Any peripheral that receives or displays output from a computer.
In the picture to the right, is an inkjet printer and a
good example of an
output device that can make a hard copy of anything on a computer.
Below is a listing of all the different computer
output devices found on a computer.
- monitor
- printer
- projector
- sound card
- speaker
Monitor
Also called a video display terminal (VDT) and video display unit (VDU),
a monitor is a video display screen and the hard shell that holds it.
In its most common usage, monitor refers
only to devices that contain
no electronic equipment other than what is essentially needed to display
and adjust the characteristics of an image.
Like most TVs, the computer monitor has a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube)
that is found inside the computer monitor as illustrated in the picture to the right.
The CRT is the main component and most expensive part within your computer monitor.
Computer monitor help and support.
- To view or watch over someone or something.
Printer
An external hardware device responsible for taking computer data
and generating a hard copy of that data.
Printers are one of the most used peripherals on computers
and are commonly used to print text, images, or photos.
The image to the right is a visual example of the Lexmark Z605 Inkjet printer and is an example of what a printer may look like.
Printers
- Dot Matrix printer
- Inkjet printer
- Laser printer
- Thermal printer
- LED printer
Printer interfaces
- Firewire
- MPP-1150
- Parallel port
- SCSI
- Serial port
- USB
Projector
An output device that can take the display of a computer screen and
project a large version of it onto a flat surface.
Projectors are often used in meetings and presentations so that everyone in the room can view the presentation.
In the picture to the right, is a ViewSonic projector and an example of
what a projector may look like. Projectors used with computers are
small devices that are rarely much larger than a toaster and typically weigh a few pounds.
Sound card
Alternatively referred to as a sound board or an audio card, a sound card is an
expansion card or integrated circuit that provides a computer with the
ability to produce sound that can be heard by the user either over speakers or headphones.
Below is an image of the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio
sound card and an example of what a sound card may look like.
Below is a listing of some of the functions of a computer sound card.
Games
Audio CDs
Watch movies
Audio conferencing
Creating and playing Midi
Educational software
Business presentations
Record dictations
Voice recognition
Speaker
A term used to describe the user who is giving vocal commands to a software program.
A hardware device connected to a computer's sound card that outputs sounds generated by the card. To the right is a picture example of the Altec Lansing VS2221 speakers with subwoofer; speakers like the ones shown below are an example of what most computer speakers resemble today.
When computers were originally released they had onboard speakers that
generated a series of different tones and beeps.
As multimedia and games became popular, higher quality computers speakers began to be released for higher quality sound effects and music.
Computer sound cards today are not powerful enough to power a nice set of speakers.
Today, good quality speakers are self-powered, relatively small in size to fit on desks or on the side of monitors and contain magnetic shielding.
Speakers are generally rated in Frequency response, Total Harmonic Distortion and Watts.
The Frequency response is the rate of measurement of the highs and lows of the sounds the speaker and produce.
The THD, or Total Harmonic Distortion, is the amour of distortion created by amplifying the signal.
The Watts is the amount of amplification available for the speakers.