Chap 5: Input & Output

Chapter 5
Input Device: A device that allows data to be entered into a computer system
Output Device: A device that allows the user to view or hear the data
Scanner
Definition: Converts a hard copy document into an electronic form to be stored as a file on a computer.
2D Operation:
- Light shines onto the surface of a document.
- Reflected light is captured.
- Uses mirrors and lenses.
- Captured image is converted into digital file.
- Produces a 2D digital image.

2D Operation:
- Main component of a scanner is a CCD (Charge Couple Device) array
- CCD is a collection of light sensitive diodes
- Light shines onto the source document
- The scanned image reaches the CCD through mirrors and lenses
- Sensors detect levels of reflected light
- Brighter light results in greater electrical charge
- Light intensity is converted (by software) to a digital value

2D Application: Reading passport at an airport

Devices used at an airport:
- Scanners: To produce an electronic version of the passport photograph
- Digital camera: To produce an electronic image of the passenger’s face
Q: Describe how a computer checks whether the image just taken by the camera matches the scanned
photograph.
- Biometric software used to scan face
- Face image converted to digital format by the camera
- Digital image formed from scanned photo stored in passport
- Key features of the face are compared
3D Operation:
- Scanners shines a laser over the surface of a 3D object.
- Records measurements of the dimensions of the object.
- Measurements are converted to digital file.
- Produces a 3D digital model.
3D Application: X-Rays

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Barcode Scanner/Reader
Definition: reads labels containing parallel dark and light lines using laser light or LEDs; the width of each line represents
a binary code.
Application:
- Automatic Stock Control: Read barcodes to find prices/ allows automatic stock control
- Library System: Can track books on loan
- Airport checkouts: Barcodes on luggage to track whereabouts
How barcode is read:
- Uses a barcode reader
- Reader shines red laser at barcode
- White lines reflect more light
-Sensors detect light reflected back
- Different reflections will convert to different binary values.

Q: Describe how the barcode is used in automatic stock control.

- The barcode on the item is read
- The database is searched using the barcode as the key field
- When the stock item is found, data are sent back to the POS terminal
- The stock level is reduced by 1
- The new stock level is written back to the item record
- The stock level is compared to the re-order level
- If the stock level <= re-order level, items are automatically ordered

Q: Explain how the stock control system automatically keeps the stock levels above a minimum level.
- Stock control system has a database of stock
- Each product has a (unique) barcode
- Barcode is scanned, and product looked up in database
- Stock levels for product are reduced by 1
- Stock is checked against minimum level
- If stock at/below minimum level an order is placed
- When stock is re-ordered flag is reset

Q: Explain how the barcode is read at the supermarket checkout and how the price of the product is found.
Barcode is read:
- Scanned using a barcode reader
- Shines red laser
- Light is reflected back
- Sensors detect the light
- Different reflections give different binary

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Find the price of barcode
- Database stores prices
- Searches for barcode in the database
- If found price is returned.

Benefits of barcode:
- Quicker to scan rather than type into a system
- Fewer errors as there is no human input

Input Devices at a checkout:

- Barcode reader: To scan items.
- Keyboard: To input the quantity of an item/to key in the barcode number if barcodes don’t scan correctly.
- Card Reader: To read credit/debit card
- Touch screen: To select a payment method
Output Devices at a checkout:
- Printer: To print a receipt
- Monitor/Touchscreen: To show total cost of goods
- Speaker: To produce a beeping sound when a barcode has been correctly scanned

QR Code
Example:

Application: Used for advertising

How data is stored in QR code:
- Barcode is scanned by QR code reader
- Read using a laser
- Processed by an app
- Light is reflected back
- Black squares reflect less light than white squares
- The app processes the image
- Squares are decoded
- Each small square is converted to a binary value
Difference between barcode and QR code.
- Barcode is 1D and QR code is 2D
- Barcodes contain vertical lines and QR codes contain ‘squares’
- QR code can hold more data than a barcode
- QR code is faster to scan than barcodes
- Barcodes are frequently used at checkouts / libraries and QR codes are used for advertising

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Explain how information on a QR code can be obtained
- QR code is scanned using a camera on a mobile device
- It is read by an application
- Illuminator shone on code
- Squares reflect light differently
- Corners of code are used for orientation
- Opens document with information // Directs to website with information
- QR code can be saved for future reference

Q: Explain how the system scans the QR code, checks if a person can enter and counts how many people have
entered.
- Camera captures code
- Black squares reflect different light to white
- Corner squares are used for alignment
- Pattern converted to digital data
- Data sent to microprocessor
- There is a database of valid QR codes
- Data compared to stored values
- If data matches entry is granted is raised
- If data matches count is incremented
- If data does not match, entry is denied
Digital camera
How captured images are converted to digital
- Image is converted from analogue to digital (using ADC)
- Image is turned into pixels
- Each pixel is given a binary value
- Pixels form a grid (to create the image)
- Each pixel has a colour
- Pixels are stored in sequence (in a file)
- An example of a suitable photo file format e.g. JPEG

Operation of a digital camera

- When button is pressed, an aperture opens at the front of the camera to allow light to stream in through
the lens
- This is captured by a sensor called a charge-coupled device
- The analogue-to-digital converter then converts each pixel into a digital value

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Keyboard
How key presses on a keyboard is processed by the computer
- A keyboard has a key matrix underneath the keys.
- When a key is pressed, it presses a switch that completes a circuit.
- This allows current to flow.
- The location of the key pressed is calculated.
- The location of the key pressed is compared to a character map to find the binary value for the key that
has been pressed.

Application:
- Word processor: To key in data manually (e.g. report writing)
- Control room interface: To manually key in data
Disadvantage:
- Easy to make a mistake
- Can be slow if not trained

Q: A concept keyboard has a flat surface that is overlaid with images of food items available from the restaurant menu.
Staff can click on an image to add the food item to a customer food order. The Henslows Diner wants to change to a
concept keyboard to input customer food orders. Explain two benefits of making this change. (4)
- Fewer typing errors may be made because one button is pressed to order an item.
- Speed up the time to enter an order because fewer buttons are pressed to complete the order.
- May require less training because it is easier to identify an order item from its image rather than typing it.
- Can stop dirt/food damage because there are no keys for dirt/food to get into.

Mouse
Basic internal operation:
- Laser shines onto a surface.
- The light is reflected from the surface into a photoelectric cell
- This has a lens that magnifies the reflected light to allow detection of smaller movements.
- When a button on the mouse is clicked, a microswitch is pressed
Microphone
Definition: A device that allows audio signals to be converted into electrical signals which can be interpreted by a
computer after being converted into digital signals.

Operation of microphone
- The microphone has a diaphragm
- The incoming sound waves cause vibrations of the diaphragm causing a coil to move past a magnet
- An electrical signal is produced

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Application:
- Speech recognition system: Allows computer to recognise spoken words and use them as input.
- Multimedia presentation: Allows voice-overs on presentation.
- Video conferencing: Allows users to speak to each other
Touchscreen
Application:
- Mobile phone: Allows user to select apps.
- Information kiosk: Limits the options available for ease of use.
Benefits of touchscreen
- Does not require peripherals (mouse or keyboard)
- Number of possible inputs limited / menu driven interface
- Less chance of input error

Types of Touch screen:

1. Resistive
How it works:
- Screen has two layers
- When top layer touched bottom layer
- Circuit is created
- Point of contact is calculated where layers are connected
Benefit:
-Cheap to manufacture
-Can use stylus, gloved finger
Drawback:
-Poor visibility in sunlight
-Vulnerable to scratching
-Does not allow multi-touch facility
2. Capacitive
How it works:
-Current flows out from all 4 corners of the screen
- An electric field is created
- Sensors monitor the electrostatic field
- When finger touches screen, the charge is transferred to the user
- Coordinates of touch is calculated
Benefit:
-Good visibility in sunlight
-Allows multi-touch facility
Drawback:
- Cannot use when wearing (standard) gloves

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Why gloved finger cannot be used with capacitive
- Gloves are not conductive
- Block charge from finger
- Stop the electrostatic field being changed
How can you use capacitive when wearing gloves
- You could use a conductive stylus, this will allow the charge to be charged
- You could use capacitive gloves, this will allow the charge to be charged
- You could use a natural language interface/voice operated interface, you could give vocal commands to the device

3. Infra-red
How it works:
- Infrared rays are sent across screen from the edges
- Sensors capture beams
- Infrared rays form a grid across the screen
- Infrared ray is broken by a finger blocking a beam
-Calculation is made to locate the touch
Benefit:
-Good durability
- Allows multi-touch facility
- Can use stylus, finger and gloved finger
Drawback:
-Expensive to manufacture
Sensor
Sensor:
- It is an input device.
- Device that collects data values from the real world.
- It measures physical readings of the surrounding environment.
Benefits of using sensors for monitoring
- Can work continuously
- Avoids human error
- It could be a dangerous environment and will avoid human risk
- Detect errors instantly
- Maintain consistent and correct conditions
Q: The data from a sensor must be converted from analogue to digital to be processed by a computer.
Analogue:
- Continuous data
- Non-discrete data
- e.g. Data such as a sound wave

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Digital:
- Discrete data that has only two values
- e.g. binary data

Types of sensor:
1. Temperature
Application:
- control a central heating system
- control/monitor a chemical process
- control/monitor the temperature in a greenhouse
Use:
- To measure the temperature of the environment
- To alert when it is too hot for fruit to grow

2. Moisture
Application:
- control/monitor the moisture levels in soil in a greenhouse
Use:
Greenhouse environment:
- To measure the content of the soil
- To alert when the soil is too dry or too wet.
3. Light
Application: - switch street lighting on at night and off during the day
- monitor/control light levels in a greenhouse
- Automatic door
Use:
Greenhouse: - To measure the brightness of the environment.
- To alert when the fruit has too little light.
4. Infra-red
Application:
- turn on the windscreen wipers on a car automatically
- detect intruders in a burglar alarm system
- count people entering/leaving a building
- Automatic door
Reason: To alert to any intruders

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5. Pressure
Application:
- Weigh things
- Detect intruders in a burglar alarm system
- Monitor/control a process where gas pressure is important Reason: To make sure the pressure is not too high or low
- Traffic light
6. Acoustic/Sound
Application:
- pick up noise levels (e.g. footsteps) in a burglar alarm system
- detect the noise of liquids dripping in a pipe
7. Gas (e.g. O2 or CO2)
Application:
- Monitor pollution levels in a river or in the air
- Measure O2 and CO2 levels in a greenhouse
- Check for CO2 leaks in a power station
Reason: To make sure the levels of gas is not too high or too low
- To measure the amount of oxygen/CO2 present
8. pH
Application:
- Monitor/control acidity/alkalinity levels in the soil in a greenhouse
- Pollution/environmental monitoring in rivers
Reason: To measure how acidic/alkaline the soil is

9. Magnetic field
Application:
- Any application where detection of changes in a magnetic field is required (e.g. in cell phones, CD players, etc.)
- Used in anti-lock braking systems in motor vehicles
- Traffic light
10. Humidity
Application:
- Control/monitor the humidity levels in the air in a greenhouse
Use: To measure the water content in the air
11. Motion
Application:
- Automatic Doors Reason: To detect a person approaching the door and open it
- Burglar Alarm Reason: To detect any unauthorised person

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Describe how sensor and microprocessor interact:
- Sensor sends signal to microprocessor
- Data is converted to digital using ADC
- Microprocessor compares input data with stored data
- If values are the same, no action is taken
- If values are out of range, microprocessor sends signal
- to sound an alarm (If system burglar alarm)
- to turn on air con/turn on light.
- Actuator is used to turn air con on
- Process is continuous
Interactive Whiteboard
Term: Allows a user to write on a surface using a pen; text and drawings are then captured electronically and stored for
later use.
Application: Software demonstration
OUTPUT DEVICE
Inkjet Printer
Description:
- Uses liquid ink
-Makes use of thermal bubble/piezoelectric technology
- Sprays ink in droplets on the paper
-Uses a moving print head
- Suitable for low volume (high quality) output, e.g. a photo
Application:
- Print small quantities of document.
- Producing a colour poster/ photograph
Benefit of inkjet printer
- Can use larger paper sizes
- Can print onto different media
- No warm-up time
Drawback of inkjet printer
- Printing will be slower
- Ink is more expensive per page
- Ink can be smeared // ink is not smudge proof
Describe how the inkjet printer prints an image
- Rollers are used to move the paper through the printer
- Nozzles spray ink onto the paper
- Print heads are moved across the paper to distribute the ink
- Different colour inks are mixed to create required colours
- Technology could be piezoelectric or thermal bubble

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Thermal bubble
- Ink is heated and expands into a bubble
- Bubble is pushed through the nozzle on to the paper and then the bubble collapses
Piezoelectric
- Electrical current is applied to a crystal which makes it vibrate
- Which forces a droplet of ink through the nozzle
Stages when a page is printed:
- Printer driver translates data into a suitable format for the printer.
- Printer receives data from the computer and stores the data in the printer’s buffer.
- Paper feed stepper motor activated; sheet of paper fed from paper tray.
- The print head moves across the page; ink is sprayed each time the print head pauses for a fraction of a second.
- Paper feed stepper motor advances paper a fraction of a cm after each complete head pass
Laser Printer
Description:
- Uses powdered ink.
- Uses a printing drum.
- Makes use of static electricity charges.
-Uses a fuser to melt ink onto the paper.
- Uses a discharge lamp to remove static charge from the drum.
- Useful for high volume (high quality) output, e.g. leaflets.
Application: Producing leaflets, magazines
Benefits of laser printer
- It prints at a faster speed
- Can print on both sides
- It prints text at a high quality
-It prints Colour page faster
- Can print in high volumes
Drawback of laser printer
- More time to warm-up
- Toner is expensive
Stages when a page is printed:
- The printer driver ensures that the data is in a format that the laser printer can understand.
- Data is then sent to the laser printer and stored temporarily in the printer buffer.
- The printing drum is given a positive charge.
-As the printing drum rotates, a laser scans across it; this removes the positive charge in certain areas.
- Negatively-charged areas are then produced on the printing drum; these match exactly with the text and images to be
printed.

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- The printing drum is coated in positively-charged toner; this then sticks to the negatively-charged parts of the printing
drum.
-A negatively-charged sheet of paper is then rolled over the printing drum.
- The toner on the printing drum is now transferred to the paper to reproduce the required text and images.
- The paper goes through a fuser which melts the toner so it fixes permanently to the paper.
3D Printer
Description:
-Produces solid, 3D objects/prototypes
-Used in CAD/CAM
-Uses resin, powdered metal, paper, plastic…
- Makes use of tomography/slices of an object
- Solid built up in thin layers
How a 3D printer works
- Receives instructions from CAD software
- Printer creates object in layers using plastic
- uses a moving arm
- Object is then dried

Application:
- Produce a prototype
- Produce a physical model
Software used to design 3D Model: CAD (Computer aided design)
2D/3D cutters
It is a high powered laser that cuts materials such as thin metals or wood.
2D cutter: High powered laser that uses the x-y plane.
3D cutter: High powered laser that uses the x-y-z plane.
How 3D cutter produce a model
- Design is created on the computer / software / CAD
- Material is loaded to cutter
- Different types of material can be used
- Uses lasers to cut material that use infra-red
- Can work on both the x,y and z axis
Actuator
- It is responsible for powering and moving a motor in machinery, such as a robot arm in a factory.
- Operated by signals to cause a physical movement
- Controls the movement of a machine

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Speaker
Device used to output sound.
LCD/LED/OLED
LCD:
- Liquid crystal display
- The display is made of pixels arranged in a matrix
- Uses a flat panel display
- Backlit display with CCFLs/LEDs
- Uses light-modulating properties of liquid crystals
- Crystals can be turned between opaque and transparent (to allow light to pass)
- Colours created using RGB

How an LCD screen operates to display data

- The display is made up of pixels that are arranged together as a matrix
- Each pixel has three filters, red, blue and green
- Shades of colour are achieved by mixing red, blue and green
-The screen is backlit
- Light is shone through the liquid crystals
- The liquid crystals can be made to turn solid or transparent/on or off by changing the shape of the crystal

Benefits of LCD
- Low power consumption
- Runs at cool temperature
- Do not suffer image burn
- Do not suffer flicker issues
- Bright image/colours
- High resolution image
- Cheaper to purchase than e.g. LED screen
LED:
Flat panel display that uses an array of light emitting diodes as pixels.
- Light emitting diodes (technology)
- The display is made up of pixels that are arranged together as a matrix
- Each is formed of three LEDs/filters
- Shades of colour are achieved by mixing red, blue and green
- The screen can be back-lit/edge-lit

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Benefit of LED:
- No need to warm up
-More vivid colours
-Higher resolution
- Consume very less energy
- More reliable technology
Projectors
Digital Light Projector: Uses a bright white light source and micro mirrors (on a chip) to produce an image to be shone
onto a wall or screen.
How a DLP displays an image
- Uses a large number of tiny mirrors
- Mirrors are laid out in a grid/matrix
-Each mirror creates a pixel in the image
-Mirrors can tilt toward or away from light source
-The mirrors reflect light toward a (projection) lens
-Colour is produced using a colour wheel
-Can be used to display an image on a wall

LCD Projector: use chromatic-coated mirrors which reflect light at different wavelengths. The light components pass
through three LCD screens which are then recombined using a prism to produce the colour image which is projected onto
a large screen.

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