INPUT DEVICES

KEYBOARD Most common input device for a computer.

Mouse A hand held pointing device that moves a pointer on the screen.

Joystick A stick that translates movement to the screen. Commonly used in video games and flight simulators.

Trackball A moveable ball that moves the pointer around the screen

Touch Pad Flat surface that is sensitive to pressure and motion. It tracks your finger and the mouse cursor corresponds to the movement.

Light Pen A pen that detects input via light on a screen. It allows a user to write information on a screen.

Touch Screen/ Terminal Touch screen that user interacts with to get information.

Digitising Tablet Used to enter drawings and sketches onto a screen and store them in digital form.

Voice Recognition The devices accepts voice commands and carries them out.

Sound Capture Devices Sound Cards that capture voice and turn it into digital form.

Webcam Used for video chatting and video conferencing.

Sensors Used to capture data and monitor changes in states. Used in weather and security systems.

Remote Controls Emits a wireless Signal to the device it controls.

Biometric A reader that checks the distinctive characteristics of a human to identify them. Typically used in fingerprint readers.

Digital Camera They contain a processor that converts the real image to a digital image.

Barcode Reader Reads the code of lines that make up a barcode. Typically used in supermarkets.

OMR Optical Mark Reader. Reads small marks on special forms. Eg. Surveys and questionares and exam papers

OCR Optical character recognition devices. Can read handwritten and printed characters and convert them to an electronic form to be edited. Eg. Scanners

MICR Magnetic ink character recognition reader. Reads text printed with magnetic ink. Eg. Used at banks in processing cheques.

POS Point of Sale. Consists of a main computer and a device to scan the barcode.