Components Of Computer
Components of Computer is a very valuable chapter in fundaments of computer or basics of computer. You can understand Hardware and Software here.
Hardware
All components of the computer which can be seen, felt and touch is called hardware. It is or three types:
i) Input Devices: All devices through which the user can feed data to the computer system As Mouse, Keyboard, Joystick, Camera, Scanner, Light Pen, Bar Code Reader, etc.
ii) Output Devices: All devices through which the user can see the processed result, are called output devices As Projector, Monitor, Speaker, Printer, etc.
iii) Processing Devices: The devices which process our input to produce output. This is only one which is called CPU (Central Processing Unit).
Input Devices
Inputs are data or signals received by the computer system. An input unit takes the input and converts it into binary form.
Example:
Keyboard
Mouse
Scanner
Joystick
Touch Screen
Camera
Microphone
Keyboard
The keyboard is a set of Keys (Buttons) by which the user can feed textual data or commands. the standard arrangement of alphabetic keys is known as the QWERTY keyboard. A computer keyboard has the following keys:-
i). Alphabetic or Typewriter Keys:- It Includes numbers and letters.
ii). Punctuation or Symbolic Keys:- These include a comma(,), Period(.), Semicolon(;), etc.
iii). Special Keys:- These can be Function keys( F1 to F5), Combination Keys( Alt, Ctrl & Shift), Cursor movement keys (Arrow keys, Home, End, Page & Page Down), Lock Keys( Caps Lock, Num Lock & Scroll Lock), Modifier keys (Delete, Backspace & Insert) and some other keys such as Space bar, Tab key, Print Screen Key, windows Key, etc.
All the modern computer keyboard are classified as:-
>Original PC keyboard having 84 keys.
>Advance technology keyboard (Also known as Standard Keyboard) having 101-104 keys.
>Multimedia keyboard having 120-140 keys.
Mouse
A mouse is a small handheld pointing input device used to feed command (or Clickable input) to the computer. computer user pushes across a desk or plane surface in order to point to a place on a display screen. It is of two types:
i). Roller Mouse or Mechanical Mouse: Mechanical Mouse uses a ball for the movement of the cursor on the computer screen. When the ball is rolled in any direction, a sensor of the mouse detects it and also moves the mouse pointer in the same direction. It was costly but has lower efficiency.
ii). Optical Mouse: It is modern days mouse that reads data by emitting a laser beam on the surface. It is an advanced pointing device. Movement is detected by sensing changes in the reflected light rather than the motion of a rolling sphere.
Scanner
A scanner is an input device and is used to input data into the computer system in the form of a picture. It optically scans images, printed text, handwriting, or an object, and converts it to a digital image. Examples of scanners are desktop or flatbed scanner.
Joystick
The joystick is a remote control device for a computer that is used for playing video games to indicate the position. It is used for controlling machines such as cranes, trucks, underwater unmanned vehicles, flight simulators, industrial robots, etc.
Touch Screen
Touch screens are monitors/ electronic visual display screens which detect where they are being touched. The user makes selections by directly touching the screen.
The touch screen is being used in ATM machines for making it user-friendly and Kiosk machines are used for guiding travelers about their travel planes.
Camera
A Camera is an electronic device that takes video or still photographs or both, digitally by recording images via an electronic image sensor. Digital Cameras can do things that film cameras can't.
Microphone
A Microphone is an input device that helps us to give the input of sound to the computer by converting sound signals into electronic signals. It's widely used in mobile phones and electronic mics.
All the devices through which the user can see the processed result are called output devices.
Example:
Monitor
Printer
Plotter
Speaker
Monitor
The monitor is an output device that looks like a TV screen. With the help of it, users are able to see the processed result on a screen. There are mostly three types of the monitor:
i). CRT monitor: CRT stands for Cathode Ray Tube. The main components of a CRT monitor are the electronic beam controlled by an electromagnetic field and a phosphor-coated display screen. These older monitors are bulky and require a lot of space for installation.
ii). LCD monitor: LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display. It first introduced in watches and clocks in the 1970s, LCD is now used to display images in monitors. In this technology, liquid crystals are used to show images on the screen. These are lightweight monitors and are used in laptop computers.
iii). LED monitor: Light Emitting Diodes is the full form of LED. It is the latest technology which is being used nowadays for making high definition TV screen and monitors. In this technology, diodes are used to light up the screen instead of liquid crystal.
Printer
A printer is an external output device that takes data from a computer and generates output in the form of graphics/text on paper. It is of two types:
- Impact Printer
- Non-Impact Printer
Impact Printer: Impact printers use variations of the standard typewriter printing mechanism where a hammer strikes the paper through an inked ribbon. It can print text or images of fixed type font, style, and size. It is of two types:
- Character Printer: These printers can print only one character at a time. They work similarly to a typewriter. The examples are the Daisy Wheel Printer and Dot Matrix Printer.
- Line Printer: As the name suggests a line printer is a high-speed printer that is used to print one entire line of text at a time. Line printers are used to print a large amount of data. Its speed can be 300 to 2500 lines per minute. Examples are Drum Printer and Chain Printers.
Non-Impact Printer: Non-Impact printer is a type of printer that can print characters and images of any size and style. It uses chemical, heat, or electronic signals to produce symbols on paper. Some of these require specially coated or treated paper to print characters on them. Thermal Printer, Ink-Jet Printer, Laser Printer are some examples of it.
Plotters
A Plotter is a device that draws pictures on a page as output, after receiving a print command from the computer. It is also called a graph plotter. In plotters, pens are used to draw lines on the paper, Which is placed on the paper.
Speaker
Computer speakers or multimedia speakers are external speakers, commonly equipped with a low power internal amplifier that produces sound as output. External speakers are connected with a computer by using a plug and socket.
CPU (Central Processing Unit)
The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is the computer component that's responsible for interpreting and executing most of the commands from the computer's other hardware and software.
All sorts of devices use a CPU, including desktop, laptop, and tablet computers, smartphones... even your flat screen television set!
Intel and AMD are the two most popular CPU manufacturers for desktops, laptops, and servers, while Apple, NVIDIA, and Qualcomm are big smartphone and tablet CPUmakers.
You may see many different names used to describe the CPU, including processor, a computer processor, microprocessor, central processor, and "the brains of the computer.
Q). What are CPU cores?
Some devices have a single-core processor while others may have a dual-core(or quad-core, etc) processor. Having two processor units (or two cores) working side by side means that the CPU can manage twice the instructions every second, simultaneously, drastically improving performance.
Some CPUs can virtualize two cores for every one physical core, Which's known as Hyper-threading. This means a CPU that may only have 4 cores can function as if it has 8. Please know, however, that physical cores do perform better than virtual ones.
Some popular Intel CPUs and their cores
Core i3 → It's a dual-core processor, that has two physical cores. It supports Hyper-Threading, that's why it can work with 4 simultaneous threads (Still It's a dual-core processor).
Core i5 → It's a quad-core processor, that has 4 physical cores. It doesn't support Hyper-Threading, which means they, too can work with 4 threads (or cores) at the same time.
Core i7 → It supports Hyper-Threading technology and therefore (being quad-core), it can process 8 threads at the same time.
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Components of CPU
The Real Components of CPU are:
- ALU (Arithmetical & Logical Unit)
- CU (Control Unit)
- MU (Memory Unit)
ALU
ALU stands for Arithmetical & Logical Unit. The name itself tells that, it performs all arithmetic as well as logical calculation. It performs arithmetic operations like addition subtraction, multiplication, and division, and logical operations like file & folder creation, selection of any object, etc.
CU
CU stands for Control Unit. Its name itself tells that, it controls all hardware and software associated with the computer system. This unit controls the operations of all parts of the computer but does not carry out any actual data processing operations.
MU
Memory is the brain of the computer system where all data and information are stored in the form of binary digits. Memory plays an important role in saving and retrieving data and also holds the data and instructions that the CPU needs. The performance of the computer system depends upon the size of the memory as well.
Computer Memories are physical and of two types:
A)Primary Memory
B) Secondary Memory
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A).Primary Memory
Primary memory is also called Immediate Access Memory is a type of memory that stores programs and data which are currently needed by the CPU. The CPU communicates directly with the main memory for data. Primary memory has faster access time, smaller storage capacity, and higher cost per bit storage. It is already installed in the computer system.
It is of two types:
1) RAM
2)ROM
1).RAM
RAM stands for Random Access Memory also called Main Memory. It can randomly select and retrieve any location of the memory data going to be used by the processor. It is a volatile type of memory that can contain their data till the computer is on. Once the computer turned off its contents losses. It is of the following types:
S-RAM: It stands for Static Random Access Memory. It is faster, costlier, and consumes more power than D-RAM.
D-RAM: It stands for Dynamic Random Access Memory. It's cheap and consumes less power than S-RAM.
EDO RAM: It stands for Extended Data Output Random Access Memory.
SG RAM: It stands for Synchronous Graphic Random Access Memory.
DDR RAM: It stands for Double Data Rate Random Access Memory.
2).ROM
It stands for Read-Only Memory. As its name suggests its data can be read-only but never be modified or creased. It is non-volatile memory, i.e, the information stored in it, is not lost even if the power supply goes off. Information can not be written into a ROM by the users/programmers. In other words, the contents of ROMs are decided by the manufactures.
It is of three types:
P-ROM: It stands for Programmable Read-Only Memory. It is a memory chip on which data can be written only once and never be modified or creased. It is not possible for a user to modify it. To write data on a PROM chip, a special device is needed, called PROM Programmer or PROM Burner.
EP-ROM: It stands for Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory. As its name suggests stored data in EP-ROM can be erased by exposing ultra-violet light to it for about 20 minutes. This ROM is cheap and reliable.
EEP-ROM: It stands for Electrical Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory. As its name suggested its data can be erased and reprogrammed electrically. The chip can be erased within a few milliseconds. There is a limit on the number of times the EP-ROMs can be reprogrammed, i.e, usually around 10,000 times.
B).Secondary Memory
Secondary memory is a type of memory that stores data permanently. This is also called Mass Storage, Auxiliary Memory or External Memory. This memory is slower than the main memory during the storage and retrieval of data. This memory is larger in size than the main memory but the processor is unable to access it directly due to its offline link with the processor. This means that the data from secondary storage must be loaded into RAM before the processor starts processing it. The main memory links the secondary memory to the processor.
It is of two types:
1). Internal Memory:
All secondary memory which is inside the computer is called internal memory. Hard Disk is an example of it.
2). External Memory:
All secondary memory that is outside of the computer is called external memory. Such as Floppy disk, Pen drive, Memory card, DVD, CD, etc.
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