Which Devices are Computer Output Devices?
An output given by the computer can be in the form of a
display on the screen or a printed document or a song, that is played. Most of
the computer output devices are common to home as well as office environments.
At the same time, there are some devices, which are not as commonly available.
Having said that, let’s take a look at computer output devices list.
Monitor
A monitor is also called as video display terminal (VDT).
The visual display of the processed data, which the users can view is got
through the monitor. Computer monitors come in a variety of screen sizes and
not to forget visual resolutions. There are two types of computer monitors
available, namely CRT and flat panel. All monitors rely in a video card, which
is located on the motherboard to display the information. It is the video card,
which processes the data into images, which is eventually displayed on the
monitor.
Monitor
Printer
The next of the computer output devices is the
printer, which is an external hardware device, which takes processed data from
the computer to generate a hard copy of the data. After the monitors, printers
are the most used peripherals on computers and they are commonly used to print
text data, images, etc. There are three main types of computer printers, namely
ink jet, laser printers and dot matrix. Each of these printer type uses a
different technology to print the data.
Printer
Speaker
A speaker is a hardware device, that is connected to
a computer’s sound card, which outputs sound generated by the card. Audio data
generated by the computer is sent to the audio card, that is located in the
expansion slot. The card translates the data into audio signals, which are then
sent to either the speakers or headphones. In the initial phase, computers had
on-board speakers, which generated series of different tones and beeps. When
the popularity of multimedia and computer games grew, higher quality computer
speakers came into the market. These new speakers were known for higher quality
sound effects and music.
Speaker
Projector
It is a hardware device, with which an image like a
computer screen is projected onto a flat screen. Image data is sent to the
video card, by the computer which is then translated into a video image and
sent to the projector. A projector is often used in meetings or to make
presentations, because they allow for a large image to be shown, with which the
display is available for a large audience.
Projector
Plotter
Plotters, like printers, create a hard copy rendition
of a digitally rendered design. The design is sent to a plotter through a
graphics card and the image is created using a pen. In simple words, plotters
basically draw an image using a series of straight lines. This computer output
device is used with engineering applications.
Plotter
Discs
There are different types of discs, such as CD, DVD and
floppy discs, which are output devices, that are also used to store data, hence
they are also input devices at the same time. The data is sent to the disc and
the data is embedded on the disc, which is retrieved, when required.
Discs
This is computer output devices information in short. All
computers might not have all the computer output devices, but it certainly does
have one of the visual output device, namely either a monitor or projector.