Input devices allow users to input data and instructions into a computer system. The keyboard and mouse are commonly used input devices that allow typing and pointing respectively. Other input devices include microphones, touchpads, light pens, digital cameras, optical mark readers, barcode readers, scanners, and touch screens, each of which facilitates a different type of input such as audio, hand gestures, drawings, photographs, test responses, product codes, documents, and touch interactions.

1. Dr B T Sampath Kumar
Professor
Department of Library and Information Science
Tumkur University, Tumakuru, INDIA
www.sampathkumar.info
Input Devices

2. Hardware
• The term hardware refers to the physical
device that you can see and touch in a
computer system.
• The input, output, storage, control and
processing devices are hardware
components of a computer.

3. Input device
• Input device is an external device that is
connected to the CPU.
• It is used to feed data and instructions.
– Keyboard
– Mouse
– Light pen
– Microphone

4. Cont..
– Touch pad
– Digital Camera
– Optical Mark Reader (OMR)
– Barcode Reader
– Scanner
– Touch screen

5. Keyboard
• It is the most commonly used input device.
• It is used to enter numerical and character
type data.
• It is like a mechanical typewriter with
alphabetical and special keys.

6. Mouse
• Mouse is a small hand held pointing device.
• It is a hand-held pointing device that
detects two-dimensional motion relative to a
surface.
• This motion is typically translated into the
motion of a pointer on a display, which allows
a smooth control of the graphical user
interface of a computer.

7. Microphone
• Microphone is abbreviated as mic.
• It is a hardware peripheral and input
device originally invented by Emile
Berliner in 1877.
• A microphone allows computer users
to input audio into computer.

8. Touch pad
• It a specialized surface that can translate the
motion and position of a user's fingers to a
relative position on the operating system.
• Touchpad is a common feature of laptops and
also used as a substitute for mouse.

9. Light pen
• A light pen is a computer input device used in
conjunction with a computer's CRT display.
• It allows the user to point to displayed objects
or draw on the screen in a similar way to a
touchscreen but with greater positional
accuracy.

10. Web camera
• A webcam is a video camera that feeds images
or video in real time to or through
a computer to a computer network.
• It can be used during a video chat session
involving two or more people, with
conversations that include live audio and
video.

11. Optical mark reader
• Optical mark reader reads pencil or pen marks
made in pre-defined positions on paper forms
as responses to questions or tick list prompts.
• The OMR data entry system contains the
information to convert the presence or
absence of marks into a computer data file.

12. Barcode reader
• A barcode reader is an electronic device for
reading printed barcodes.
• It consists of a light source, a lens and a light
sensor translating optical impulses into
electrical ones.

13. Scanner
• A scanner is a device that captures images
from photographic prints, posters, magazine
pages, and similar sources for computer
editing and display.
• Scanners come in hand-held, feed-in, and
flatbed types.
• They can also used for scanning black-and-
white only, or colour.

14. Touch screen
• A touchscreen is a computer screen that can
be used by touching it with a finger or
a stylus pen, instead of using
a mouse and keyboard.