What is Input Device?
Definition: An input device is a special type of peripheral device that allows making communication along with processing unit of the computer system.
Computer’s input devices are mostly using for recognized the input data that are provided by users for solving their problems. Input data has many variants like as text, images, audio, and video. These input devices allow transferring data from input devices to computer system.
Input Devices Name List
- Mouse
- Keyboard
- Trackball
- Touchpad
- Pointing Stick
- Graphics Tablet
- Touch screen
- Light Pen
- Stylus
- Motion sensor
- Interactive smart board
- Fingerprint scanner
- Multi-touch screen
- Game Pads
- Joysticks
- Steering Wheels
- Paddle
- Yoke
- Motion Sensing
- Light Gun
- Rhythm Game Controllers
- Microphone
- Midi keyboard
- Sound Cards
- Speakers
- Headphone
- Onboard Audio
- Webcam
- Digital Camera
- Digital Camcorder
- Biometric Scanner
- Barcode Reader
Types of Input Devices with Examples
There are different types of input devices of computer; below explain each one –
- Pointing Devices
- Game Controller Devices
- Audio Input Devices
- Audio Output Devices
- Visual and Imaging Devices
Pointing Device
These are primary input devices because pointing devices create the input interface, with the help of this interface user help to control and feed the instructions to the PC using physical moving hand held devices like as mouse and more. Control the all positions of pointer on the screen of monitor with using pointing devices.
Examples of Input Pointing Devices are
- Mouse: With the help of mouse of computer, users can control a cursor, and select all types of text, files, icon on your computer screen.
- Trackball: In the Trackball, one small movable ball places on the surface and using this ball can move any direction on the computer screen.
- Touchpad: Touch pad is best alternative to mouse device. In which all input give to computer by touching to touch pad, mostly this devices embedded on the laptop.
- Pointing Stick: Pointing stick device shapes same as pencil eraser that placed between G, H and B key on the keyboard.
- Graphics Tablet: Graphics tablet is also known as drawing tablet. The main purpose of this device is to draw any types of sketch on his surface with using digital pen.
- Touch Screen: In the touch screen, users can select any text, file, and file with own fingers, without any other device.
- Light Pen: This shape like as pen, with using this input device to feed input directly by this pen on the computer screen with good accuracy.
- Stylus: Stylus input device is look like as small type pen shaped, purpose of this devices to give the input instructions to computer screen and graphic tablet.
- Motion Sensor: Motion sensors detect the motion input that given by user without any other input device.
- Interactive Smart board: This is special digital smart white board, user can control the computer with smart board, when write anything on the surface with the help to stylus and digital pen.
- Fingerprint Scanner: This device use for authenticate the user when they press their finger on the surface of fingerprint scanner.
- Multi-touch Screen: With the use of this technology, multiple uses can send input at the same time.
Game Controller Devices
These types of devices are designed for playing game with connect to a computer or other gaming system console. The main role of game controller devices is to all individual object, and character in your game.
Examples of Input Game Controller Devices are
- Game Pads: Game pad designs for playing game, and can be handled by both hand.
- Joysticks: Mainly, joysticks devices are designed for playing game, using this device can be control any character in the game.
- Steering Wheels: Look like as car steering, and use for changing the direction the any object in the game.
- Paddle: Paddle device is getting to move up and down direction, this input device is also useful to game console.
- Yoke: This yoke input devices are designed specially to flight simulation game.
- Motion Sensing: Motion sensing devices are capable to detect the real life motion, and produce the optimal result.
- Light Gun: Shape look like as real gun, main motive to design this device to shooting games.
- Rhythm Game Controllers: These types of game controller devices are made for music type’s game, for controlling the rhythm.
Audio Input Devices
With the help of audio input devices, user can send audio instructions to computer for different tasks such as processing, recording, and more. Many audio input devices work with speech recognition programs, because this software helps to translate spoken words into text document.
Examples of Audio Input Devices are
- Microphone: This device is able to convert sound waves into electrical waves.
- Midi keyboard: This device looks like as piano that is connect to computer via USB cable.
Audio Input/Output Devices
Some functionality require for audio and video convert into hear able voice that our ears can hear these voice. This functionality may be special hardware and processing system, and this task can be fulfill by “Audio output devices“.
Examples of Audio Input/Output Devices are
- Sound Card: This is external card which attached with motherboard for yielding the audio output information.
- Speaker: This is output hardware device that use for the producing the sound.
- Headphone: This device is wear on the head so its name is headphone, this device allow to user listen music without anyone.
- Onboard Audio: This circuit embedded internal y in the motherboard that produce the output in the form of sound, after processed data.
Visual and Imaging Devices
Visual and Imaging Devices allow to user for providing input to computer in the form of images and visual.
- Webcam: This device uses for capture the real time image, and it connects to computer.
- Digital Camera: Digital camera is able to store all images and videos store in digital form (memory chip) instead film (reel).
- Digital Camcorder: Digital camcorder devices are able to recording all video into real-motion.
- Biometric Scanner: Biometric scanner devices are using for security purpose, because these devices are capable to identify the persons.
Functions of Input Devices
To obtain all different types of data from various input devices such as keyboard can allows only alphanumeric information and tracking device feed spatial information, and convert all data into machine language like as 0, 1 form. Finally calculated data provide to computer memory.
Computer’s Input devices are electro mechanical devices which are providing the help to users for allowing inputting into computer system. But, computer can not able to understand these data, so input devices help to convert this data into machine readable format.
Then, computer easily understand by computer system, and this translated data keep store into main memory then finally transferred to Central Processing Unit (CPU) for later processing.
Uses of Input Devices
There are few essential uses of input devices; such as –
- To receive data from users for getting to further processing it
- To convert the provided data into binary form like as (0’s and 1’s).
- To broadcast the converted data into the primary memory of computer
