Output devices. Printers

Several devices are used for outputting information from the computer, but printers are sure to be the most commonly used output devices and to be components of almost all computer systems. We consider printers to provide information in a permanent and much more human-readable form than any other means. Printers vary greatly in performance and design.

We will classify printers as character printers, line printers and page printers in order to identify three different approaches to printing, each with a different speed range. In addition, printers can be described as either impact or non-impact. Printers that use electromechanical mechanisms that cause hammers to strike against a ribbon and the paper are called impact printers. Non-impact printers do not hit or impact a ribbon to print.

Character printers print only one character at a time. A typewriter is an example of a character printer. Character printers are the type used with literally all microcomputers as well as on computers of all sizes whenever the printing requirements are not large. Character printers may be of several types. A letter-quality printer is a character printer which produces output of typewriter quality. Such a printer has speeds ranging from 10 to 50 characters per second. Dot-matrix printers form each character as a pattern of dots. These printers are stated to have a lower quality of type. But they are generally faster printers than the first ones - in the range of 50 to 200 characters per second. One of the newest types of character printer is the ink-jet printer. It sprays small drops of ink onto paper to form printed characters. The ink has a high iron content, which is affected by magnetic fields of the printer. These magnetic fields cause the ink to take the shape of a character as the ink approaches the paper.

Line printers are electromechanical machines used for high-volume paper output on most computer systems. Their printing speeds are such that to an observer they appear to be printing a line at a time. They are impact printers. The speeds of them vary from 100 to 2500 lines per minute.

Page printers are high-speed non-impact printers. Their printing rates are so high that output appears to emerge from the printer a page at a time. A variety of techniques are used in the design of page printers. These techniques, called electrophotographic techniques, have developed from the paper copier technology. Laser-beam printers use a combination of laser beam and electrophotographic techniques to create printer output at a rate equal to 18000 lines per minute.

Answer the following questions:

1. What are the three types of printers? 2. What is a letter-quality printer? What is a dot-matrix printer? 3. What type of printer is the most common with microcomputer systems? 4. What is an impact printer? Give an example. 5. What is a non-impact printer? Give examples. 6. How do you distinguish between a letter-quality printer and a dot-matrix printer? Which of these printers is slower? 7. What types of character printers do you know? 8. How are printed characters formed by means of an ink-jet printer? 9. What are the main types of a line printer? Which of them is faster? 10. What techniques are used in the operation of page printers?

VOCABULARY EXERCISES

Exercise 1.Find the English equivalents in the text.

Введение информации; манипуляторы; мышь; трекбол; сенсорная панель; графические планшеты; цифровые камеры; сканеры; ТВ тюнеры; стандартная клавиатура; числовая и текстовая информация; световые индикаторы; клавиши; режим работы; презентация текста на мониторе; графический интерфейс; программные средства; управлять движением курсора; выбирать изображения; удерживать кнопки в нажатом состоянии; двойное нажатие; стирать объекты; вращать ролики; портативный компьютер; рукописный текст; разрешающая способность

Exercise 2.Remember the meaning of new words and try to translate the following word combinations.

То accomplish: accomplished; unaccomplished; accomplishment.

To adapt: adaptable; unadaptable; adaptability; unadaptability; adaptation; adapter.

To digitize: digit; digital; digitization; digitizer.

To erase: erasable; erasability; eraser; erasing; erasure.

To permit: permitted; permissible; permissibility; permission.

To print: printable; printed; printer; printing;

To scan: scanning; scanner.

To recognize: recognition; recognizer; recognizable; unrecognizable.

To respond: response; responsible; irresponsible; responsibility; irresponsibility.

To reverse: reversed; reversible; irreversible; reversion; reversibility.

To transform: transformer; transformation; transformational; transformative

Approach: comprehensive approach; database approach; self-study approach; step-by-step approach; trial-and-error approach.

GRAMMAR EXERCISES

Exercise 1.Translate the sentences

A: 1. It was not difficult for the pupils to understand the function of the mouse in computer operation. 2. There is no reason for computer experts to use computers of the first generation nowadays. 3. The mechanism is provided with special devices for the whole system to function automatically. 4. The text was very interesting but rather difficult for the students to translate it without a dictionary. 5. It is not easy for me to learn to speak English fluently.

B: 1. We know the machine to react to a series of electrical impulses that can be represented in binary numbers. 2. Scientists considered silicon to be one of the best materials for the creation of an IС. 3. We know all data to be translated into binary code before being stored in main storage. 4. Engineers expect these new devices to be tested very soon. 5. They want their son to become a computer operator and to design new computer models.

C:1. Printers are known to vary greatly in performance and design. 2. They are expected to be the most commonly used devices. 3. Magnetic fields are supposed to effect a high iron content of the ink. 4. The ink-jet printer is stated to be one of the newest types of character printers. 5. Electrophotographic techniques proved to have developed from the paper copier technology. 6. An impact printer is considered to produce a printed character by impacting a character font against the paper. 7. Dot-matrix printers seem to have a lower quality of type. 8. The most common printer type used on larger systems is sure to be the line printer. 9. A lot of techniques are believed to be used in the design of printers. 10. A laser is certain to be an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.

Exercise 2.Translate the following sentences with the infinitive and infinitive constructions.

1. The principal thing to be understood is that the computer has become the most powerful tool in many spheres of life. 2. The computer is regarded to save many years of monotonous work performed by hand. 3. Some people believe computers to be able to solve problems yet unsolved by man. 4. Computers are able to control power stations and docks. 5. Nowadays computers are considered to be complicated machines for performing a great number of tasks. 6. Computers are known to be used in astronomy and upper atmospheric research. 7. You know computers to help in different spheres of today's life. 8. This machine is known to use unique language for solving problems. 9. Two entirely different things can be shown to have a likeness by mathematical equations.

Exercise 3.Translate the sentences using the words and word combinations of two previous lessons.

1. Основная функция этого устройства состоит в том, чтобы измерять поток данных. 2. Считается, что среда устройства ввода-вывода связанна с человеком или независима от него. 3. Преобразование в двоичный код – обязательная операция в данном случае. 4. Важно точно и быстро настроить устройство ввода-вывода по отношению к внешней среде. 5. Для печати этих 3-х страниц ему пришлось включить цветной принтер. 6. Файл, который должен быть прочитан и копирован, находиться в этой папке. 7. Требовалось, удерживать кнопки в нажатом состоянии. 8. Предполагается, что эти устройства смогут читать рукописный текст. 9. Известно, что все принтеры отличаются по рабочим характеристикам и внешнему виду. 10. Несомненно, мышью было легче управлять движением курсора. 11. Они предполагали, что струйные принтеры скоро будут заменены современными устройствами. 12. Тестирование показало, что точечно-матричные принтеры быстрее, чем принтеры с типографическим качеством печати.

Exercise 4.Translate the sentences.

A

1. There was a time when only privileged people had an opportunity to have their own PC at home. 2. In an information society a person who is computer-literate should not be an expert on the design of computers. 3. The basic job of computers is to process information. 4. It provides the data needed to solve the problem. 5. It can find the solution to a problem in a fraction of the time it takes a human being to do a job. 6. Computer-controlled robots are able to improve the equality of manufactured products and to increase the productivity of industry. 7. Without computer terminals it would be impossible to make inquires about the current status of customer accounts. 8. The quick development of electronics is known to begin with the invention of the transistors. 9. The data to be processed today is highly important to the further program development.10. We know a binary digit to take only two values – ‘zero’ and ‘one’.

B

1. He needn’t even know much about how to prepare programs, which are the instructions that direct the operations of computers. 2. Many people have an opportunity to use computers. 3. One of the most common methods of inputting information is to use floppy disks. 4. A computer can solve a series of problems and make thousands of the logical decisions without becoming tired. 5. There are times when a computer seems to operate like a mechanical ‘brain’. 6. We know floppy disks to replace magnetic tapes and disks. 7. IBM is sure to remain a major player in the personal computer marketplace. 8. To be acceptable by the computer the instructions should be encoded in a digital form. 9. To retrieve any information in different ways is easy to the computer. 10. These data is expected to become useful for us information after being processed.

C

1. To use modems was the next step in the further computer development. 2. The computer to be used in this case solved only a specific problem. 3. We use the term ‘data processing system’ to include the resources applied for processing of information. 4. To process data is operations on data to convert them into useful information. 5. Information is known to be put into the computer by coding into ones and zeros. 6. Most processors are certain to include computer software. 7. Video displays are likely to have replaced printers for many applications. 8. Engineers to modify designs commonly use the light pen. 9. Applications software is the program written to solve specific problems. 10. Computer memory must be able to locate all its content quickly upon demand.

D

1. The time required for the computer to locate and transfer data to and from the storage medium is called the access time for that medium. 2. They suppose the words ‘computer’ and ‘processor’ to be used interchangeable. 3. Computers, when properly programmed, are unlikely to make computational errors. 4. The first microprocessors are stated to be relatively slow devices. 5. The printer copy to be required was found by the user in time. 6. Scanners are shown to provide a capability for direct data entry into the computer system. 7. All the microcomputers require some instructions to get started after they are turned on. 8. We can consider it to be a personal computer. 9. The data to be scanned may be typed or may have handwritten characters. 10. This microprocessor is certain to have clear advantages over the other types.

Exercise 5.Be ready to speak about input devices (10-15 sentences) and output devices (10-15 sentences)

LESSON VIII

Exercise 1.Read new words and word combinations.

sequence – последовательность sequential - последовательный, логический

Exercise 2.The following terms you should learn.

contorol unit - CU arithmetic-logical unit - ALU

to specify – специфицировать; устанавливать, выставлять (об опциях)

to enable – разрешать, включать, запускать в работу

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