Input Devices : Introduction

An information system can not do anything until you give it some information to process. Input devices transfer data into a computerised information system so that it can be processed.

An input device transfers data from the outside world into a computer.

There are two different categories of input device. They are :

• Manual Input Devices : With a manual input device the user must enter data into the computer by hand.
• Direct Data Entry (DDE) Devices : A direct data entry device can transfer information automatically from a source document such as a form or barcode into the computer. The user does not need to manually enter the information. Direct data entry devices are used when large volumes of data must be entered into the computer quickly.

There are many different input devices available. Each input device is suitable for a different purpose. Select an input device from the table below to find out about it or read through the rest of this topic to learn more about all of the different input devices.

Manual Input Devices
Keyboards	QWERTY Keyboard
	Concept Keyboard
Pointing Devices	Touch Screen
	Light Pen
	Mouse
	Tracker Ball
	Touch Pad
	Joystick
Graphics Capture	Graphics Tablet
	Scanner
	Digital Camera
	Video Capture
Sound Capture	Voice Recognition
	MIDI
Others	Remote Control
	Biometric Devices
	Sensors
Direct Data Entry (DDE) Devices
Code Numbers	Bar Codes
	Magentic Ink Character Recognition
	Magnetic Stripe Codes
	Smart Cards
Optical Input Methods	Optical Mark Recognition
	Optical Character Recognition
	Turnaround Documents / PDET

GCSE ICT Companion 04 - (C) P Meakin 2004