Is Keyboard Input or Output Device? (Answered!)

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For decades, the keyboard has been the primary method of inputting data into a computer or any other data processing device.

In this post, you will find detailed information about input and output devices, whether a keyboard is an input or output device, and also about the other input devices.

It has, therefore, become increasingly important to understand the benefits of using a keyboard for input versus an alternative method.

What are Input Devices?

An input device is a piece of equipment that is used to enter data into a computer. They process the external data into a format understandable by the computer and transmit it to the CPU(Central Processing Unit).

The standard input devices are:

• Mouse,
• Keyboard,
• Touch screen,
• Trackball,
• Barcode reader,
• Scanner,
• Microphone,
• joystick,
• light pen,
• drawing tablet,
• voice recognition system,
• gamepad, etc.

What are Output Devices?

An output device is any piece of computer hardware that uses computer data and translates it into information that humans can understand.

Some common Output devices are:

• A Monitor displays in form of Text, Images, video,
• A speaker which outputs audio,
• A projector can project images or videos, or
• A printer can print information out of a computer to paper.
• A 3d Printer can create models in real life with 3d models as input from a Computer.

You can connect the output devices to the computer with cables or wirelessly. The output devices are the monitor, printer, projection equipment, and speakers.

Is Keyboard Input or Output Device?

A keyboard is an input device that is used to enter text, numbers, and other symbols into a computer.

In the case of a keyboard, the letters, and numbers are inputted to the computer by pressing the keys on them and the signal gets passed to the computer as input.

Why is Keyboard an Input Device?

A keyboard is an input device because it allows humans to enter data into a computer. A keyboard consists of keys that represent letters, numbers, and symbols.

When a user presses a key, the corresponding character is sent to the computer.

There are different types of keyboards available, all work with the same principle to take external input and convert it to a signal and send it to the computer in a way that your computer can understand.

What data is input into a keyboard?

The different types of data that can be inputted using a keyboard are as follows:

1. Numeric Data:

These are numbers ranging from 0-9. You can press the respective keys on your keyboard either on the Numpad on the right in case of a full-sized keyboard or in the top of the keyboard above the alphabet keys.

2. Alphabets:

You can enter Alphabets like A-Z and a-z either in Small case, upper case or any other format as required.

3. Symbols

You can also input special characters, Symbols as Allowed on your keyboard.

So, the keyboard takes Alphanumeric data and symbols as inputs, converts them into binary data, and transmits them to the computer.

Other Examples of Input Devices

Here are the very popular input devices:

Computer Mouse

The computer mouse, also known as a pointing device and the associated interface and navigation concepts, is a hand-held input device, often used with a personal computer. 

The mouse has a simple shape but has evolved to include additional features and buttons.

A mouse is used to manipulate objects on the screen.

A computer mouse is an input device.

Scanner

The scanner is a device that brings a document into a computer.

The documents can be a photo, a sheet from a book, a sheet from a newspaper, a magazine, etc.

Once the scan is complete, the software turns the information from the document into a digital file.

In addition, you can share the file by email, posted on a website, or print it out.

Conclusion

Let’s conclude the post.

If you would like to know about other peripherals like mouse, monitor, scanner, webcam, or printer if they are input or output devices, you can check here.

I hope you liked reading this post and have the answer that a keyboard is an input device.

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