFRAME
COMPUTER.
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3. Minicomputer:
Mini computers are very popular among medium sized
computers. Mini computers offer facilities for faster
processing of voluminous information. Mini computers, of
course, are bigger than microcomputers but smaller than
most of their elders called mainframes.
They are smaller in size, have low processing speed and
also have lower cost than mainframe. These computers are
known as microcomputers because of their small size
compared to other computers at that time. The capabilities
of minicomputer are between mainframe and personal
computer.
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The minicomputers are used in business,

education and many other government departments. It
is also multi-user computer and supports more than
dozens of people at a time. They are commonly used
as servers in network environment and hundred of
personal computers can be connected to the network
with a microcomputer acting as servers like
mainframes, they are used as web servers.
Example: PDP-11, VAX, etc.
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4. Microcomputer:
The microcomputers are also known as personal
computers or simply PC because it is a single user
computer. It supports many higher level languages,
multimedia, graphics and games. It is popular among
students and professionals due to its small size, low
price and low maintenance cost and easy in operation.
In 1981, IBM announced its first IBM PC and in 1982
it lunched in the market for the first time.
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The first IBM PC was equipped

with following components:
- Intel 8088 processor of 4.77 Mhz
- 64 KB RAM (expandable to 256
KB)
- 40 MB ROM
- 5.25” floppy drive (160 KB)
- PC-DOS 1.0 (MS DOS)
Example: IBM PC’s, Apple MAC,
IBM PS/2,etc.
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Types of Microcomputer
1. Desktop
2. Laptop
3. Palmtop
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1. Desktop
Desktop computers are full size computers that
are small enough to be used at a desk but too big to
carry around. These are the computers you see in
schools, homes and offices. In this, motherboard, hard
disk, video card and other components are assembled
into a large case. The monitor, keyboard and other
peripherals connect wirelessly or with wires.
In order to use printer , scanner, driver software of
those devices need to be installed.
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Present desktop computers are very powerful as they

can be used even as a server. It has very good display
quality. But the major problems with the desktop
computers are:
- It occupies ample of space.
- It is not portable.
- It consumes more electricity and it makes noise in
comparison to laptop.
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2. Laptop
Laptops are portable, and they use less power and make less noise than
desktop models. Overall laptop and desktop computers are similar.
They have the same basic hardware, software and operating systems.
The primary difference is how their components fit together. A laptop,
however, is much smaller and lighter than even the most compact PC
tower. Its screen and keyboard are integral parts of the unit. A laptop
uses a small, flat design in which all the pieces it together.
Because of the laptop’s internet portability, components of the laptop
have to:
- Fit into a compact space
- Conserve power
- Product less than desktop components.
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3. Palmtop
A small computer that literally fits in your palm.
Compared to full-size computers, palmtops are severely limited,
but they are practical for certain functions such as phone books
and calendars. Palmtops that use a pen rather than
a keyboard for input are often called hand-held computers
or PDAs. A palmtop computer is a personal computer or other
electronic device that has many of the same features as a
computer and fits in the palm of your hand.
The term "palmtop computer" was an early term used
when computers were big and cumbersome and small cell
phones and even smartphones were not yet invented. Today, this
term is rarely used to describe a computer that fits in your hand
because of the invention of the Smartphone.
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1.4 Uses of Computer

In the last few decades, computer technology has
revolutionized the businesses and other aspects of human
life all over the world. Some of the areas where computers
are being used are:
1. Science:
Scientists have been using computers to develop
theories, to analyze and to test the data. The fast speed and
accuracy of the computer allow different scientific analyses
to be carried out. Satellite based applications couldn’t have
been possible without the use of computers.
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2. Education:
Computers have also
revolutionized the whole
process of education.
Currently, the classrooms,
libraries, and museums are
utilizing computers to make
the education much more
interesting. Computer-aided
education and computer
based training packages are
making learning process
much more interactive.
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3. Medicine and Health care:

There has been an increasing use of computers in the
field of medicine. Doctors are using computers right
from diagnosing the illness to monitoring patient's
status during complex surgery. By using automated
imaging techniques, doctors are able to look inside a
person’s body and can study each organ in detail.
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4. Engineering/Architecture/Manufacturing:
The architects and engineers are extensively
using computers in designing and drawings. By using
techniques like virtual reality, architects can explore
house that have been designed. The manufacturing
factories are using computerized robotic arms in order
to perform hazardous jobs.
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5. Entertainment:
Computers are finding greater use in the
entertainment industry. They are used to control the
images and sounds. The special effects, which
mesmerize the audience would not have been possible
without the computers. In addition., computerized
animation and colorful graphics have modernized the
film industry.
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6. Communication:
E-mail is one of the
communication media in
which computers are used. Email
The advantage of this service
is that while transferring the
messages it saves time.
Moreover, the person who is
receiving the messages can
read the messages whenever
he/she is free and can save it,
reply it, forward it or delete it
from the computer.
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7. Business Application:
Computers are mainly used for real-time
applications that require immediate response from the
computer. There are various concerns for which
computers are used such as in business forecasting, to
prepare bills and personal records, and as an aid to
management. Use of an e-mail and internet has
changed the ways of doing business.
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8. Weather Forecasting:
Computer programs are used for weather forecasting.
The past and present data help to predict the climate.
9. Banking:
In the field of banking and finance, computers are
extensively used. When the different branches of the bank
are connected through the computer networks, the inter-
branch transactions, such as drawing cheques and making
drafts, can be performed by the computers without any
deal.
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1.5 Input Output device

The input/output (I/O) devices provide the means
of communication between the computer and the outer
world. They are also known as peripheral devices
because they surround the CPU and memory of a
computer system. Input devices are used to enter data
into primary storage and output devices accept results
from the primary storage. The computer system
consists of many I/O devices to feed data into the
computer and to see the result of processing done by
the system.
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Role of I/O Devices

Input CPU Results of

Data Input Output processing
and
from Device Device in human
memory
External acceptable
world form
Input Data Processed Data
coded in internal in internal form
form
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Input Device
• By the use of input device user can present the data to
the processing unit of computer. An input device may
read the data in the form of text, numbers, images,
audio or video, but the data given in any format is
converted to machine-readable form i.e. binary
format then only forwarded for processing.
• Examples: keyboard, mouse, microphone, scanner,
joystick, lightpen etc.
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Keyboard and its uses.

Keyboard is an input device with various keys
that enable you to enter alphanumeric data into a
computer. It is similar to electronic typewriter but
contains additional keys. It has been an effective device
for inputting non-graphical data. Nowadays, a
keyboard has also been provided with different features
to facilitate menu selection or graphical functions.
The layout of the keyboard is like that of
traditional QWERTY.
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A standard keyboard contains

different types of keys:
a) Alphanumeric keys (A-Z, 0-9)
b)Function keys (Ctrl, Alt, Caps
lock, Enter, Tab, Shift)
c)Special function keys (F1, F2,
F3,……..,F12)
d)Cursor movement keys (page
up, page down, arrows, etc)
e) Punctuation keys (,, “” , ’’, ?, !)
f) Numeric pad
g) Multimedia keys
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How the computer accepts input from

the keyboard?
When we press a key on a keyboard we might think
that the keyboard simply sends the letter to the
computer after all, that is what appears to happen.
Actually it is more complex than that :-
- Suppose a key is pressed on the keyboard. A tiny
computer chip, called the keyboard controller , notes
that the key has been pressed. The keyboard controller
places a code into a part of its memory called
the keyboard buffer, indicating which key was
pressed. This code is called the key's scan code.
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- The keyboard controller then signals the computers system

software (Operating system) that something has happened at
the keyboard. It does not specify what has occurred , just that
something has. The signal that keyboard sends to the computer is
a special kind of message called an interrupt request.
- The keyboard controller sends an interrupt request to the
system software, when it receives a complete keystroke. When
the system software receives an interrupt request , it evaluates
the request to determine the appropriate response. When a key
press has occurred, the system reads the memory location in the
keyboard buffer that contains the scan code of the key that was
pressed. System software then passes the key's scan code to
CPU. This is the way by which computer accepts Input from
Keyboard.
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Mouse and its uses

Mouse is a handheld device
which can be moved on a smooth
surface to simulate the movement
of the cursor on the display screen.
A mouse is a small object you can
roll along a hard, flat surface
usually on a desk or keyboard tray
and controls the pointer.
The pointer is an on-screen
object, usually an arrow that is
used to select text, access menus,
and interact with programs, files, or
data that appear on the screen.
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Types of Mice
Three types of mice are:
• Mechanical Mouse: Mechanical has a rubber
or metal ball on its underside that can roll in all
directions. Mechanical sensors with the mouse
detect the direction the ball is rolling and move
the screen pointer accordingly.
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• Opto-mechanical Mouse: It is same as

mechanical mouse but uses optical sensors
(LEDs) to detect motion of the ball. There is
horizontal and vertical roller inside the mouse.
• Optical Mouse: It uses a laser to detect the
mouse’s movement. They respond more quickly
and precisely than mechanical and opto-
mechanical mice, but they are also more
expensive.
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• Microphone: A microphone is a
device that translates sound vibrations
in the air into electronic signals or
scribes them to a recording medium.
Microphones enable many types of
audio recording devices for purposes
including communications of many
kinds, as well as music and speech
recording.
For example, when a microphone
is used to record a voice or music, the
information it records can be stored on
the computer and played back later.
Another great example of how a
microphone is an input device is with
voice recognition, which uses your voice
to command the computer at what task to
perform.
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• Track ball
Trackball is the modification of mechanical mouse. It
contains rubber ball on its top. User can move the cursor
by rotating the ball with finger. It also contains two
buttons on the either sides similar to mouse. It was used
in older laptops.
• Track pad/Touch pad
Track pad is the modification of optical mouse, and touch
pad is further modification making it touch sensitive. It
contains a window with two buttons on the either sides.
User can also provide left click option by tapping the
window with the finger. It is mainly used in portable
devices like laptops, notebook, palmtop, etc.
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• Joystick
Joystick is a hand held pointing device which is mainly used
for playing games. It is used for controlling objects, their
movement, direction and speed of movement. Modern
joysticks handle can move in any direction. When the handle
is moved, the electronic circuit in the base detects the
movement and sends corresponding binary signals to CPU.
• Light pen
Light pen is used for creating drawings, designs by directly
touching the screen. It is mainly used by designers, architects,
engineers, etc. it is used in monitor not having touch screen
facility. It is a pen shaped structure containing photo sensitive
tip which can capture light emitted from the monitor and mark
the position on the monitor.
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• Touch screen
Touch screen is none of the common input device at present
mainly for portable computers. User can provide inputs by
directly touching the screen with the metallic pen (stylus),
finger or any pointed object. Touch screen is developed by
using either of the following technologies:
a) Pressure sensitive
b) Capacitive
c) Infrared
• Scanner
Scanner digitizes hard copy or printed images which can be
used in digital computers. Scanner copies the image and
draws a new digital image in its memory similar to hard copy
image.
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• OCR (Optical Character Reader)

OCR reads printed characters directly and converts them
into appropriate codes and stores them in a computer.
When light source is passed over a document the written
or typed characters reflect less light than the background
area. Thus the shape of the character may be determined.
Each character is scanned several times and an electronic
picture of it is built-up
• MICR
It stands for Magnetic Ink Character Reader. MICR is
an OCR that can digitize text written or printed by using
magnetic ink like iron oxide or barium ferrite. It is used in
security systems and for processing cheque in bank.
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• OMR
It stands for Optical Mark Reader. It is used for answer
sheet correction in multiple choice questions. With the
use of OMR answer sheet correction will be faster and
error free.
• BCR
It stands for Bar Code Reader. Bar codes are the
magnetic lines used for storing the information about the
product like manufacturing date, expiry date, company
name, etc. BCR is used to read the information stored in bar
codes. Bar codes are also used in security system.
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Output Device
• Output device is a peripheral device that receives
information from the CPU and present the user in
the desired form.
• The computer system needs an output device to
communicate the processed information to the user.
• The output device translates processed data from a
machine-coded form to a form that can be read and
used by people.
• Eg: Monitor, printer, etc.
• The output normally can be produced in two ways:
either on a display unit or on paper i.e hard copy
and soft copy.
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• Softcopy Devices: It gives screen displayed output

which is lost when the computer is turned off.
Monitor, projectors are the example of softcopy
devices. There is no stationary expenditure and
output can be seen faster.
• Hardcopy Devices: It is an output, which is
printed on paper or on some other materials. It can
be touched and carried for being shown to others.
They are permanent in nature. Printers are the
examples of hard copy devices because they print
the output in hard paper.
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Visual Display Unit (VDU)/Monitors

• All computers are connected to some type of graphic
display unit, which is called a monitor. It is the most
popular soft copy output device which is used to
display the information. They are available in many
different type and size.
• Three basic type of monitor used are cathode ray tube
(CRT), Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) and plasma
display.
• CRT monitor looks like a television and are used with
non-portable computer systems.
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• The thinner monitors used on notebook and other

small computer are known as flat-panel display.
• Compared to CRT based monitors, flat panel displays
consume less electricity and take up much less space.
• Most flat panel displays use LCD technology. LCD
displays sandwich cells containing tiny crystal
between two transparent surfaces. By varying the
electrical current supplied to each crystal, an images
forms.
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Classification of Monitors based on

Color
• In terms of color capabilities, monitors are classified
into three classes:
1. Monochrome monitors:
It display two colors, one fore background and
one for foreground. The colors can be black and white,
green and black, or amber (yellowish-brown) and
black. These monitors are used for text displays only
where the user does not need to see color graphics.
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2. Gray-scale Monitors:
They are a special type of monochrome monitor
capable of displaying different shades of gray from a
very gray to black against a white or off-white
background, and are essentially a type of monochrome
monitor. It is used in low-end portable systems to keep
costs down. They are classified by the numbers of bits
they used to represent each pixel. 8 bit monitor
represents eacg pixel with 8 buts.
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3. Color Monitors:
They are often called RGB monitor because they
accept three different separate signals- red, green , blue. All
color computer monitors are RGB monitors which consists
of a vacuum tube with three electron guns- one each for
red, green and blue at one end and the screen at the other
end.
They are often classified by the number of bits they
used to represent each pixel. For example, 24 bit monitor
represents each pixel with 24 bit. The more bits per pixel,
the more colors the monitor can display.
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Factors Affecting Monitor Quality

Quality of monitor is judged in terms of following
factors:
1. Monitor size
2. Resolution
3. Dot pitch
4. Refresh Rate
5. Bandwidth
6. Convergence
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1. Monitor size:
The most important aspect of a monitor is the
screen size. Like televisions, screen sizes are measured
diagonally, in inches, the distance from lower left
corner to the upper right corner diagonally. The sizes of
the display determines monitor quality.
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2. Resolution:
The maximum number of points that can be displayed
without overlap on a monitor screen is referred to as the
resolution. The resolution of a monitor indicates how densely the
pixels are packed. Pixel is short form for Picture Element. A
pixel is a single point in a graphic image. Graphic monitors
display pictures by dividing the display screen into thousands or
millions of pixels arranged in rows and columns.
The number of bits used to represent each pixel determines how
many colors or shades of gray can be displayed. Example: 8- bit
color monitor uses 8 bit for each pixel making it possible to
display 2 to the 8th power i.e. 256 different colors or shades of
gray.
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3. Dot pitch:
It is the distance between the phosphor dots that
make up a single point on the display screen. It is one
of the principal characteristics that determine the
quality of display monitors measured in millimeters.
and a smaller number means a sharper image. In desk
top monitors, common dot pitches are .31mm, .28mm,
.27mm, .26mm, and .25mm. Personal computer users
will usually want a .28mm or finer. It is also known as
phosphor pitch.
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4. Refresh rate:
Display monitors must be refreshed many times per
second. The refresh rate is the number of times per second
that the electron guns scan every pixel on the screen and is
measured in Hertz(HZ) or in cycles per second.
It is important because phosphor dots fade quickly
after the electron gun passes over them. Therefore, if the
screen is not refreshed often enough, it appears to flicker
which is the main cause of eyestrain.
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5. Bandwidth:
It is the amount of data that can be transmitted in
a fixed amount of time. For digital devices, the
bandwidth is usually expressed in bits or bytes per
second and for analog it is expressed in Hertz.
6. Convergence:
It refers to how sharply an individual color pixel
on a monitor appears. Each pixel is composed of three
dots- red, blue and green. If the dots are badly
misconverged, the pixel will appear blurry.
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There are three categories of display screen

technology. They are:
1. Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)
2. Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)
3. Plasma Display
 76

CRT and its uses

• CRT monitors look like a television and are normally
used with non-portable computer systems.
• They use the same cathode ray technology used in
conventional television in which an electron gun
sealed inside a large glass tube projects an electron
beam at a screen coated with red, green and blue
phosphor dots; The beam lights up the appropriate
colors in each pixel to display the necessary image.
As a result, they are large, bulky and heavy.
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 78

• Figure shows how a typical CRT

monitor works. Near the back o f
a monitor's housing is an
electron gun. The gun shoots a
beam of electrons through a
magnetic coil (sometimes called
a yoke), which aims the beam at
the front of the monitor The
back of the monitor’s screen is
coated with phosphors,
chemicals that glow when they
are struck by the electron beam.
The screen’s phosphor coating is
organized into a grid of dots.
The smallest number of
phosphor dots that the gun can
focus on is called a pixel, a
contraction of the term picture
element.
 79

Actually, the electron gun does not just focus on a

spot and shoot electrons at it. It systematically aims at
every pixel on the screen, starting at the top left corner and
scanning to the right edge. Then it drops down a tiny
distance and scans another line, until it reaches the bottom
of the screen. Then it starts over.
A color monitor works like a monochrome one,
except that there are three electron beams instead of one.
The three guns represent the primary additive colors (red,
green, and blue), although the beams they emit are
colorless. In a color monitor, each pixel includes three
phosphors—red, green, and blue—arranged in a triangle.
 80

When the beams of each of

these guns arc combined and focused
on a pixel, the phosphors light up.
The monitor can display different
colors by combining various
intensities of the three beams.
A CRT monitor contains a
shadow mask, which is a fine mesh
made of metal, fitted to the shape
and size of the screen. The holes in
the shadow mask’s mesh are used to
align the electron beams, to ensure
that they strike precisely the correct
phosphor dot. In most shadow
masks, these holes are arranged in
triangles.
 81

LCD and its uses

• Although flat-panel monitors have been
used primarily on portable computers, a
new generation of large, high-resolution,
flat-panel displays is gaining popularity
among users of desktop systems. These
new monitors provide the same viewable
area as CRT monitors, but they take up
less desk space and run cooler than
traditional CRT monitors.
• Flat-panel displays form images by
manipulating electronically charged
chemicals or gases sandwiched between
the panes of glass or other transparent
material.
 82

• There are several types of flat-panel monitors, but the

most common is the liquid crystal display (LCD)
monitor. The LCD monitor creates images with a
special kind of liquid crystal that is normally
transparent but becomes opaque when charged with
electricity.
• When a voltage is applied the crystals line up in a
way that blocks light from passing through them and
the absence of light is seen as characters on the
screen.
 83

• One disadvantage of LCD monitors is that their images

can be difficult to see in bright light. For this reason,
laptop computer users often look for shady places to sit
when working outdoors or near windows. A bigger
disadvantage of LCD monitors, however is their limited
viewing angle—that is, the angle from which the display's
image can be viewed clearly.
• With most CRT monitors, you can sec the image clearly
even when standing at an angle to the screen. In LCD
monitors, however; the viewing angle shrinks; as you
increase your angle to the screen, the image becomes
fuzzy or blurred quickly.
 84

Plasma Display
• It is a type of flat panel display used
for large TV displays. These thin
displays are created by sandwiching a
special gas such as neon or xenon
between two sheets of glass. When the
gas is electrified via a grid of small
electrodes, it glows. By controlling the
amount of voltage applied at various
points on the grid, each point acts as a
pixel to display an image.
• They are expensive but they provide
high-quality images and can be much
larger than LCDs. They are also used
as a large-screen television.
 85

• The use of plasma in displays became popular because it

could be used to create flat, large, thin televisions at a
reasonable cost.
• Compared to conventional CRT displays, plasma displays
are about one –tenth the thickness around 4 inch and one
sixth the weight under 67 pounds for a 40 inch display.
• The use over 16 million colors and have a 160 degree-
viewing angle.
• They offer excellent picture quality, they are quite
expensive and are fast becoming the popular choice for
HDTV.
 86

ASSIGNMENT
1.WRITE THE ADVANTAGES AND
DISADVANTAGES OF CATHODE RAY TUBE
2.WRITE THE ADVANTAGES AND
DISADVANTAGES OF LCD.
3.WRITE THE DIFFRENCES BETWEEN CRT AND
LCD.
4.WRITE THE ADVANTAGES AND
DISADVANTAGES OF PLASMA
 87

Printers
• Printers are one of the most popular output devices
available for personal computers.
• It is hard-copy output device that prints text or any
other information on paper.
• The first printers were actually typewriters are
teletypewriters that were adapted to print binary data.
These printers were often slow and noisy.
• Today, these are printers that print entire pages of text
and graphics at full speed.
 88

Factors Determining Printer Quality:

While determining printer quality, following
factors should be considered important:
1. Resolution
2. Speed
3. Duty cycle
 89

1. Resolution:
All printers work by laying down tiny dots of ink,
toner. The dots are so small and close together that it seems
like solid images. The sharpness of text and image per inch
is called resolution. It is measured in linear dots per inch or
“dpi”.
2. Speed:
It is measured in either character per second (cps) or
pages per minute (ppm). Most printers have different cps or
ppm ratings for text and graphics because graphics usually
take longer time to print.
 90

3. Duty Cycle:
It is generally expressed in pages per month,
refers to how long you can work printer before it
finishes its toner. Heavy duty cycle printers are
required for offices having large volume of printing
works.
 91

Types of printer
Printers are classified as impact or non-impact printers,
depending on the method used to print the characters
on the paper.
Printer

Impact printer Non- Impact printer

Dot Matrix Printer Ink Jet printer

Laser printer
 92

1. Impact printer
• It creates an image by pressing an inked ribbon against
the paper, using pins or hammers to shape the image.
• A simple example of impact printer is typewriter, which
uses small hammers to strike the ribbon. Each hammer is
embossed with the shape of the alphanumeric character;
that shape is transferred through the inked ribbon onto the
paper resulting in a printed character.
• It makes a lot of noise while printing. They can produce
multiple copies of document at the same time.
• Example: Dot Matrix printer, Daisy Wheel printer, Line
printer
 93

2. Non-impact Printer
• They use several technology for printing, such as
xerographic, electrostatic, electro sensitive, electro
thermal, ink jet and laser. These printers print a
complete page at a time and therefore are called as
“page printers”.
• These are the fastest of printers with speed
approximation 20,000 lines of print per minute.
• They are also much quieter than impact printer.
 94

Differences
Impact printer Non-impact printer
It is based on electromechanical It is based on thermal, chemical,
mechanism. laser mechanism.

It is slow while printing. It is fast while printing.

It cannot print graphics perfectly. It can print graphics perfectly.

Prints the document character by It prints the document one page at a
character ,line by line. time.
Low print quality and printing cost High print quality and printing cost
is also low. is high.
It produces noise while printing. It is silent in nature while printing.
It can produce multiple copies of It produces one copy of document at
document at a time. a time.
Initial, operational and maintenance Initial, operational and maintenance
cost is low. cost is high.
 95

Dot Matrix Printer

• These printers print the characters and all kinds of
images by putting dots onto paper.
• These printers can produce multiple sheets of
documents very quickly in a single print by using
carbon papers.
• Compared to laser and ink-jet printers, dot matrix
printers make lots of noise.
• The printing speed of these printer can be upto 360
cps.
 96

• A dot matrix printer creates an image by using a

mechanism called a print head, which contains a
cluster (or matrix) of short pins arranged in one or
more columns. On receiving instructions from the
PC, the printer can push any of the pins out in any
combination. By pushing out pins in various
combinations, the print head can create alphanumeric
characters.
97
 98

• When pushed out from the duster, the bulging pins’ ends strike
a ribbon, which is held in place between the print head and the
paper. When the pins strike the ribbon, they press ink from the
ribbon onto the paper. The more pins that a print head
contains, the higher the printer’s resolution. The lowest-
resolution dot matrix printers have only nine pins; the highest-
resolution printers have 24 pins.
• The speed of dot matrix printers is measured in characters per
second (cps). The slowest dot matrix printers create 50 to 70
characters per second; the fastest print more than 500 cps.
Although dot matrix printers arc not commonly used in homes,
they are still widely used in business.
 99

Ink jet Printer

• These printer prints character by spraying ink having iron
content at a sheet of paper. Magnetized plates in the ink’s
path direct the ink into the paper in the desired shapes.
• These printers are capable of producing high quality print
approaching that produced by laser printers.
• It provides a resolution of 300 dpi, although some new
model offers higher resolutions.
• They are non-impact printers because they print by
spraying ink on papers. These printers can print many
special characters, different sizes of print and graphics
such as charts.
 100

• Some printers print with one single-sized ink droplet;

others print using different-sized ink droplets and using
multiple nozzles or varying electrical charges for precise
printing.
• The print head for an ink-jet printer typically travels back
and forth across the page, which is one reason why they
are slower than laser printers.
• Color ink-jet printers provide an inexpensive way to print
full color documents.
• Many ink jet printers use one cartridge for color printing
and a separate black-only cartridge for black-and-white
printing. This feature saves money by reserving colored
ink only for color printing.
101
 102

• Color ink jet printers have four ink nozzles: cyan

(blue), magenta (red), yellow, and black. These four
colors arc used in almost all color printing because it
is possible to combine them to create any color.
• Notice that the colors are different from the primary
additive colors (red, green, and blue) used in
monitors. Printed color is the result of light bouncing
off the paper, not color transmitted directly from a
light source. Color printing is sometimes called four
color printing.
 103

Laser Printers
• It utilizes a laser beam to produce an image on a
drum.
• Laser technology is the latest development in
high speed and high quality printing.
• Laser printers are the standard for business
documents and available both as color and black
and white printers.
• Laser printers print one entire page at a time
and have better output quality than ink-jet.
 104

• Just as the electron gun in a monitor can target any pixel,

the laser in a laser printer can aim at any point on a drum,
creating an electrical charge. Toner, which is composed of
tiny particles of ink, sticks to the drum in the places the
laser has charged.
• Then, with pressure and heat, the toner is transferred off
the drum onto the paper. The amount of memory that
laser printers contain determines the speed at which
documents are printed.
• The speed of laser printers from about 10 to 200 pages of
text per minute (ppm).
105
 106

Speakers
• Speaker amplifies sound output.
• A good pair of speakers connected to sound card will
give you loads of listening pleasure.
• Sound cards enable the computers output sound
through speakers connected to the board, to record
sound input from microphone connected to the
computer, and manipulate sound stored on a disk.
• The audio output of the computer system relayed
through the speakers.
107
 108

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

• CPU is the main part of the computer that controls the overall
operation of the computer. It is the brain of a computer which
organize and executes the instruction.
• It is the most complex computer system component, for
interpreting and executing most of the commands from the
computers hardware and software.
• CPU runs program by fetching instructions from RAM,
evaluating them, and executing them in sequence.
• The CPU circuitry of a microcomputer called a
microprocessor that fits on a chip.
• As a computer generation has evolved, the size of the CPU has
become smaller and its speed and capacity have increased
tremendously.
 109

Components of CPU
ALU Control
Unit
Does all the Controls and
computing checks

Registers
Workspace

RAM ROM

Figure: Block Diagram of CPU

 110

Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)

• The ALU performs all the arithmetic and logical
(comparison) functions i.e. it adds, subtracts,
multiplies, divides and does comparisons.
• Many instructions carried out by the control unit
involve simply moving data from one place to
another- from memory to storage, from memory to
the printer and so on.
• When the control unit encounters an instruction that
involves arithmetic or logic, however, it passes that
instructions to the ALU.
 111

Functions of ALU:
• It accepts operands from registers.
• It performs arithmetic and logical operations.
• It results to register or a memory.
• The status of an ALU operation i.e. negative, carry,
zero, overflow is available for writing into Flag
register.
112
 113

Control Unit (CU)

• The control unit is responsible for directing and coordinating
most of the computer system activities.
• The CPU’s instructions for carrying out commands are built
into the control unit. The instructions or instruction set, list all
the operations that the CPU can perform. Each instruction in
the instruction set is expressed in microcode- a series of basic
directions that tell the CPU how to execute more complex
operations.
• It determines the movement of electronic signals between the
main memory and the ALU unit as well as the control signals
between the CPU and input/ output devices.
• It controls the entire operation and manages all the computer’s
resources.
 114

Functions of Control Unit

• It sends the input from the input device to the main
memory.
• Then, raw data is send to the ALU for processing.
• It interprets the instructions in the program.
• It then sends back the processed data from the ALU to the
memory.
• Finally it sends the meaningful information from the
primary memory to the output unit.
• The control unit repeats a set of four basic operations:
Fetching, Decoding, Executing and Storing.
 115

Registers:
• Registers are special temporary storage locations within
the CPU.
• They hold various types of information such as data,
instructions, addresses and the immediate results of
calculations when ALU performs the operation.
• Registers very quickly accept, store and transfer data and
instructions that are being used immediately.
• To execute an instruction, the control unit of the CPU
retrieves it from main memory and places it into a
register.
• The number and types in a CPU vary according to the
CPU’s design.
• Newer microcomputer have 32-bit registers.
 116

Although the number of registers varies from computer to computer,

there are some registers which are common to all computers. Five
registers that are essential for the instruction execution are:
• Program Counter (PC): contains the address of the next
instruction to be fetched.
• Instruction Register (IR):contains the instruction most recently
fetched i.e holds the last instruction fetched.
• Memory Address Register (MAR): contains the address of a
location in memory for read and write operation.
• Memory Buffer Register (MBR): contains the value (data) to be
stored in memory or the last value read from memory.
• Accumulator (AC): is a general purpose register used for storing
temporary results produced by ALU.
 117

BUS and its types:

• A collection of wires through which data is
transmitted from one part of a computer to another is
known as bus.
• It is an electrical or digital pathway through which
bits are transmitted between the various computer
components.
• The term bus refers to the internal bus of a computer
system. It is also known as communication pathways.
• In other words, bus is the channel which lets the parts
of a computer communicates with each other.
 118

• It is a bus that connects all the internal components to

the CPU and main memory.
• The size of a bus, known as width is important
because it determines how much data can be
transmitted at one time.
• Buses transfer data in parallel.
• In a 32 bit bus, data are sent over 32 wires
simultaneously.
• Every bus has a clock speed measured in MHz.
119
 120

A bus is classified by name according to its functions:

1. Control bus:
- The physical connections that carry control
information between the CPU and other devices
within the computer.
- It carries signals that report the status of various
devices.
- It is the path for all timing and controlling functions
sent by the control units to other units of the system.
- For example, one line of the bus is used to indicate
whether the CPU is currently reading from or writing
to main memory. Others are I/O Read/Write
 121

2. Address Bus:
- It is a channel which transmits addresses of data (not the
data) from the CPU to memory.
- The address bus connects only the CPU and RAM and
carries only memory address.
- The address bus consists of 16,24, or 32 parallel signal
lines.
- The number of lines (wires) determines the amount of
memory that can be directly addressed as each line carries
one bit of the address.
- If the CPU has N address lines, then it can directly
address 2N address lines.
- For example, a computer with 32 bit address can address
4GB of physical memory.
 122

3. Data Bus:
- Data bus is a channel across which actual data are
transferred between the CPU, memory and I/O devices.
- The data bus consists of 8, 16, 32 or 64 parallel signal
lines. Because each wire can transfer 1 bit of data at a
time, an 8 wire bus can move 8 bits at a time which is a
full byte.
- The number of wires in the bus affects the speed at which
data can travel between hardware components. The wider
the data bus, more data it can carry at one time.
- The data bus is bidirectional this means that the CPU can
read data in from memory or it can send data out to
memory.
 123

Storage (Memory)
• Computer data storage, often called storage or
memory that holds digital data used for computing
for some interval of time.
• Storage of information is done in order to use them
later.
• According to the nature of storage computer memory
are classified as :
a) Primary memory
b) Secondary or Auxiliary memory.
 124

Memory Hierarchy

The memory hierarchy design in a

computer system mainly includes
different storage devices. Most of
the computers were inbuilt with
extra storage to run more powerfully
beyond the main memory capacity.
The following memory hierarchy
diagram is a hierarchical pyramid
for computer memory. The designing
of the memory hierarchy is divided
into two types such as primary
(Internal) memory and secondary
(External) memory.
 125

• ASSIGNMENT
EXPLAIN MEMORY HIERARCHY DIAGRAM IN
YOUR OWN.
 126

Primary Memory or Main memory

• It is the main area in a computer system where data is stored
for quick access by the computer’s processor also called main
memory.
• CPU continuously reads instruction stored and executes from
main memory. It is the working space used by computer to
hold the program that is currently running, along with the data
it needs to process.
• It is faster, expensive and small in size relative to the
secondary memory. Normally, it is made up of
semiconductors.
• The memory is accessed by CPU, in random fashion that
means any location of this memory is accessed by CPU to
either read information from it, or store information in it.
• It is attached to the processor via its address and data buses
and it capacity is measure in terms of KB, MB or GB.
 127

The primary memory is further divided into three

categories:
a) Cache Memory
b) Random Access Memory (RAM)
c) Read only Memory (ROM)
 128
Cache Memory
• A cache memory is supplementary
primary memory system that
temporarily stores frequently used
instructions and data for quicker
processing by the processor of
computer.
• It is high speed memory that resides
between the CPU and RAM in a
computer.
• It stores data and instructions that
the CPU is likely to need next.
• It is very expensive and generally
incorporated in the processor, where
valuable data and program segments
are kept. This enables the processor
to access data quickly whenever
needed.
 129

• The advantage of cache memory is that the CPU does not have
to use the motherboard’s system bus for data transfer so the
CPU retrieves data or instruction more quickly from cache
memory than it does from RAM or disk.
• To access the main memory CPU sends an address to it. In
response of this, the main memory sends data contained at the
specified memory address.
• On the other hand, cache memory uses parallel searching for
required data. It first compares the incoming address to the
address present in the cache. If the address matches, it is called
cache hit. If cache hit is success then the data is retrieved
from cache memory by the CPU. Then the corresponding data
is read by the CPU.
 130

• If the address does not match it is said that miss has occurred.
Cache miss is the failure of retrieval of data from cache
memory by the CPU. When a miss occurs, data is read from
the main memory is also written to cache memory so that
when this specific address is accessed next time a hit occurs.
• Cache can be further classified into two categories:
Level 1 Cache (L1):
also known as primary cache or internal cache, is built
into the processor chip. It is a small fast memory area that works
together with the Level 2 cache to provide the processor much
faster access.
 131

Level 2 Cache (L2):

also known as secondary cache or external cache, is a
collection of static RAM chip that are built onto the motherboard.
It is little larger and slower than L1 but is faster than main
memory. L1 and L2 are used together for optimal use of the
processor.
 132

RAM (Random Access Machine)

• Memory that can be instantly changed is called read-write
memory or random-access memory.
• It is a high speed memory that holds a copy of operating
system, currently executing programs, and other information
being processed.
• It can be written to and read from at any time.
• It is random because any of the bits and bytes that resides in
RAM can be accessed non-sequentially.
• However, the information stored in RAM is temporary and
volatile because the moment another program is fed in it, the
initial program stored in that memory location gets erased.
• The data in RAM stays there only as long as the computer is
on, and electricity is flowing through the machine.
 133

• The information stored on the RAM gets wiped off when the
power supply is turned off, increasing RAM improves the
system performance.
• RAM has the following characteristics:
- Data within the RAM can be read or modified, i.e. you can
either read from the RAM or write onto it. Hence it is called
read/write memory.
- The contents of the RAM are lost when the computer is
switched off. Hence RAM is said to be volatile.
 134

Types of RAM
• The most common form of RAM used is built from
semiconductor integrated circuit which are either static
(SRAM) or dynamic (DRAM)
• SRAM (Static Random Access Memory):
- SRAM is a type of RAM that does not need to be refreshed as
often and retains a value as long as power is supplied.
- This memory is made up of flip-flops and it stores a bit as a
voltage.
- Each memory cell requires six transistors, therefore the
memory chip has low density but high speed. Since they retain
information for longer time, they are used as cache memory.
 135

- SRAM is also considerably faster than that of DRAM.

- It is more expensive and consumes more power than DRAM
and is not used frequently in PCs.
• DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Time):
- Dynamic RAM is made up of transistors, capacitors.
- These RAM are needed to be refreshed hundreds of times in a
second. As the capacitors has the property of getting discharge
the input has to be fed again and again.
- Slower, Cheaper, easily available & require less power
- Due to above advantages these are mostly used in today’s
world in all normal computers.
- They need to be recharged many time each second or they will
loose their contents.
 136

Other Types of RAM

• Synchronous Dynamic RAM (SDRAM):
- Its speed is synchronous means that it is directly dependent in
the clock speed of the entire system.
- It is designed mainly to operate with stability at higher bus
speeds such as 100 MHz.
- The advantage of SDRAM is its increased speed.
- It uses a pipelined design to cope up with the speed of CPU.
• Video RAM:
- It is the specialized RAM used in video cards.\
- It is dual ported that means it can be accessed by two different
devices simultaneously.
- This enables data to be read from video RAM at the same time
data is written to video RAM.
 137

• Non Volatile RAM (NVRAM):

- Type of RAM that retains the information even when the
power is turned off.
- It is integrated circuit chip and is thus able to obtain power
needed to keep it running from the CMOS battery installed in
motherboard.
- It keeps track of various system parameters such as serial
number, MAC address, date of manufacturer, etc.
 138

ROM (Read Only Memory)

- ROM is built-in computer memory containing data that can
only be read, not written to it.
- It contains the program that allows computer to be “booted
up” or regenerated each time you turn it on.
- ROM is non volatile memory because the data in ROM is not
lost when the computer power is turned off. It is sustained by a
small long-life battery in the computer.
- It is an ideal place to put the computers startup instruction that
is software that boots the system called ‘firmware’.
- So, it is necessary to contain the software that enables the
computer to boot up, otherwise the processor would have no
program in memory to execute when it is powered on.
 139

- It contains the basic input/output system (BIOS) which is a set

of instruction that is automatically activated when the
computer is turned on.
- The memory of ROM depends on the model of the computer.
 140

Types of ROM
• Masked ROM:
- The very first ROMs were hard wired devices that contained a
pre-programmed set of data or instructions. These kinds of
ROMs are known as masked ROM.
- The content if such ROMs have to be specified before chip
production.
• Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM):
- It is the type of ROM chip that is blank when new and must be
written with whatever data is necessary with a special device
called a PROM programmer or burner.
- Once the PROM has been programmed, the information
written is permanent and cannot be erased or deleted, so
PROM is the ROM that can be written once.
 141

• Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM):

- It is the ROM that can be erased and reused.
- An EPROM can be erased by simply exposing the device to a
strong source of ultraviolet light for 10 to 20 minutes, the
ultraviolet light erases the EPROM chip by causing a chemical
reaction that melts the fuse back.
- It is reconfigured using EPROM programmer.
- To store the content stored in EPROM, the chip should be
removed from the system.
 142

• Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory

(EEPROM):
- It is a type of ROM that can be erased and reprogrammed
using an electrical charge or electrical voltage.
- It is like an EPROM chip since it can be written in or
programmed more than once.
- It need not to be taken out of the computer or electronic device
of which it is a part when a new program or data needs to be
written.
- The user can alter the value of certain cells without needing to
erase the programming on other cells.
- Data stored in EEPROM is permanent until the user decides to
erase and replace the information it contains.
 143

• Flash Memory:
- It is a special type of EEPROM which can be erased and
reprogrammed in blocks instead of single byte at a time.
- Many modern PCs have their BIOS stored on a flash memory
chip so that it can be easily be updated if necessary. Such
BIOS is sometimes called flash BIOS.
- It is used in digital phones, digital cameras, LAN switches,
etc.
 144

ASSIGNMENT:
1. WRITE ANY 6 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SRAM AND
DRAM.
2. WRITE 6 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN RAM AND ROM.
3. WRITE 5 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PROM AND
EPROM
4. WRITE 5 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN EPROM AND
EEPROM
 145

Secondary or Auxiliary Memory

- The primary or main memory is used to store only those
instructions and data which are to be used immediately. Also,
they are volatile in nature.
- However, the computer has to store a large amount of
information. So, secondary storage is used for this purpose.
- Secondary storage is also called auxiliary storage and is used
to store data and programs when they are not being processed.
- When the electricity supply to the computer is off, all data
stored in the primary storage is destroyed except ROM. On the
other hand, this is not true for secondary storage.
- The data stored in secondary storage can be stored for the
desired time i.e. it holds information until it is deleted or
overwritten.
 146

- They function as backup devices which allows backup of the

valuable information that is being worked on.
- They have high storage capacity and data stability and are less
expensive.
- It is also known as external storage. In contrast, disks are
random access media because a disk drive can access any
point at random.
- Example: magnetic tape, magnetic disk, pendrive, floppy disk,
memory card, etc.
 147

ASSIGNMENT
WRITE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
PRIMARY AND SECONDARY MEMORY.
 148

Magnetic Tape
- It is one of the most popular sequentially access storage
mediums for large data.
- It consists of a thin tape with a coating of a fine magnetic
material.
- It is used for recording analog or digital data. Data is stored in
frames across the width of the tape. Magnetic tape is one-half
inch or one-quarter inch ribbon of plastic material on which
data is stored.
- The tape drive is an input/output device that reads, writes and
erases data on tapes.
- They are erasable, reusable and durable.
- It is not suitable for data files that are revised or updated
frequently because it stores data sequentially. It is still been
used by some banks to take backup.
 149

- Storing data on tapes is considerably cheaper than storing data

on disks. It also have large storing capacities ranging from a
few hundred KB to several GB.
- Accessing data on tapes however is much slower than
accessing data on disks. Tapes are sequential access media,
which means that to get to a particular pint on the tape, the
tape must go through all the preceding points.
- Because tapes are slow, they are generally used only for long-
term storage and backup.
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Magnetic Disk
- These are the most widely used storage medium for
computers.
- It offers high storage capacity, reliability and the capacity to
directly accessing stored data.
- It holds more data in a small place and attain faster data
access speed. Data from magnetic disk can be accessed
randomly.
- They are flat circular plates of metal or plastic coated on both
sides with iron oxide.
- Input signals, which may be audio, video or data are recorded
on the surface of a disk as magnetic patterns or spots in spiral
tracks by a recording head while the disk is rotated by a drive
unit. The head is also used to read the magnetic imprsessions
on the disk.
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- Data can be recorded and erased on a magnetic disk any

number of times.
- Types of magnetic disks include hard disk, removable disk
cartridges.
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ASSIGNMENT
1. Write the advantages, disadvantages of magnetic tape.
2. Write the advantages, disadvantages of magnetic disk.
3. Write notes on Floppy Disk.
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Hard Disk
- It is the storage medium within the computer that stores and
provides relative quick access to large amount of data.
- It is a set of stacked (piled up ) disks called patters made up of
aluminum material that are coated with iron-oxide on both
sides.
- The disk is permanently sealed in a metal case due to the
sensitive operation they perform; the presence of even a small
dust particle can destroy the hard disk.
- A single hard disk usually consists of several platters. Each
platters require two read/ write heads one for each side. All the
read, write heads are attached to a single access arm so that
they cannot move independently. The platters are spaces
several millimeters apart.
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- Each platter has a same number of tracks and nth track of each
platter taken together is called a cylinder.
- The storage capacity of the hard disk contains several GBs.
- The major drawback of hard disk is to achieve the optimum
performance, the read/ write head must be extremely close to
the surface of the disk.
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Pendrive
- It is a portable USB flash drives consist of flash
memory media integrated into a self-contained unit
that connects to a computer or other device via a
standard USB port.
- USB (Universal Serial Bus) is a standard that
allows a wide array of devices to connect to a
computer through a common port.
- They are designed to be very small and very
portable. These devices can be used to transfer
different files from hard drive of one computer to
another. It also functions as portable hard disk.
- They are plug and play portable storage devices
that use flash memory and are light weight enough
to carry. To read from or write to a pen drive just
plug it into a USB and files can be read from or
written to the pen drive until it is plugged from the
USB port.
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Memory Card
- A memory card sometimes called a flash memory card or a
storage card is a small storage medium used to store data such
as text, pictures, audio and video for use on small, portable
computing devices.
- It is used in digital cameras, mobile phones, music players,
etc.
- They offer high re-record-ability, power-free storage.
- They are available in variety of formats such as SD (Secure
Digital), SDHC ( Secure Digital High Capacity), etc.
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Optical Disks
- They are a storage medium from which data is read and to
which it is written by lasers.
- These disks consist of a circular disks, which are coated with a
thin metal or some other material that is highly reflective. A
very fine laser bean is projected to the reflective surface to
read data from the disk. By detecting the light intensity
reflected from the surface, the information stored on the disk
can be accessed.
- It became preferred medium for music, movies and software
program because of its many advantages.
- It is compact, durable. lightweight and digital.
- It provides a minimum of 650 MB of data storage. Examples:
CD, DVD, Blu-ray, etc.
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Compact Disk (CD)

- It is a small, portable, round medium made of molded polymer
for electronically recording, storing, and playing back audio,
video, text and other information in digital form.
- The process of recording/ writing data to the optical disk is
called burning.
- Initially, CDs were read-only but newer technology allows
user to record as well.
- Standard CDs have a diameter of 120 mm and can hold upto
80 minutes of audio. There is also Mini CD, with diameters
ranging from 60 to 80 mm, which can store upto 24 minutes of
audio.
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• Some variations of the CD include:

1. CD-ROM: information in CS-ROMs are stamped by the
vendor, and once stamped; they cannot be erased and filled
with new data but its contained data can be read several
times.
2. CD-R (CD- Recordable):it is also Write Once Read Many
(WORM). The data can be written only once. After that this
disk behaves like CD-ROM.
3. CD-RW (CD- Read/Write): optical disks that can be erased
and loaded with new data like magnetic disks. They are also
referred as “Erasable Optical” disks.
4. Video CD (VCD): is a standard digital format for storing
video on compact disk.
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DVD (Digital Video/ Versatile Disk)

- It is an optical disk technology with 4.7 GB storage capacity
on a single-sided, one layer disk which is enough for a 133
minute movie.
- It can be single or double sided, and can have two layers on
each side; a double-sided, two layered DVD will hold upto 17
GB of video, audio, etc.
- DVD was originally said to stand for Digital Video Disk, and
later for digital versatile disk.
- Variations of the term DVD often describe the way the data is
stored on the disk: DVD-R and DVD+R can only record data
once and then function as DVD-ROM. DVD- RW, DVD+RW
and DVD-RAM can both record and erase data multiple times.
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- The DVD specification supports disks with capacities form

4.75 GB to 17 GB with access rates of 600KBps to 1.3 MBps.
- An additional feature of DVD drives is that the are backward-
compatible with CD-ROMs meaning they can play CDs as
well as DVDs.
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Blu-ray Disk
- It is an optical disk format designed to display high definition
video and store large amount of data. It is the successor to
DVD.
- The standard was developed collaboratively by Philips,
samsung, sony, LG.
- The format’s name comes from the fact that a blue laser reads
from and writes to the disk rather than the red laser of DVD
players.
- Single sided Blu-ray can store up to 27 GB and dual-layer can
store upto 50 GB.
- Its high capacity makes it the perfect media for distributing
high –definition movies.