The document introduces decoders, which are logic circuits that take a binary input and activate only the corresponding output. Decoders have two or more inputs and one or more outputs created by combining logic gates. The number of outputs is equal to 2 to the power of the number of inputs, with each output representing a possible input combination. Decoders break down input combinations to activate only one output at a time, changing two outputs when the input changes. An example is a 1-to-2 line decoder that takes a single bit and decodes it to two data lines based on the input bit value.