Plotter

Plotter:

A plotter is a computer hardware device much like a printer that is used for printing vector graphics. Instead of toner, plotters use a pen, pencil, marker or other writing tool to draw multiple, continuous lines onto paper rather than a series of dots like a traditional printer. Though once widely used for computer aided design, these devices have more or less been phased out by wide format printers. Plotters are used to produce a hard copy of schematics and other similar applications.

Figure: Plotter

Advantages of plotters:

1. Plotters can work on very large sheets of paper while maintaining high resolution.
2. They can print on a wide variety of flat materials including plywood, aluminum, sheet steel, cardboard, and plastic.
3. Plotters allow the same pattern to be drawn thousands of times without any image degradation.

Disadvantages of plotters:

1. Plotters are quite large when compared to a traditional printer.
2. Plotters are also much more expensive than a traditional printer.

Output Device

Output Device: 

An output device is an electromechanical device, which accepts data from a computer and translates them into a form, which is suitable for use by the users. The two principal kinds of output devices are hard copy, which is printed and softcopy, such as material shown on display screen. Several output devices are available today.

Figure: Output Devices

They can be classified into following categories:

• Printer
• Monitor
• Speaker or Headphone
• Projector
• Plotter, etc. 

Digital Camera

Digital Camera: 

Digital camera is rapidly replacing film-based camera. Once photographs are stored in memory, they are easily transferred to a computer a USB connection. Once saved, the images can be manipulated.

Figure: Digital Camera

Uses of Digital Camera:

1. Digital camera produces photographs for transfer to a computer directory of to print out by connecting directly to a printer.
2. Many digital cameras also allow short video clips to be produced.

Scanner

Scanner: 

Scanner is used to enter information on hard copy into a computer. The most common type is the flat bed which is made up of a glass panel and lid. The hard copy document or photo is scanned by a light source and produces a computer readable image.

Figure: Scanner

Uses of Scanner:

1. Scanners are used to scan in document and convert them into a format for use in various software packages.
2. Old and valuable documents and books can be scanned for records. Also non-digital photographs need to be scanned if they are to be stored on computer.

Magnetic Ink Character Reader (MICR)

Magnetic Ink Character Reader (MICR): 

MICR is the system which can dead characters printed in a special ink. Only certain characters written in a standard front can be read. Those characters are converted into a form that the computer can understand.

Figure: Magnetic Ink Character Reader (MICR)

Uses of MICR:

1. It is primarily used to processing cheques in banking operations.
2. MICR offers greater security than OCR and very reliable, low errors.