SOUND CARD

The sound card is a component inside the

computer that provides
audio input and output capabilities. Most sound
cards have at least one analog line input and
one stereo lineoutput connection. The
connectors are typically 3.5 mm minijacks, which
are the size most headphones use. Some sound
cards also support digital audio input and output,
either through a standard TRS (tip-ring-sleeve)
connection or via an optical audio port, such
as Toslink connector.

SPEAKERS

Speakers are one of the most common output

devices used with computer systems. Some
speakers are designed to work specifically with
computers, while others can be hooked up to
any type of sound system. Regardless of their
design, the purpose of speakers is to produce
audio output that can be heard by the listener.
 MONITOR

A computer display, monitor or screen is

a computer peripheral device capable of
showing still or moving images generated by a
computer and processed by a graphics card.
Monitors generally conform to one or
more display standards. Sometimes the name
"display" is preferred to the word "monitor", as
the latter is perceived to be ambiguous
alongside the other senses of "monitor" meaning
"machine-level debugger" or "thread
synchronization mechanism". Computer displays
have also been known as visual display
units or VDUs.

PROJECTOR
Projectors are instruments which help in
watching anything from a small origin to a full
sized image on the screen. Projector, as the
name suggests, helps to project the image
from small to big on any screen. Projectors are
available in a lot of varieties but now these
days the latest high definition model is
available for people to get a better result.
These projectors are now available worldwide
and at very reasonable prices. These projectors
high definition have come with a revolution
and with a better picture resolution.

PLOTTER

A graphics printer that draws images with ink

pens. It actually draws point-to-point lines
directly from vector graphics files. The plotter
was the first computer output device that could
print graphics as well as accommodate full-size
engineering and architectural drawings. Using
different colored pens, it was also able to print
in color long before inkjet printers became an
alternative.

Pen plotters are still the most affordable

printing device for CAD use and offer resolution
unlike any other printer. The lines are not
made up of dots. They are actually drawn,
providing infinite resolution. See drum
plotter, flatbed plotter, electrostatic
plotter and inkjet printer.
An alternate spelling for disk with a "k." Some
computer manufacturers use this spelling for
magnetic disks, but "disc" usually refers to
optical media, such as CDs and DVDs.

In this Encyclopedia...
Disc ("c") refers to pure optical media, and
disk ("k") refers to magnetic hard and floppy
disks as well as to disks that use a combination
of magnetic and optical (see magneto-optic
disk).

LIGHT PEN

A lightpen is a device similar to a touch screen, but is

facilitated by use of a special light sensitive pen
instead of the finger. The advantage of using a pen is
more accurate screen input than possible with a touch
screen, also a light pen needs no special screen but
can work with any CRT-based monitor.

The light pen became moderately popular during the

early 1980s It was notable for its use in the Fairlight
CMI, and the BBC Micro. However the lightpen's
usage greatly declined later in the decade with the
adoption of mouse-based WIMP interfaces as well as
changes in monitor technology.
 GRAPHICS TABLET

A graphics tablet (or digitizing tablet) is

a computer peripheral device that allows for a
relatively simple method of inputing hand-drawn
graphics or art into a computer in real time. They
typically consist of a large flat surface for drawing on,
and an attached "stylus" for drawing on the surface,
originally as a part of the electronics, but later simply
to provide an accurate but smooth "point".

An input device which translates the

movements of a pen over a sensitive pad into a
corresponding pattern on the screen of a
visual-display unit.

TOUCH PADS

A small, touch-sensitive pad used as a pointing

device. It works on a principle known as
capacitance. Touchpads are often found on
portable computers. By moving a finger or
other object along the pad, the user can move
the pointer on the display screen.
A touchpad is an input device commonly used
in laptop computers. They are used to move
thecursor, using motions of the user's finger. They
substitute for a computer mouse. Touchpads vary in
size but are rarely made larger than 50 cm² (about 8
in²)

POINTING STICKS

A pointing stick is a miniaturized

isometric joystick embedded in the center of some
laptop keyboards, used to move the on-screen cursor.
The pointing stick can be used in lieu of a mouse, or
in addition to it. Left and right mouse buttons are
located directly beneath the spacebar on models
equipped with a pointing stick. The stick itself
resembles the nub of an eraser, and sits between the
G and H keys of a QWERTY keyboard. Pointing
sticks are included on small laptops that lack the
space for a touchpad, but can also be found on larger
models that include a touchpad, and on some desktop
keyboards.

TOUCH SCREEN
An input device that allows user to interact
with computer by touching the display screen.
Often this uses beams of infrared light that are
projected across the screen surface.
Interrupting the beams generates an
electronic signal identifying the location of the
screen. Software interprets the signal and
performs the required operation.

MICROPROCESSOR

A microprocessor (abbreviated as µP or uP) is

an electronic computer central processing unit
(CPU) made from miniaturized transistors and other
circuit elements on a single semiconductor integrated
circuit (IC) (aka microchip or justchip).
Before the advent of microprocessors, electronic
CPUs were made from discrete
(separate) TTL integrated circuits; before that,
individual transistors; and before that, from vacuum
tubes. There have even been designs for simple
computing machines based on mechanical parts such
as gears, shafts, levers, Tinkertoys, etc. Leonardo
DaVinci made one such design, although none were
possible to construct using the manufacturing
techniques of the time.

MOTHERBOARD

A motherboard, also known as main board, logic

board or system board, is the central or
primary circuit board making up a complex electronic
system, such as a computer.
A typical computer is built with the microprocessor,
main memory, and other basic components on the
motherboard. Other components of the computer
such as external storage, control circuits for video
display and sound, and peripheral devices are
typically attached to the motherboard via connectors
or cables of some sort.
There is more information about IBM-
compatible personal computers in PC motherboard.

FLOPY DRIVE

Floppy drives are drives used in

desktop computers to store information of floppy
disks. Floppy disks are for small amounts of data (up
to 1.44 megabytes). The floppy disk is made of
plastic, aluminum, and a piece of film.

A floppy disk is a data storage device that comprises

a circular piece of thin, flexible (hence
"floppy") magnetic storage medium encased in
a square or rectangular plastic wallet. Floppy disks
are read and written by a floppy disk drive or FDD,
not to be confused with "fixed disk drive", which is an
old IBM term for a hard disk drive.
 MODEM

A modem is a device that lets equipment like personal

computers send and receive data to and from another
device on the remote end of a modem connection. In
most cases these days a modem is used to connect a
computer to the internet. Modems get their name from
what they do, modulate and demodulate signals, thus
"mod" "dem". Modems can be used over normal wired
connections like phone lines as well as over wireless
connections like those offered by cell phone networks.

RAM

Random Access Memory or RAM is a type

of computer storage whose contents can be accessed
in any order. This is in contrast to sequential memory
devices such as magnetic tapes, discs and drums, in
which the mechanical movement of the storage
medium forces the computer to access data in a fixed
order. It is usually implied that RAM can be both
written to and read from, in contrast to Read-Only
Memory or ROM. RAM is usually used for primary
storage in computers to hold actively-used and
actively-changing information, although some devices
use certain types of RAM to provide long
term secondary storage.

ETHERNET HUB

As it is clear from the definition of the networking hubs

that they are used to connect the multi system to build
a single network, similarly for building a connection
between the Ethernet, Ethernet hubs are used.
Basically it is defined as the device that is required for
creating a connection between different Ethernet
devices and run them like a single network are called
as the Ethernet hubs. In this device multi types of
repeaters are used for the running the network for the
sake of transmission. As we all know that whole
network is based and work with the help of layers of
hubs.

VIRUS

Computer viruses are small software programs that

are designed to spread from one computer to another
and to interfere with computer operation.
A virus might corrupt or delete data on your computer,
use your email program to spread itself to other
computers, or even erase everything on your hard
disk.
Computer viruses are often spread by attachments in
email messages or instant messaging messages.
That is why it is essential that you never open email
attachments unless you know who it's from and you
are expecting it.
Viruses can be disguised as attachments of funny
images, greeting cards, or audio and video files.

VACUUM TUPES

An electronic device that controls the flow of

electrons in a vacuum. It is used as a switch,
amplifier or display screen. Used as on/off
switches, they allowed the first computers to
perform digital computations. Although vacuum
tubes have made a comeback in high-end stereo
components, most vacuum tubes today are the
picture tubes (CRTs) in monitors and TVs.
See vacuum tube types.