Output Devices or Output Units - Computer Hardware, Computer Awareness | Famous Books for UPSC Exam (Summary & Tests) PDF Download

Output Devices or Output Units of Computer

Output is a processed data that is otherwise called information. Output Devices or Output Units do not compute or process anything. Those devices just display the results in hard copy or soft copy.

The commonly used Output Devices are,

• Monitor
• Printer
• Projector
• Speaker
• Video Card
• Plotter

Monitor

A monitor is an electronic visual display for computers. The display device in modern monitors is typically a thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) thin panel, while older monitors used a cathode ray tube (CRT) about as deep as the screen size. The Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) monitors provide higher contrast and better viewing angles than LCDs but they require more power when displaying documents with white or bright backgrounds.

Projector

It is a device used to project an image on the flat surface like computer screen. It is mainly used in presentations, seminars, and meetings. They are also used in schools. Home theater enthusiasts also use them as a good projector will display an image that looks better and more accurately represents the source material than most TVs on the market ever would.

Printer

Printer is a device that is capable of printing the processed data from the computer. It can print document or an image.

Different Types of Printers

Inkjet printers, also sometimes called bubble jet printers use colored ink they put on a paper.

Dye sublimation printers produce very high quality images. Three colors are used – Cyan, Magenta and Yellow.

Dot-matrix printers are now almost extinct. They used a ribbon and made a lot of noise.

Daisy Wheel printers are a typewriter printer; Results look hand-typed with excellent looking text, no real graphics and very loud.

Laser printers transfer tiny particles of toner onto the paper.

Speaker

Speaker is a hardware device that is connected to a computer’s sound card. The sound card outputs the sound generated by the computer.

Video Card

The video card is an expansion card that allows the computer to send graphical information to a video display device such as a monitor, TV, or projector. It is also known as Graphics Card, Video Board, or Video Controller or Video adapter.

Plotter

Plotter is a device that draws pictures on paper based on commands from a computer. Plotters differ from printers in that they draw lines using a pen. Multi-color plotters use different-colored pens to draw different colors. Plotters are considerably more expensive than printers. They are used in engineering applications where precision is mandatory.