COS/CSC 101/111

LECTURE 3
INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTING
DR. ZUBAIR ADAM
DEAPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
LAGOS STATE UNIVERSITY 1
 Course Overview

 Introduction to & History of Computer

 Basic Computer Configuration
 Hardware (Input, Storage and Output Devices)
 Software (Operating System, Application Software, etc.)
 Internet
 Using personal computers as effective problem-solving tools for the
present and future.​
 Computer application areas and technological trends.
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Hardware

 The hardware refers to the physical components or functional units of a computer which make up the
computer configuration
 The design and construction of the hardware of a particular computer is referred to as its architecture or
configuration
 The hardware components provide the physical interface to a computer system
 The hardware is divided into three areas or separate units for its operation:
 Central Processing Unit (CPU) or Processor
 Main Memory
 Peripheral Units or Electrical Gadgets

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Functional Units of a computer

 The physical parts that make up a computer consists mainly of four basic units, these parts are known as
hardware, namely:
 Input unit,
 Storage unit,
 Central Processing Unit (CPU) or Processor
 Output unit.
 Any hardware device connected to the computer or any part of the computer outside the CPU and the
working memory is known as a Peripherals
 Central Processing unit further includes Arithmetic logic unit and control unit, as shown in the Figure

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Functional
Units of a
computer

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Hardware
Components

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Functional Units of a computer

 A computer performs five major operations or functions irrespective of its size and make. These are
1. it accepts data or instructions as input,
2. it stores data and instruction
3. it processes data as per the instructions,
4. it controls all operations inside a computer, and
5. it gives results in the form of output.

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 Input Devices

 Input Devices
 Examples of Input Device
 Keyboard
 Pointing Devices
 Graphic and Video Input Devices
 Audio Input Devices

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 Input Devices

Any peripheral (piece of computer hardware

equipment) used to provide data and control signals to
a computer.
Allows the user to put data into the computer.
Without any input devices, a computer would only be a
display device and not allow users to interact with it.
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 Examples of Input Device

• Keyboard
• Mouse
• Touchscreen
• Graphic tablet
• Microphone
• Scanner
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 Keyboard

• One of the primary input devices used with a

computer.
• The keyboard looks very similar to the keyboards of electric typewriters,
with some additional keys.
• Keyboards allow a computer user to input letters, numbers, and other
symbols into a computer
• Uses an arrangement of buttons or keys.
• Requires pressing and holding several keys simultaneously or in
sequence.
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Keyboard

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 Types of Keyboard

• Standard
• Laptop
• Gaming and Multimedia
• Thumb-sized
• Virtual
• Foldable

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 Standard

• Desktop computer keyboards, such as the

101-key US traditional keyboards or the
104-key Windows keyboards, include
alphabetic characters, punctuation symbols,
numbers and a variety of function keys.

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 Laptop Keyboard

• The laptop computer keyboard is a

small version of the typical QWERTY
keyboard.
• A typical laptop has the same
keyboard type as a normal keyboard,
except for the fact that most laptop
keyboards condense the symbols into
fewer buttons to accommodate less
space. 15
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 Gaming and Multimedia Keyboard

• The gaming keyboards are

designed for the convenience of
the gamers and these types of
keyboards provide the required
controls on the keyboards like
back lighting.
 Thumb-sized keyboard

• Smaller external keyboards have

been introduced for devices
without a built-in keyboard, such
as PDAs, and smartphones.
• Small keyboards are also useful
where there is a limited
workspace.
 Virtual Keyboard

• The virtual keyboards are

not actually physical
keyboards, but they are
simulated using a
software.
 Foldable Keyboard

• Foldable keyboards are

extremely good for
travelling.
• Simply roll them up and
then unroll them when
you need them again.
 Keyboard Layouts

• QWERTY
• QWERTZ
• AZERTY
• DVORAK
 Keyboard Layouts
QWERTY

• Most Common layout

 Keyboard Layouts
QWERTZ

• Used in Germany, Hungary and Czech Republic

 Keyboard Layouts
AZERTY

• It is used by most French speakers based in Europe

 Keyboard Layouts
DVORAK

• Alternative for QWERTY

• Dvorak layout uses less finger motion, increases
typing rate, and reduces errors compared to the
standard QWERTY
CSCA0101 Computing Basics

Key Types

Key Type Example

Alphanumeric A-Z, 0-9

Punctuation .,!“?

Modifiers Shift, Space Bar, Enter, Ctrl, Alt

Navigation Arrows, Home, Page Up

System Command PrtScn, Esc, F1, Start

 Function keys

• The Function keys or F1 through F12 keys are

used in programs as shortcut keys to performed
frequently performed tasks.
• For example, the F1 key is the key to open the
online help for most programs.
 Control Keys

• The Control keys are what give you

additional control of a document.
 Keypad

• Although not available on all computer

keyboards, especially laptops; the keypad gives
the user a quick access to numbers and math
functions such as plus, divide, times, and
subtract.
 Arrow keys

• The arrow keys are four directional arrow

keys that allow the user to move their
cursor and position on a page.
 Keyboard Shortcut Keys

Shortcut Keys Description

Alt + F File menu options in current program.
Alt + E Edit options in current program
F1 Universal Help in almost every Windows program.
Ctrl + A Select all text.
Ctrl + X Cut selected item.
Shift + Del Cut selected item.
Ctrl + C Copy selected item.
Ctrl + Ins Copy selected item
Ctrl + V Paste
Shift + Ins Paste
Ctrl + P Print the current page or document.
Home Goes to beginning of current line.
Ctrl + Home Goes to beginning of document.
End Goes to end of current line.
Ctrl + End Goes to end of document.
Shift + Home Highlights from current position to beginning of line.
Shift + End Highlights from current position to end of line.
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Ctrl + Left arrow Moves one word to the left at a time.
Ctrl + Right arrow Moves one word to the right at a time.
 Pointing Devices

• A pointing device is a hardware input

device that allows the user to move the
mouse pointer to select items on a display
screen.
• Types of pointing device:
– Based on rolling a ball
– Based on touching a surface
– Based on moving stick
 Pointing Devices

Based on rolling a ball

• Example:
– Mouse
– Trackball
 Mouse

• A device that controls the

movement of the cursor or
pointer on a display screen.
• The mouse is important for
graphical user interfaces because
user can simply point to options and
objects and click a mouse button.
 Type of Mouse

Pointing Devices
• Mechanical: Has a rubber or
metal ball on its underside that
can roll in all directions.
• Optical: Uses a laser to
detect the mouse's
movement.
 Trackball

• A trackball is a mouse lying on its

back.
• To move the pointer, you rotate the
ball with your thumb, your fingers, or
the palm of your hand
• It does not require much space to
use it
 Based on touching a surface

• Example:
– Touchpad
– Graphic tablet
– Touch screen
– Light pen
– Stylus
 Touchpad

• A small, touch-sensitive pad used

as a pointing device on some
portable computers.
• By moving a finger or other object
along the pad, you can move the
pointer on the display screen.
 Graphic Tablet

• A graphics tablet (or digitizer,

digitizing tablet, graphics pad,
drawing tablet) is a computer
input device that allows one to
hand- draw images and
graphics, similar to the way
one draws images with a
pencil and paper.
 Touchscreen

• A touchscreen is an
electronic visual display that
can detect the presence and
location of a touch within the
display area.
• The term generally refers to
touching the display of the
device with a finger or hand.
 Light Pen

• A light pen is a computer input

device in the form of a light- sensitive
wand used in conjunction with a
computer's CRT display.
• It allows the user to point to displayed
objects or draw on the screen in a
similar way to a touchscreen but with
greater positional accuracy.
 Stylus

• A stylus is a small pen-shaped

instrument that is used to input
commands to a computer
screen, mobile device or
graphics tablet.
 Pointing Device
Based on moving stick

• Example:
– Joystick
– Gamepad
 Joystick

• A joystick allows an
individual to move an
object in a game such as
navigating a plane in a
flight simulator.
 Input Devices

• A gamepad, game controller,

joypad, or video game controller is
a peripheral device designed to be
connected to a computer or console
gaming system.
• It has multiple buttons and may
have one or two mini joysticks.
 Imaging and Video Input Devices

• Used to digitize images or video from the outside

world into the computer.
• Example:
– Digital camera
– Webcam
– Optical scanner
– 3D scanner
– Fingerprint scanner
– Barcode reader
 Digital Camera

• A camera that stores the pictures or

video it takes in electronic format
instead of to film.
• Digital cameras have become the
camera solution for most users today as
the quality of the picture they take has
greatly improved and as the price has
decreased.
 Webcam

• A webcam is a hardware
camera connected to a
computer that allows anyone
connected to the Internet to
view either still pictures or
motion video of a user or
other object.
 Optical Scanner

• An optical scanner is a hardware input device that allows a

user to take an image or text and convert it into a digital file,
allowing the computer to read or display the scanned
object.
• Two types of scanner:
– Flatbed
– Hand-held
Image Scanner

Flatbed Scanner Hand-held Scanner

 Image Scanners

Flatbed Scanner Handheld Scanner

Flatbed scanners look similar to a small Hand-held scanners are used for
photocopier with the document entering text and images that are less
remaining flat and stationary during the than a page wide. Hand- held scanners
scanning are adequate for small pictures and
photos but are difficult for entire pages.
 3D Scanner

• A 3D scanner is a device that

analyzes a real-world object or
environment to collect data on its
shape and possibly its appearance
(i.e. color).
• The collected data can then be used
to construct digital, three dimensional
models.
LiDAR Scanning

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 Fingerprint Scanner

• A fingerprint scanner or
fingerprint reader is a
hardware device that verifies a
user or enters password
information by scanning their
finger.
 Barcode Reader

• A barcode reader or scanner is a

hardware device capable of
reading a barcode and printing out
the details of the product or
logging that product into a
database.
 Audio Input Devices

• Audio input devices allow a user to

send audio signals to a computer for
processing, recording, or carrying
out commands.
• Example:
– Microphone
– MIDI keyboard
 Input Devices

• A microphone is a
hardware peripheral that
allows computer users to
input audio into their
computers.
 MIDI Keyboard

• A MIDI (Musical Instruments Digital Interface)

keyboard is typically a piano-style user interface
keyboard device used for sending MIDI signals to a
computer.
• MIDI information is sent to a computer that capable
of reproducing an array of digital sounds or samples
that resemble traditional analog musical
instruments.
 Output Devices

 Output Devices
 Examples of Output Device
 Printer
 Monitor
 Speakers
 Projector

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 Output Devices

Any peripheral that receives or displays output from a

computer.
Computer hardware equipment used to communicate the
results of data processing carried out by a computer to the
outside world.

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 Examples of Output Device

• Monitor
• Printer
• Speakers
• Projector

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 Monitor

• The device which displays computer output.

• The monitor displays the video and graphics
information generated by the computer through
the video card.
• Monitors are very similar to televisions but usually
display information at a much higher resolution.
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 Monochrome Monitor

Monochrome Monitor
• A monochrome monitor is a type of CRT
computer display which was very common in
the early days of computing, from the 1960s
through the 1980s, before colour monitors
became popular.
• They are still widely used in applications such
as computerized cash register systems
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 Monochrome Monitor

• Monochrome monitors actually display

two colours, one for the background and
one for the foreground.
• The colours can be black and white, green
and black, or amber and black.

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 Colour monitor

• Colour monitors can display

anywhere from 16 to over 1 million
different colours.
• Colour monitors are sometimes called
RGB monitors because they accept
three separate signals -- red, green,
and blue.
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 Types of CMonitor

• Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)

• Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)
• Light-emitting Diode (LED)

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Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)

 Large
 Heavy
 Produce heat
 Not expensive

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Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)

 Less space
 Lighter
 Low power consumption
 Expensive
 Limited viewing angle

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Light-emitting Diode (LED)

 Less space
 Lighter
 Very expensive
 Provide higher contrast and better viewing angles
than LCD monitor

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Monitor Features

Screen Size
 The actual amount of screen space
that is available to display a picture,
video or working space
 Desktop screens are usually 14 - 25
inches by diagonal measurement.

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 Monitor Features

Aspect Ratio
 The aspect ratio of a display is the fractional relation of the width of
the display area compared to its height.
 Two common aspect ratio:
 – 4:3
 – 16:9
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Monitor Features

Aspect Ratio

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 Monitor Features

Display Resolution
• The resolution of a monitor indicates how densely packed the pixels are.
• In general, the more pixels (often expressed in dots per inch), the sharper
the image.
• Most modern monitors can display 1024 by 768 pixels, the SVGA
standard.
• Some high-end models can display 1280 by 1024, or even 1600 by 1200

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 Monitor Features

Display Resolution

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 Monitor Features

Refresh Rate
• The refresh rate is the number of times in a second that a monitor draws the
data.
• The refresh rate for a monitor is measured in hertz (Hz)
• The standard refresh rate is 75Hz, this means that the monitor redraws the display
75 times per second.
• A flickering monitor can contribute to eyestrain and
headaches.
• The faster the refresh rate, the less the monitor
flickers.
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 Monitor Features

Colour Depth
• Colour depth describes how many colours that can be displayed on a
monitor's screen.
• Common colour depths used by monitor:
– 4-bit (EGA) = 16 colours
– 8-bit (VGA) = 256 colours
– 16-bit (High Colour) = 65,536 colours
– 24-bit (True Colour) = 16 million colours
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 Monitor Features

Color Depth

EGA VGA
Monitor Monitor
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 Printer

• Printer is an external hardware device responsible

for taking computer data and generating a hard
copy of that data.
• Printers are one of the most used peripherals
on computers and are commonly used to print
text, images, and photos.
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 Types of Printer

Printers can be categorized into:

• Impact Printer
• Non-Impact Printer

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 Impact Printer

• It strikes paper and ribbon together to form a character, like a

typewriter.
Advantages Disadvantages
• Less expensive • Noisy
• Can make multiple copies with • Print quality lower in some
multipart paper types
• Poor graphics or none at
all
• Slow
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 Impact Printer

Daisy-wheel
• Similar to a ball-head typewriter, this type of printer has a plastic
or metal wheel on which the shape of each character stands out
in relief.
• A hammer presses the wheel against a ribbon, which in turn
makes an ink stain in the shape of the character on the paper.
• Daisy-wheel printers produce letter-quality print but
cannot print graphics. 80
 Impact Printer

Daisy-wheel

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Impact Printer

Dot-Matrix
 Creates characters by striking
pins against an ink ribbon.
 Each pin makes a dot, and
combinations of dots form
characters and illustrations.

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 Non-Impact Printer

• It uses ink spray, toner powder or inkless

Advantages Disadvantages
• Quiet • More expensive
• Can handle graphics and often • Occupies a lot of space
a wider variety of fonts than • The cost of maintaining it is
impact printers high
• Fast

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Non-Impact Printer

Laser Printer (Toner-based)

• A laser printer rapidly produces
high quality text and graphics.
• Laser printers are often used in
corporate, school, and other
environments that require print
jobs to be completed quickly
and in large quantities.
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 Non-Impact Printer

Multifunction Printer
(Toner-based)
• An MFP is an office machine which
incorporates the functionality of
multiple devices in one.
• A typical MFP may act as a
combination of some or all of the
following devices:
– Printer
– Scanner
– Photocopier
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– Fax
 Non-Impact Printer

Ink-jet Printer
• Inkjet printer operates by propelling
variably-sized droplets of liquid or
molten material (ink) onto almost
any sized page.
• They are the most common type of
computer printer used by
consumers.
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 Non-Impact Printer

Thermal Printer (Inkless)

• Thermal printers work by selectively
heating regions of special heat-
sensitive paper.
• These printers are commonly used
in calculators and fax machines; and
although they are inexpensive and
print relatively fast, they produce low
resolution print jobs.
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 Printing Speed

The printing speed is measured in:

• cps (characters per second)
• lpm (lines per minute)
• ppm (pages per minute)
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 Plotter

• The plotter is a computer printer for printing vector

graphics
• Plotters are used in applications such as computer- aided design
such as diagrams, layouts, specification sheets and banners
• The plotter is capable of producing color drawings in a matter of
minutes
• Plotters differ from printers in that they draw lines using a pen
• Plotters are considerably more expensive than printers
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Plotter

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Speakers

 A hardware device connected to a

computer's sound card that outputs sounds
generated by the computer.
 Speakers can be used for various sounds
meant to alert the user, as well as music and
spoken text

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Headphones

 Headphones give sound output from the computer.

 They are similar to speakers, except they are
worn on the ears so only one person can hear
the output at a time.

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Projector

 An output device that can take the display of

a computer screen and project a large
version of it onto a flat surface.
 Projectors are often used in meetings and
presentations so that everyone in the room can
view the presentation.

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 Types of projector

• Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) projector

• Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) projector
• Digital Light Processing (DLP) projector

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