1.5 Output Devices

Take data produced by a computer and turn it into a human-readable form

• The inkjet printers are sold at or below production cost • Ink cartridges are dramatically marked up

• Use dry powdered ink called toner • Print quality is excellent • Fast and reliable

• Strike an inked ribbon which imprints dots to form letters on the page • Useful where multi-part stationery is required • Can work effectively in damp or dirty atmospheres • Noisy, poor print quality and expensive to buy

Print 3D objects

• Manufacturing of prosthetic limbs or orthotics • Reconstructive surgery or general surgery • Manufacturing parts for cars

Blueprints of dangerous things could be distributed online

• Use a transponder and receiver • The powered receiver emits radio frequency and energy • The transponder antenna in the bank card, mobile phone or tag becomes energized by radio waves • The transponder can then send data to the receiver

• Security control points or identification of people, animals goods or valuables • Shopping and supply chain traking for goods • Banking and fast-payment systems • As a potential replacement for barcode systems

• Passive transponders used in bank cards for example, have no power source themselves and rely on the radio waves from the receiver for their energy

• Use a larger, battery powered beacon which can broadcast its own signal to receivers up to 300m away

Motors that are commonly used in conjunction with sensors to control a mechanism (opening a valve or door, starting a pump, turning a wheel o fan, moving an aircraft aileron)

Digital to analogue converter to convert digital data into analogue signal which is boosted using an amplifier and then sent to a speaker

• Contain groups of red, green and blue diodes to form each pixel • Require backlighting using Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps (CCFL) or LEDs as the crystals act as a light valve and do not emit light themselves

• LED reach their maximum brightness almost immediately • Image is sharper with more realistic and vivid colours • Produce a brighter and light, which leads to better picture definition • Since LEDs are very small, this allows the screens to be much thinner in construction • LEDs last almost indefinitely which makes the screens much more reliable • LEDs consume very little power and therefore produce very little heat as well and reduce running costs

• Much thinner and lighter than traditional LCD or LED screens • Plastic, rather than glass also makes them flexible • Light emitted from OLED is much brighter than LCD or LED

• Generate their own light so there is no need for complex backlighting • Much less power is consumed; good for battery operated devices • Little heat is produced, reducing fire risk • Have a larger FOV than LCD screens, and is further enhanced when the screen is curved

• Compact, high-resolution, full-colour projectors • Can project text, images, video and audio content • Typically the projector will be ale to input data from a computer, DVD/CD player or storage