Output Devices

An output device displays information on a screen, creates printed copies or generates sound.  A monitor, printer, and speakers are examples of output devices.

 

Some Common Output Devices:

Monitors and Displays

• Shows the processed information on a screen

A monitor uses a Picture Tube like a television with the image displayed on the front of the tube, which is called the screen. 

 

 Displays are flat and use plasma, LCD, active-matrix, or some other technology.

 

• Monitors used to be called Cathode Ray Tubes (CRTs) because of the picture tube, which is a large vacuum tube. 
• A monitor or display produce a soft copy.  When the device is turned off the information goes away.
• Monitors are slowly being replaced by flat panel displays.

Printers

• Printers produce a hard copy
• The information is printed on paper and can be used when the device is off.
• It is also called a printout

Dot-matrix printers (impact printer)

• Uses metal pins to strike an inked ribbon to make dots on a piece of paper.
• Can see the dots that make up the letters or images.
• Lowest print quality of all of the printers.
• Very low in cost per page to use.
• Rarely used today because of the poor print quality, but still used in business to print multi-part forms.

Ink jet printers (non-impact printer) 

 

• Use drops of magnetic ink to produce dots on a page to produce text or images.
• The print quality is almost the same as a laser printer's.
• Problems with the ink
• The ink is very expensive
• The ink is water soluble and will run if the paper gets wet
• Highest cost per page of all the printers
• For producing color documents, it has the highest quality at a reasonable price.

Laser printers (non-impact printer)

• How the laser printer produces an image
• A laser or LEDs make dots on a light sensitive drum
• Toner (very tiny particles of plastic) stick to the drum where the dots where made
• Paper is pressed against the drum and the toner is placed on the paper
• The paper is heated and the toner melts into the paper
• Produces the highest quality printout
• For black and white printouts, very low cost per page
• Printout is permanent

Color laser printers are still fairly expensive ($3,000 to $10,000



Speakers

• used to output sound

Source: http://dragon.ep.usm.edu/~it365/module/Basics/output.htm