Data entered into a computer is called Input. The hardware which is helping us to give order or instruction to the computer system is called an Input Device. Input devices specially used for entering data into the system.
An Input Device is a used to provide data and control signals to an information processing system such as a computer or information appliance.
An Input Device is a hardware or peripheral device used to send data to a computer. An input device allows users to communicate and feed instructions and data to computers for processing, display, storage and/or transmission.
Some Input Devices are:-
• Mouse:-
A mouse is a small input device use to move the cursor in a computer screen to give any instruction to the computer and to run program and application.
A computer mouse is a pointing device (hand control) 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.
Mouse can be used to control the position of cursor on screen, but in cannot be used to enter text into the computer. With the mouse, we can control the movement of the pointer, often called Mouse Pointer, on a screen and make selections from the screen.
The mouse is generally available in two types:-
I. Scroll Mouse, II. Optical Mouse
I. Scroll Mouse:-
He scroll Mouse is wheeled mouse. It requires a special surface to work, such as a mouse pad. With advances it mouse technology, it appears that the venerable wheeled mouse is danger of extinction.
A scroll wheel is a hard plastic or rubbery disc on a computer mouse that is perpendicular to the mouse surface. It is normally located between the left and right mouse buttons.
II. Optical Mouse:-
Now days, the preferred device for pointing and clicking is the Optical Mouse, developed by Agilent Technologies and introduced to the word in late 1999. The optical mouse actually uses a tiny camera to take to take 1500 pictures every second. Able to work on almost any surface, the mouse has a small red Light Emitting Diode (LED) that bounces light off that surface onto a Complimentary Metal- Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) sensor.
• Keyboard:-
A keyboard typically has characters engraved or printed on the keys (buttons) and each press of a key typically corresponds to a single written symbol. However, to produce some symbols requires pressing and holding several keys simultaneously or in sequence. While most keyboard keys produce letters, numbers or signs, other keys or simultaneous key presses can produce actions or execute computer commands.
Through keyboard we can enter data easily to the system. Keyboard allows the user to entry Alpha, Numeric information directly.
The keyboard contains a small built-in processor. When we press a key, this processor detects it and sends a number (Binary Number) corresponding to the key (Scan Code) to the keyboard controller, located on the motherboard. This code is transmitted to the processor (CPU). The CPU then process it using a program called keyboard driver. The keyboard driver translates the codes into their corresponding characters.