Output Devices

Human beings communicate with each other by talking, writing, or making actions. The computer communicates through devices like the monitor (VDU - Visual Display Unit) and printer. These devices, which aid in the communication of data and information from machine to man, are called output devices.

Function of Output Devices

Output devices help the computer to communicate with us by converting electric signals to human understandable signals.

Examples of Output Devices

Examples of output devices include Visual Display Unit (VDU), Printer, Plotter, and Speaker. The output on the VDU is called soft-copy output, whereas the output on paper, produced by printers and plotters, is referred to as hard copy output.

Visual Display Unit

The most popular output device is the Visual Display Unit (VDU), also sometimes referred to as a Monitor. The monitor displays output in a form that we understand. The VDU output is also referred to as soft-copy output.

Printer

A printer is an output device that produces a hard copy of data. The resolution of printer output is expressed as DPI(Dots Per Inch).

Plotters

A plotter is a special-purpose output device that draws images with ink pens. The plotter is used for making sophisticated graphics, charts, maps, and three-dimensional graphics, as well as high-quality prints. Plotters can also produce larger-sized documents.

Speacker

Speakers are standard output devices used with computer systems that enable the listener to listen to a sound as an outcome. Some speakers are used once they have been linked to a computer, while others may be connected to any type of sound system.