Input Devices
It is common to divide
external computer hardware into two groups. The first group deals with
transferring data or commands from the user into the computer. These are known
as input devices. The most
obvious input devices are the mouse and keyboard, where pressing
keys or rolling the mouse and clicking the buttons causes the computer to
respond in some way to these instructions. When computers were first developed,
the only way to communicate with them was via the keyboard, but there are now a
plethora of different devices capable of inputting information into the
computer.
If you need to transfer
images into the computer you can use a scanner that acts like a
photocopier for the computer. Simply place your image on the scanner and after
it has been scanned, you will see the image on the screen. You can then use
software programs to alter the size, colour, contrast etc.
If you need to draw images
and have them displayed on the computer screen you can use the mouse, but this
is often compared to attempting to use a ‘brick’ to draw with. Many artists use
a graphics tablet and a stylus to more closely recreate the traditional
artistic tools.
Games players have a
wide range of hardware available to them to help them drive, fly, score,
and shoot more realistically than by using a mouse. The most common are joysticks but they can also choose steering wheels, gamepads, and headsets
REFERENCE
Copyright © 2004 Computing Services (EUCS), The University of Edinburgh.
All the information in EUCSinfo written by members of EUCS is copyright:Computing Services, the University of Edinburgh
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