Hardware Devices Used In Computer Devices

1. Hardware Devices Used In Computer Devices By Jack Turner

2. Hard Disk Drive (HDD) HDDs (Hard Disk Drives) have been a main storage system device since the 1960’s for general computers. Consists of one or more rotating disk coated in magnetic material. These read and write data from magnetic heads on small actuator arms. These hold data whilst encoding and records it by magnetising it to ferromagnetic material. Vary in size depending on whether it is for a desktop computer or laptop, Desk tops on average size is around 3.5 inches. Where as laptops average around 2.5 inches. Smaller in laptops due to portability and bigger in desktops computers because they’re not made for portability. HDDs come in many various sizes and is specified in multiples of 1000: 1TB (Terabyte) = 1000GB (Gigabytes), 1GB = 1,000,000 Bytes. Hard drives are very good for graphics as you can store lots of data and virtually be sure that you’re not going to loose that data. As they come in big sizes there are very few limitations when it comes to storage. Also because on desktop computers you can have more than one HDD and as there inside the computer makes it very hard to loose it. HDDs compared to USB drives is that USB drives are portable, unlike HDDs. However, on average, HDDs can store more data than USB drives.

3. Graphics Cards (Video Card) Graphics cards are input devices connected to the motherboard and they work by attaching to the graphics card to the motherboard which inputs the graphics on to a computer screen which will then output the graphics on to the monitor. These outputs are Digital Visual Interface (DVI), DB-15 for Video Graphics Array (VGA), Video In Video Out (VIVO) for S-Video (TV-out) and High-definition television (HDTV) Graphics cards Video Memory sizes vary from 128MG (Megabyte)-8GB (Gigabyte) this holds and shows the graphics on the screen. Motherboards can come with several different slots for graphics cards which help for smoother graphics. Most modern day motherboards come with integrated graphics, meaning no need to buy another graphics card. However the quality on these ‘integrated graphics’ are not the best and for better quality a graphics, a graphics card would be more ideal. Various graphics cards show display images at different resolutions, for example a basic resolution from a low end graphics card produces 1024x600 at max where as high end and modern graphics cards can produce 2560x1600. Giving a better image quality due to more pixels on the screen. Without the graphics card the images we see on the computer would not be possible. However can be made cheaper by having a motherboard with integrated graphics. However, this is limited as integrated graphics image quality isn’t very good quality and you can’t adjust it, compared to one of which a graphics card can produce and the different settings it has.

4. Monitor The monitor is a electronic output device which shows the graphics produced by the graphics card. Creates an electronic visual display for the computer showing what you are doing being the dragging an image around on Photoshop or simply typing on a search engine. Using LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screens which produces the image by pixels, set by the resolution of the screen, which determines how many pixels can be set to a certain screen. The more pixels the better quality image. Over time the monitors resolution has changed and many more pixels can now be shown due to higher resolutions. For example the new Apple Retina MacBook Pro which a screen resolution of 2880x1800. Coming a long way from the early 1980s with 320x200 resolution. Monitors are a complete essential when it comes to graphics, as without out one you wouldn’t be able to see what you were doing and there isn’t any alternative ways if you want to do graphics on a computer.

5. Keyboard and Mouse Keyboard and mice are input devices used to navigate around the screen and to input data. The mouse is relatively small and fits under your hand It works by either a ball running against the surface of a desk or by using a sensor which navigates a small pointer on the screen which you can select objects on screen The computer mouse comes with three buttons, one the right up hand corner and the other to the left of this button, both with different functions such as selecting and bringing up a function menu. The other in between these buttons which a scroll button which allow you too scroll up a down the screen. The keyboard is a ‘type-writer’ styled device which has buttons or keys, acting as mechanical levers. You use this to type on the screen or perform commands on certain software. All keyboards have letters A-Z engraved or printed on the buttons. Also have 0-9 keys and other keys such as Page Up, Page Down (alternative scroll option), Delete and Enter. Keyboards and mouse come in many various designs, some mouse and keyboards come with various other keys to set other commands to. Also come in different languages. Most modern day keyboard and mouse use USB ports to connect to computers A mouse and keyboard is essential in graphics as you need the mouse to navigate around the screen and the keyboard to input various text and can be used as ‘shortcuts’ to undo and redo on specific programme saving the user time. The mouse however can be replaced with a tablet. Doing the same tasks as the mouse and more as you can use it to draw with, much better than the computer mouse. However, tablets come much more expensive the mouse modern day basic mouse with three buttons, and may take getting used to compared to the easy functional mouse.

6. Printers and scanners Scanners are input devices which can take physical drawings and let you have the physical copy virtually copied on to the computer screen The printer is virtually the opposite, being a output device which physically prints your work done of your computer onto a piece of paper using ink. Doing this by taking the image from the screen several individual brushes that place the image or text on the paper by memory of the image on the screen. There other types of printer such as inkless printers which use heat on specific parts on the page to create a image, there are also dye-sublimation printers which print on cards, canvas and plastic Modern day scanners work by using charge-coupled devices which scan the image to the users screen. Most printers now come with the scanner built into the printer. Saving money however may not be as good as separate scanner on its own. Printers are very good in graphics as you can take creations you have made on the screen on the paper and make a physical version of the copy on your computer. Scanners doing the opposite are very useful also as you can scan drawings you have done physically with pencil and paper and let you further edit the on a computer However you can use a graphics tablets and ‘trace’ physical copies on to your computer, using the stylus. However with a scanner you can save time as the you won’t have to doing any tracing and the image will automatically be inputted onto the computer once scanned, saving time.

7. Graphics Tablet Graphics tablet is a input device normally connected to the PC which enables the user to hand draw using the tablet, however not all graphics tablets connect to computer as some display on the tablet that you draw on. Where as others display on the PC monitor or both on the tablet and monitor. The tablet itself is flat which you can draw on with the Stylus. Just like pen and paper, the paper being the tablet and the pen being the stylus. You can use this to draw in computer graphics. You can use this to trace from a piece of paper which is taped or otherwise secured to the surface of the tablet, the is called digitizing. Can be used as a alternative for a mouse for a navigation device for desktop computers The tablets themselves vary with different types of tablets, for example passive tablets, used for general drawing and works by sensors in the tablet which detect where the stylus is. As well as this there is an optical tablet, which holds a small digital camera and acoustic tablets, which contain microphones to detect sound. Also there is the active tablet, which have active sensors in the stylus, helping to create better designs. Tablets are good use in computer graphics, as people who are better at drawing rather then using software on a computer and a mouse can use a tablet to be more accurate, and create more detailed drawings. There is however other ways about placing hand drawn graphics on to your computer and this is done with scanners. Which would save more time in some cases as someone may draw it up on paper with a pencil and then have to trace it using the tablet, but with the scanner they could skip the step of having to trace it and simply have it scanned onto their computer screen. Also this can be more viable, as someone who may not be good at drawing and have someone else do they design, so once they have done it all that would need to be done would be again, to use a scanner to scan it onto the screen.

8. Resources • http://www.webopedia.com • http://www.howstuffworks.com