Output Hardware

These are popular output devices. The result of processed data is called output. There are two types of output. Hard output which is the result printed on paper and soft output which is the result available as visual and audio form. There are different devices used to provide result to the user. These are called output devices. Popular output devices are printer, monitor, and plotter etc.

Monitor

Most popular and commonly used output device is monitor. It displays the character and graphic on screen. According to the technology used on the monitor, we have two types of monitor. CRT monitor: Common monitor that uses large vacuum tube called Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) and CRT monitor. It looks like a common TV screen. It is old type of monitor and big in size but cheaper in price.

• LCD Monitor: A flat-panel monitor that uses special kind of liquid crystal to display the character and graphics are called Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) monitor. These are portable in size but expensive than CRT monitor. It consumes less power than CRT monitor.
• CRT Monitor: Common monitor that uses large vacuum tube called Cathode Ray Tube. It looks like a common TV Screen. It is old type of monitor.

Printer

It is one of the most common hard output devices. It is used to print the result on the paper. Basically printers are divided into parts:

• Impact printer: printer that prints the character like typewriters which characters are printed by physical striking over an inked ribbon. It is slow and poor quality printer. It is noisy printer but it is cheaper for operation.
• Non-impact printer: Printer that prints the character using heat, light and ink spray technique. It is quite printer. It is faster than impact printer. Its quality is good but it is expensive than impact printer.

Some popular printers

Inkjet Printers

Inkjet printers are non-impact printers which print text and images by spraying tiny droplets of liquid on the paper. They are the most popular printers for home use. Currently, most inkjet printers use either thermal inkjet. The inkjet head designs also divided into two main groups: fixed-head and disposable head.

Advantages of inkjet printers

• Low cost.
• High quality of output, capable of printing fine and smooth details.
• Capable of printing in different color, good for printing pictures.
• Easy to use.
• Reasonably fast.
• Quieter than dot matrix printer.

Disadvantages of inkjet printers

• Print head is less durable.
• Expensive replacement ink cartridges.
• Not good for high volume printing.
• Printing speed is not as fast as laser printers.

Laser printers

laser printers are non-impact printers which can print text and images in high speed and high quality resolution. Unlike inkjet printers, laser printer use toner (Black or color powder) instead of liquid inks. A laser printer consists of these major components: drum cartridge, rotating mirror, toner cartridge and roller.

Advantages of laser printers

• High resolution
• High print speed
• Good for high volume printing

Disadvantages of laser printers

• More expensive than inkjet printers
• The cost of tone replacement and drum replacement is high
• Warm up time needed to print

Dot-matrix printer

Dot-matrix printer is an impact printer that produces text and graphics when tiny wire pins on the print head strike the ink ribbon. The print head runs back and forth on the paper like a typewriter. When the ink ribbon presses on the paper, it creates dot that form text and images. Higher number of pins means that printer prints more dots per character, thus resulting in higher print quality. Dot-matrix printers were very popular and the most common type of printer for personal computer.

Advantages of dot matrix printer

• Can print on carbon copies
• Low printing cost per page
• Can be used on continuous form paper
• Reliable, durable

Disadvantages of dot matrix printer

• Noisy
• Limited print quality
• Low printing speed
• Limited colors printing

Plotter

A popular output device that prints engineering drawing charts and graphics are plotters. It prints high quality drawing and graphics.

There are two types of plotters.

1. Drum plotters
2. Flat bed plotters

MoDem

The full form of MoDem is Modulator Demodulator. It is an input as well as output device. It converts analog signals i.e. signals from wave and the cable to digital signal i.e. signal used by the computer to process data and vice-versa.