Input and output

Ergonomic Keyboard

An ergonomic keyboard is a computer keyboard designed with ergonomic considerations to minimize muscle strain and a host of related problems. Typically such keyboards are constructed in a V shape, to allow right and left hands to type at a slight angle more natural to the human form.




Ink Jet Printer


An inkjet printer is a type of computer printer that creates a digital image by propelling droplets of ink onto paper. Inkjet printers are the most commonly used type of printer and range from small inexpensive consumer models to very large professional machines, that can cost up to thousands of dollars. The emerging ink jet material deposition market also uses inkjet technologies, typically printheads using piezoelectric crystals, to deposit materials directly on substrates.




Laser Printer


A type of printer that utilizes a laser beam to produce an image on a drum. The light of the laser alters the electrical charge on the drum wherever it hits. The drum is then rolled through a reservoir of toner, which is picked up by the charged portions of the drum. Finally, the toner is transferred to the paper through a combination of heat and pressure. This is also the way copy machines work. Laser printers produce very high-quality print and are capable of printing an almost unlimited variety of fonts.




Magnetic Ink Character

Magnetic ink characters (MIC) are numbers, letters, or symbols that are usually used in conjunction with magnetic ink recognition technology. This technology is primarily used by the banking industry to read and sort checks using a process called Magnetic Ink Character Recognition or MICR. MICs are printed at the bottom of a check in the MICR line and are usually 3 or 4 sets of numbers and symbols.




Optical Character Recognition


Optical character recognition, usually abbreviated to OCR, is the mechanical or electronic translation of scanned images of handwritten, typewritten or printed text into machine-encoded text. It is widely used to convert books and documents into electronic files, to computerize a record-keeping system in an office, or to publish the text on a website. OCR systems require calibration to read a specific font; early versions needed to be programmed with images of each character, and worked on one font at a time.

Optical Mark Recognition

optical mark recognition, the technology of electronically extracting intended data from marked fields, such as checkboxes and fill-infields, on printed forms. OMR technology scans a printed form and reads predefined positions and records where marks are made on the form. This technology is useful for applications in which large numbers of hand-filled forms need to be processed quickly and with great accuracy, such as surveys, reply cards, questionnaires and ballots. A common OMR application is the use of "bubble sheets" for multiple-choice tests used by schools.