Input devices

Input devices

1. Keyboard

   • Ergonomic keyboard is a keyboard made with a natural layout to stop strain on the wrists whilst typing
   • A keypad is built into a device which makes it easier for the user as it isnt physical but rather a built in feature.
   • A concept keyboard is a touchscreen keyboard where the keys are made to do specific fucntions. They can also be programmed to have images as keys.

2. Mouse types

   • Mechanical mouse is most durable as it can be used on any surface due to its rubber ball however it needs more maintenance
   • Optical mouse is the best quality due to its high senstivity and precision however it wont work on shiny surfaces
   • Trackpads are built onto computers which is easier as it doesn't have to be externally bought however if it breaks the user loses the whole device.
   • Trackpoint is built onto devices and is smaller than other types of mouse.

3. Touch screen devices

   • Touch screens are commonly used in public places due to there conveniance and ease for the user.
   • Touch screens help people do their jobs in quicker time as it could help process or access numerous elements easier.
   • Can also be used for security e.g. fingerprint and signature recognition.

4. Tablets and whiteboards

   • Graphics tablet allows the user to draw and design animations due to it recognising shapes.
   • Also helps people learning languages as it recognises the styles of the other languages.
   • Whiteboards are useful for interacting with a lot of people within one room. It needs a speaker and a monitor to function.

5. Automated input- Card Readers

   • A smart card is a plastic card with a built in microprocessor and is used for financial transactions.
   • It has an embedded microcontroller which keeps the transaction safe due to the tamper resistance as it uses encryption to secure the data.
   • If the magnetic tape gets damaged it cannot work and they're difficult to get replaced.

6. Scanners

   • Flatbed scanner is the most common as it prints at high quality and is easy to use. It scans with a laser and collects the image with the reflection from this.
   • Handheld is more portable than flatbed and scans different size documents.
   • Sheetfeed is used to scan loose sheets of paper
   • A drum scanner is the highest resolution scanner
   • A barcode scanner is used in supermarkets for items and scan specifically barcodes ofitems then it runs through a stock database

7. OMR and OCR

   • Optical mark recognition processes human marked data and is primarily for things such as quizes or surveys
   • Optical character recogniton is a technology that copies numerous documents from paper forms to online documents. This is usually converted to pdf and it can thousands of copies at any one time.
   • Magnetic Ink character recognition is primarily used between financial transactions of cheques.

8. Sound and video input

   • Needs primarily two features both a MIDI cable and a microphone
   • Resolution is measured in pixels and the more resolution in a document the higher storage it takes.
   • A sample is a digital input sound in a computer.Sample rate is the number of times per second that a sound is recorded.

9. Video Conferencing

   • Audio and video data is collected and sent to another compuer allowing face to face communication over a webcam live.
   • This keeps the file size down as it allows the user to not store the information as it keeps passing between