Input Devices

Input devices are the devices that are used to send signals to the computer for performing tasks. The receiver at the end is the CPU (Central Processing Unit), which works to send signals to the output devices. Some of the classifications of Input devices are:

• Keyboard Devices
• Pointing Devices
• Composite Devices
• Game Controller
• Visual Devices
• Audio Input Devices

Some of the input devices are described below.

Keyboard

The keyboard is the most frequent and widely used input device for entering data into a computer. Although there are some additional keys for performing other operations, the keyboard layout is similar to that of a typical typewriter.
Generally, keyboards come in two sizes: 84 keys or 101/102 keys but currently keyboards with 104 keys or 108 keys are also available for Windows and the Internet.

Types of Keys

• Numeric Keys: It is used to enter numeric data or move the cursor. It usually consists of a set of 17 keys.
• Typing Keys: The letter keys (A-Z) and number keys (09) are among these keys.
• Control Keys: These keys control the pointer and the screen. There are four directional arrow keys on it. Home, End, Insert, Alternate(Alt), Delete, Control(Ctrl), etc., and Escape are all control keys (Esc).
• Special Keys: Enter, Shift, Caps Lock, NumLk, Tab, etc., and Print Screen are among the special function keys on the keyboard.
• Function Keys: The 12 keys from F1 to F12 are on the topmost row of the keyboard.

Mouse

The most common pointing device is the mouse. The mouse is used to move a little cursor across the screen while clicking and dragging. The cursor will stop if you let go of the mouse. The computer is dependent on you to move the mouse; it won’t move by itself. As a result, it’s an input device.
A mouse is an input device that lets you move the mouse on a flat surface to control the coordinates and movement of the on-screen cursor/pointer.
The left mouse button can be used to select or move items, while the right mouse button when clicked displays extra menus.

Joystick

A joystick is a pointing device that is used to move the cursor on a computer screen. A spherical ball is attached to both the bottom and top ends of the stick. In a socket, the lower spherical ball slides. You can move the joystick in all four directions.

The joystick’s function is comparable to that of a mouse. It is primarily used in CAD (Computer-Aided Design) and playing video games on the computer.

Track Ball

Track Ball is an accessory for notebooks and laptops, which works on behalf of a mouse. It has a similar structure to a mouse. Its structure is like a half-inserted ball and we use fingers for cursor movement. Different shapes are used for this like balls, buttons, or squares.

Light Pen

A light pen is a type of pointing device that looks like a pen. It can be used to select a menu item or to draw on the monitor screen. A photocell and an optical system are enclosed in a tiny tube. When the tip of a light pen is moved across a monitor screen while the pen button is pushed, the photocell sensor element identifies the screen location and provides a signal to the CPU.

Scanner

A scanner is an input device that functions similarly to a photocopier. It’s employed when there’s information on paper that needs to be transferred to the computer’s hard disc for subsequent manipulation. The scanner collects images from the source and converts them to a digital format that may be saved on a disc. Before they are printed, these images can be modified. 

Optical Mark Reader (OMR)

An Optical Mark Reader is a device that is generally used in educational institutions to check the answers to objective exams. It recognizes the marks present by pencil and pen.

Optical Character Reader (OCR)

OCR stands for optical character recognition, and it is a device that reads printed text. OCR optically scans the text, character by character turns it into a machine-readable code, and saves it to the system memory.

Magnetic Ink Card Reader (MICR)

It is a device that is generally used in banks to deal with the cheques given to the bank by the customer. It helps in reading the magnetic ink present in the code number and cheque number. This process is very fast compared to any other process.

Bar Code Reader

A bar code reader is a device that reads data that is bar-coded (data that is represented by light and dark lines).Bar-coded data is commonly used to mark things, number books, and so on. It could be a handheld scanner or part of a stationary scanner. A bar code reader scans a bar code image, converts it to an alphanumeric value, and then sends it to the computer to which it is connected.

Web Camera

Because a web camera records a video image of the scene in front of it, a webcam is an input device. It is either built inside the computer (for example, a laptop) or attached through a USB connection. A webcam is a computer-connected tiny digital video camera. It’s also known as a web camera because it can take images and record video. These cameras come with software that must be installed on the computer in order to broadcast video in real-time over the Internet. It can shoot images and HD videos, however, the video quality isn’t as good as other cameras (In Mobiles or other devices or normal cameras).

Digitizer

Digitizer is a device that is used to convert analog signals to digital signals. it converts signals into numeric values. An example of a Digitizer is Graphic Tablet, which is used to convert graphics to binary data.

Microphone

The microphone works as an input device that receives input voice signals and also has the responsibility of converting it also to digital form. It is a very common device that is present in every device which is related to music.

An input/output device, often known as an IO device, is any hardware that allows a human operator or other systems to interface with a computer. Input/output devices, as the name implies, are capable of delivering data (output) to and receiving data from a computer (input). An input/output (I/O) device is a piece of hardware that can take, output, or process data. It receives data as input and provides it to a computer, as well as sends computer data to storage media as a storage output.