Introduction to Computer Input Devices

An input device is essentially computer hardware that transmits data to a computer. Most input devices interact or manage the computer somehow. The most widely used input tools are the mouse and the keyboards, but many more. The main difference is that the former sends data to the computer while the latter extracts data from the computer. Often peripheral or auxiliary devices are referred to as input and output devices with additional characteristics.

List of Computer Input Devices

Now we are going to see some Computer input devices which are given as follows

1. Touchpad

A touchpad is a common replacement for a computer mouse, also known as the trackpad. This is primarily a complex surface that can sense the motion of the finger of a user and use it to operate the device. Touches for laptops were first introduced in the 1990s and a laptop without one is now rare.

2. Digital Camera

The collection of images and videos is performed separately using digital cameras. Later on, the video files and photos can be transferred to the computer by connecting with the camera to the cable directly and removing the memory card and placing it on the computer. The pictures may be edited, saved, emailed, or printed once they are on the computer.

3. Graphic Tablet

Graphical tablets are also called digitizers, which are input tools used for hand-drawn image conversion. With a stylus, the user draws on a particularly flat surface like a piece of paper. The drawing can be edited, saved, or displayed on the computer screen. Although scanners can produce digital images from drawings only, graphic tablets allow artists to see their drawings live as they make them, offering greater control and flexibility.

4. Touch Screen

Rather of the mouse, many apps today use a touch screen, drag, or pick user options on the monitor. As the name implies, a sensitive monitor reacts to the passing of fingers. Mobile devices are especially popular with touch screens such as laptops, palmtops, tablets, or smartphones.

5. Microphone

A mic is captured and sent to a device to a digital format. A microphone records audio. The audio can be played, copied, edited, uploaded, and e-mailed after the digitalization. Microphones can also be used as part of a video chat or audio stream to record audio or to transmit sounds live.

6. Scanner

In the computing world, the term “scanner,” but here I am using this to refer to a desktop image scanner, can be used in a variety of ways. In general, a scanner is an input device used for the transmission of images (or, often, text) through a machine with a digital image transformation of the signal. You can view the digital image on an edited, recorded, emailed, monitored screen or printed.

7. Keyboard

The most common form of the input device is keyboards. In general, interaction with computers using punch cards and paper tape was performed before keyboards. The QWERTY layout for alphabetic keys, surrounded by numbers, functions, symbols, and other key characters in most English-language keyboards. A user will insert data and instructions to the machine by pressing the corresponding keys.

8. Mouse

Every user who moves the mouse on a mouse pad moves the pad in the corresponding directions on the computer’s display screen, but this mouse communicates with a device in a mechanism known as a “point and click.” The electronic mouse idea is rooted in the trackball, which was invented in 1946 using a so-called roller ball to guide a pointer. Most contemporary computer mice have two click buttons and a wheel in the center to scroll up and down web pages.

9. Webcam

Digital cameras differ in two ways from Webcams. First, you can’t work independently of your computer, and second, you don’t have an integrated memory. Webcams are most commonly used as live streaming videos or for creating video chats, but they can capture images or videos.

10. Joystick

Joysticks are usual in computer video games for controlling characters and vehicles. A handle that rotates on the foundation and sends its angle or direction as data to the computer is essentially a joystick. Many video game joysticks have activators, buttons and arms to be pressed in games.

11. Light Pen

A light pen is a pen-like pointed device. It is used to select or draw images on a monitor screen from a displayed menu item. It consists of a photocell and a small tube optical system.

Conclusion

In this article, we have seen various Computer input devices that provide control signals and data to the computer system. You can choose any of them based on your requirement. I hope you will find this article helpful.

Introduction to Computer Input Devices