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Graphics without display device could not be interactive; there could be the preview of correctness of
the image until it is plotted or printed. Basically, the outputs are of following two forms:-

(1) Joft Copy

(2) Hard Copy
Display Devices

Joft Copy Hard Copy

   
½he electronic version of output which usually resides in computer memory or on disk is
known as soft copy. Unlike Hard Copy, Joft Copy is not a permanent form of output. It is
transient (temporary) and is usually displayed on the screen. ½his kind of output is not tangible
(can not be touched). Joft Copy output includes audio visual form of output which is generated
using a computer. In addition, textual or graphical information displayed on the computer
screen is also a soft copy form of output.

Joft Copy Output is further divided into two parts:-

(1) CR½ (Cathode Ray ½ube)

(2) Flat Panel Display Devices.


Joft Copy

CR½ Flat Panel Display Devices

Refresh CR½ Non-Refresh CR½ Emissive Non-Emissive

Raster Jcan DVJ½ Plasma Panel LCD

Random Jcan ½hin-Film

Electro
Luminescent
Display

LED
 c
 

   

CR½ s or video monitors are the most common input/output devices on computer today.
Following fig (i) illustrate the basic operation of a CR½. A beam of electrons (cathode rays),
emitted by an electron gun, passes through focusing and deflection systems that direct the
beam towards specified position on the phosphor-coated screen. ½he phosphor then emits a
small spot of light at each position contacted by the electron beam. Because the light emitted by
phosphor fades very rapidly, some method is needed for maintaining the screen picture. One
way to keep the phosphor glowing is to redraw the picture repeatedly by quickly directing the
electron beam back over the same points again and again. ½his type of display is called a refresh
CR½.

  

(i) Electron Gun (EG)

(ii) Focusing Jystem
(iii) Deflection Jystem (Electrostatic deflection plate/Magnetic deflection coil)
(iv) Phosphor Coated Jcreen

Fig(i) ˜ 

 !
 
(i) ÿ" #: - EG contains two basic components: a heated metal cathode and a control
grid. Heat is supplied to the cathode by directing a current through a coil of wire, called the
filament, inside the cylindrical cathode structure. ½his causes the electrons to be ͞boiled off͟
the hot cathode surface. In the vacuum tube inside the CR½ envelope, the free, negatively
charged electrons are then accelerated towards phosphor coating by a high positive voltage.
½he accelerating voltage can be generated with a positive charged metal coating on the
inside of the CR½ envelope near the phosphor screen, or an accelerating anode can be used,
as shown in fig(ii). Jometimes the EG is built to contain the accelerated anode and focusing
system within the same unit.$
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Intensity of the electron beam is controlled by setting voltage levels on the control grid, which is
a metal cylinder that fits over the cathode. A high negative voltage applied to the control grid
will shut off the beam by repelling electrons and stopping them from passing through the small
hole at the end of the control grid structure. A smaller negative voltage on the control grid
simply decreases the number of electrons passing through. Jince the amount of light emitted by
the phosphor coating depends on the number of electrons striking the screen, we control the
brightness of a display by varying the voltage on the control grid. We specify the intensity level
for individual screen positions with graphics software commands.

½he purpose of the electron gun in the CR½ is to produce an electric beam with the following
properties:-

(a) It must be accurately focused so that it produces a sharp spot of light where it strikes
the phosphor.
(b) It must have high velocity, since the brightness of the image depends on the velocity of
the electron beam.
(c) Means must be provided to control the flow of electrons so that the intensity of the
trace of the beam can be controlled.

  $
 : - ½he focusing system in a CR½ is needed to force the electron beam to
converge into a small spot as it strikes the phosphor. Otherwise, the electron beam would
spread out as it approaches the screen. Focusing is accomplished with either electric or
magnetic fields. Electrostatic focusing, the electron beam passes through a positively
charged metal cylinder that forms an electrostatic lens. ½he action of the electrostatic lens
focuses the electron beam at the center of the screen, in exactly the same way that an
optical lens focuses a beam of light at a particular foal distance. Jimilar lens focusing effects
can be accomplished with a magnetic field set up a coil mounted around the outside of the
CR½ envelope. Magnetic lens focusing produces the smallest spot size ion the screen and is
used in special purpose devices. 
 
 : - It is used to control the direction of the electron beam. As with
focusing, deflection of the electron beam can be controlled either by electric or magnetic
fields. CR½ s are now commonly constructed with magnetic deflection coils mounted on the
outside of the CR½ envelope as shown if fig (i) above. ½wo pairs of coils are used, with the
coils in each pair mounted on opposite sides of the neck of the CR½ envelope. One pair is
mounted on the top and bottom of the neck and the other pair is mounted on opposite
sides on the neck. ½he magnetic field produced by each pair of coils results in a traverse
deflection force that is perpendicular both to the direction of the magnetic field and to the
direction of travel of the electron beam. Horizontal deflection is accomplished with one pair
of coils and vertical deflection by the other pair. ½he proper deflection amounts are attained
by adjusting the current through the coils. When electrostatic deflection is used, two pairs
of parallel plates are mounted inside the CR½ envelope. One pair of plates is mounted
horizontally to control the vertical deflection and the other pair is mounted vertically to
control horizontal deflection as shown in fig(iii).
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$
 ÿ" "  

  c "  " At the very rare end of CR½ is the phosphorus-coated Jcreen,
which has a unique property that allows the entire system to work. Phosphorus glow when
they are attacked by a high-energy electron beam. ½hey continue to glow for a distinct
period of time after being exposed to electron beam. ½he glow given off after the electron
beam is removed is known as a
a
 and the duration of phosphorescence is
known as the phosphorus a.
    *&" "  " require 
" "" rate to
maintain a picture on the screen without flicker. +
" "  " require
&""" rate to maintain a picture on the screen without flicker. A phosphor with &
"   "  . A  " & 
 " is l " 

 ,  

c" "

  
-
  
   

  c"  Persistence is the duration of the phosphorescence. Where

phosphorescence is the glow given off by the phosphor after the electron beam is
removed. Different kinds of phosphor are available for use in a CR½. Besides color, a major
difference between phosphorus is their persistence; how long they continue to emit light
after the electron beam is removed. Lower persistence phosphorus require higher refresh
rate to maintain a picture on the screen without flicker. Higher persistence phosphorus
require lower refresh rate to maintain a picture on the screen without flicker. A phosphor
with low persistence is useful for animation. A phosphor with high persistence is useful for
highly complex display, static pictures.
    Resolution indicates the maximum number of pixels that can be displayed
without overlap on the CR½. It is defined as number of pixels per unit length (e.g. inch) in
the horizontal as well as the vertical direction is refereed to resolution. ½hus a 3x2 inch
image at a resolution of 300 pixels per inch would have a total of
540,000 pixels (number of pixels in the horizontal direction is
3x300=900 and in the vertical direction is 2x300=600 so
900x600=540,000). $
 shows the intensity distribution of a pixel
on the screen.

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½he intensity is greatest at the centre of the spot, and decrease to the edges of the pixel.
½wo illuminated phosphor spots are distinguishable when their separation is greater than
the diameter at which a spot intensity has fallen to 60% of maximum. ½he overlap position is
shown in 
 ½he resolution of a CR½ is depending on the following points: -
(i) ½ype of Phosphor
(ii) Intensity to be displayed
(iii) Focusing Jystem
(iv) Deflection Jystem

$
 
  '    It is the ratio of vertical pixels to horizontal pixels to produce equal length
lines in both the directions on the screen. An aspect ration of 4/5 means that a vertical line
plotted with 4 pixels has the same length as a horizontal line plotted with 5 points. Most
standard CR½ have a display area with an aspect ratio 4:3.

"/

½here are two techniques used for producing images on the CR½ screen
using Refresh CR½: -

(a) Raster Jcan Display

(b)Random Jcan (Vector Jcan) Display
(a)  " 
  : - ½he most common type of graphics monitor employing a refresh CR½
is the raster-scan display, based on television technology. In a raster-scan system, the electron
beam is swept across the screen, one row at a time from top to bottom. As the electron beam
moves across each row, the beam intensity is turned on and off to create a pattern of
illuminated spots. Picture definition is stored in a memory area called the refresh buffer or
frame buffer. ½his memory area holds the set of intensity values for all the screen points. Jtored
intensity values are then retrieved from the refresh buffer and a 
on the screen one row
  at a time as shown in following fig (vi).

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When the beam is moved from left to right, it is ON. ½he beam is OFF when it is moved from right to left
as shown by dotted line in following fig(vii). ½he return to the left of the screen after refreshing each
scan line, is called the

    of thee electron beam. When the electron beam reaches the
bottom (or completing one frame), it is made OFF and rapidly retraced back to the top left of the screen
to start again refreshing procedure. ½his is known as    .

Horizontal Retrace
1
2
3
4
Vertical Retrace
5

10

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Each screen point is referred to as , or  (shortened form of picture element). ½he capability of
raster-scan system to store intensity information fro each screen point makes it well suited for realistic
display of scenes containing subtle shading and color patterns. Home television sets and printers are
examples of other systems using rates-scan methods.

Intensity range for pixel positions depends on the capability of the raster system. In a simple black-and-
white system, each screen point is either on or off, so only one bit per pixel is needed to control the
intensity of screen positions. For a Bi-level system, a bit value of 1 indicates that the electron beam is to
be turned on at that position, and a value of 0 indicates that the electron beam is turned to be off.
Additional bits are needed when color and intensity variations can be displayed. Up to 24 bits per pixel
are included in high-quality systems, which can require several megabytes of storage for the frame
buffer, depending on the resolution of the system. A system with 24 bits per pixel and a screen
resolution of 1024 by 1024 requires 3 megabytes of storage for the frame buffer. On a black-and-white
system with one bit per pixel, the frame buffer is commonly called a
 a. For systems with multiple
bits per pixel, the frame buffer is often referred to as a a a.

Refreshing on raster-scan display is carried out at the rate of 60 to 80 frames per second,
although some systems are designed for higher refresh rates. Jometimes, refresh rates are
described in units of cycles per second, or Hertz (Hz), where a cycle corresponds to one frame.
Jo, refresh rate of 60 frames can be simply described as 60 Hz.

On some raster-scan systems (and in ½V sets), each frame is displayed in two passes using an
interlaced refresh procedure. In the first pass, the beam sweeps across every other scan line
from top to bottom. ½hen after the vertical retrace, the beam sweeps out the remaining scan
lines as shown in following fig (viii). " 
of the scan lines in this form allows us to see
 c
2 

the entire screen displayed in one-half the time it would have taken o sweep across all the lines
at once from top to bottom. ½his is an effective technique for avoiding flicker.

Pass 1 (Jcanning Odd Rows) Pass 2(Jcanning Even Rows)

Horizontal Retrace

1 1
2 2
3 3
4 4
5 5

10 10

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 " 
 Vertical Retrace

' 
 " 

  : -

1. Can display Realistic images

2. Million different colors can be generated
3. Jhadow scenes are possible

  
 " 
  : -

1. Low Resolution
2. Electron beam directed to entire screen not only to those parts of the screen where picture is to
be drawn so time consuming when the drawn image size is very much less than the entire
screen.
3. Expensive

   
  : - When operated as a random-scan display unit, a CR½ has the electron beam
directed only to those parts of the screen where a picture is to be drawn. Random scan monitors draw a
picture one line at a time and for this reason are also referred to as vector display (or stroke-writing or
calligraphic displays). ½he component lines of a picture can be drawn and refreshed by a random-scan
system in any specified order as shown in fig (ix).

Refresh rate on a random-scan depends on the number of lines to be displayed. Picture definition is now
stored as a set of line-drawing commands in an area of memory referred to as the ""  .
Jometimes the refresh display file is called the    ,    "
" , or simply the ""
".

½o display a specified picture, the system cycles through the set of commands in the display file, drawing
each component line in turn. After all the line drawing commands have been processed, the system
cycles back to the first line command in the list.
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3 

Random-scan displays are designed to draw all the component lines of a picture 30 to 60 times each
second (means refresh rate is 30 Hz to 60 Hz). High-quality vector systems are capable of handling

$
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approximately 1, 00,000 ͞short͟ lines at this refresh rate. When a small set of lines is to be displayed,
each refresh cycle is delayed to avoid refresh rates greater than 60 frames per second. Otherwise, faster
refreshing of the set of lines could

   a
a
 .

Random-scan systems are designed for line-drawing applications and can not display realistic shaded
scenes. Jince picture definition is stored as a set of line-drawing instructions and not as a set of intensity
values for all screen points, vector displays generally have higher resolution than raster systems. Also,
vector displays produce smooth line drawings because the beam directly follows the line path. A raster
system, in contrast, produces jagged lines that are plotted as discrete point sets.

' 
  

  : -

1. A CR½ has the electron beam directed only to the parts of the screen where a picture is to be
drawn.
2. Produce smooth line drawings
3. High Resolution

  
  
  : -

1. Random-Jcan monitors can not display realistic shaded scenes.

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4 

"&-" 
    " 
  

  5-" 
      " 
  

(1) In Vector scan display the beam is (1) In raster scan display the electron beam
moved only to those parts of the is moved over the screen one scan line at
screen where a picture is to be a time, from top to bottom and then
drawn. back to top.
(2) Vector display flickers when the (2) In raster display, the refresh process is
number of primitives in the buffer independent of the complexity of the
becomes too large. image.
(3) Cost is more. (3) Cost is low.
(4) Vector display only lines and (4) Raster display has ability to display areas
characters. filled with solid colors or patterns.
(5) Higher resolution. (5) Less Resolution
(6) Produce smooth Line drawings. (6) Produce Jagged Lines.
(7) Less Color (7) More Color


%*%!%%
A CR½ monitor displays color pictures by using a combination of phosphorus that emits different-colored
light. It generates a range of colors by combining the emitted light from the different phosphorus. ½here
are two basic techniques used for producing color displays:

(1) Beam-Penetration ½echnique

(2) Jhadow-Mask ½echnique

  ˜  c" / ½he Beam-penetration method for displaying color pictures has been
used with "   ". ½wo layers of phosphorus, usually red and green, are coated onto the
inside of the CR½ screen, and the displayed color depends on how far the electron beam penetrates into
the phosphorus layers. 
 A beam of slow electrons excite only outer red layer and produce red color. 
 A beam of very fast electrons penetrates through the red layer and excites the
inner green layer and produce green color.
 At intermediate beam speeds, combination of red and green light is emitted to
show two additional colors, orange and yellow. 

½he speed of electrons, and hence the screen color at any point, is controlled by the beam-acceleration
voltage.
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˜  c" /: -

1. It is an inexpensive technique to produce color in random-scan monitors.

  
˜  c" /: -

1. It can display only four colors.

2. ½he quality of picture produced by this technique is not as good as compared to other
techniques.
3. ½he hardware and software must be designed to introduce adequate delays between changes in
color, so that there is time for voltages to settle.

(2)  & ! 7/ hadow-mask methods are commonly used in " "  

"- because they produced a much wider range of colors than the
beam-penetration method. A shadow-mask CR½ has three phosphorus color dots at each pixel
position. One phosphorus dot emits a red light, another emits a green light, and the third emits
a blue light. ½his type of CR½ has three electron guns, one for each color dot, and a shadow-
mask grid just behind the phosphorus-coated screen. Following fig (x) illustrates the delta-delta
shadow-mask method, commonly used in color CR½ systems.

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½he three electron beams are deflected and focused as a group onto the shadow-mask method,
commonly used in color CR½ systems. ½he three electron beams are deflected and focused as a group
onto the shadow-mask, which contains a series of holes aligned with the phosphor-dot patterns. When
the three beams pass through a hole in the shadow mask, they activate a dot triangle, which appears as
a small color spot on the screen. ½he phosphor dots in the triangles are arranged so that each electron
beam can activate only its corresponding color dot when it passes through the shadow mask. Another
configuration for the three electron guns is an in-line arrangement in which the three electron guns, and
the corresponding red-green-blue color dots on the screen, are aligned along one scan line instead in a
triangular pattern. ½his in-line arrangement of electron guns is easier to keep in alignment and is
commonly used in high-resolution color CR½ s.

G B R G B

½riangular Pattern Line Pattern

We obtain color variations in a shadow-mask CR½ by varying the intensity levels of the three electron
beams. By turning off the red and green guns, we get only the color coming from the blue phosphor.
Other combinations of beam intensities produce a small light spot for each pixel position, since our eyes
tend to merge the three colors into one composite. ½he color we see depends on the amount of
excitation of the red, green, and blue phosphorus. A white area is the result of activating all three dots
with equal intensity. Yellow is produced with green and red dots only, magenta is produced with the
blue and red dots, and cyan shows up when blue and green are activated equally.

In some low cost systems, the electron beam can only be set to on or off, limiting displays to eight colors
only. More sophisticated systems can set intermediate intensity levels for the electron beams, allowing
several million different colors to be generated.

Color CR½ s in graphics systems are designed as #˜ ". ½hese monitors use shadow-mask
methods and take the intensity level for each electron gun (red, green, and blue) directly from the
computer system without any intermediate processing. High-quality raster-graphics systems have 24
bits per pixel in the frame buffer, allowing 256 voltage settings for each electron gun and nearly 17
million color choices for each pixel. An RGB color system with 24 bits of storage per pixel e\is generally
referred to as a  " or a " ".

' 
 & ! 7/: -

1. Can display realistic images.

2. Million different colors can be generated.
3. Jhadow scenes are possible.
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 & ! 7/: -

1. Relatively expensive compared with the monochrome CR½.

2. Relatively poor resolution.
3. Light output of the shadow0mask CR½ (Mask tends to block a large proportion of the available
beam energy, reducing the total brightness.)
4. Convergence problem. It is extremely difficult to adjust three guns and deflection system so that
electron beams are deflected together, all converging on same hole in the shadow mask.

 "
In Refresh-CR½ we do refreshing of the screen to maintain a screen image. An alternate method
for maintaining a screen image is to store the picture information inside the CR½ instead of
refreshing the screen. Example: -
"-&"

- 


"-&"

- : - A direct-view storage tube (DVJ½) uses the storage
grid which stores the picture information as a charge distribution just behind the
phosphor-coated screen.

Jcreen

Jtorage grid
Collector
Above Fig (xi) shows the general arrangement of the DVJ½. It consists of two electron
guns: a primary gun and a flood gun. A primary gun stores the picture pattern and flood
gun maintains the picture display. A primary gun produces high speed electrons which
strike on the storage grid to draw the picture pattern. As electron beam strikes on the
storage grid with high speed, it knocks out electrons from the storage grid keeping the
net positive charge. ½he knocked out electrons are attracted towards the collector. ½he
net positive charge on the storage grid is nothing but the picture pattern. ½he
continuous slow speed electrons from the flood gun pass through the control grid and
are attracted to the positive charged area of the storage grid. ½he low speed electrons
then penetrate the storage grid and strike the phosphor coating without affecting the
 c
( 

positive charge pattern on the storage grid. During this process the collector just behind
the storage grid smoothes outs the flow of flood electrons.

' 

-: -

1. Refreshing of CR½ is not required.

2. Because no refreshing is required, very complex pictures can be displayed at very high
resolution without flicker.
3. It has flat screen.

  

-: -

1. ½hey do not display colors.

2. Jelective or part erasing of screen is not possible.
3. Erasing requires removal of charge on the storage grid. ½his erasing and redrawing process takes
several seconds.
4. It has poor contrast as a result of the comparatively low accelerating potential applied to the
flood electrons.
5. ½he performance of DVJ½ is some what inferior (lesser) to the refresh CR½.

"&
- "

- "

1. DVJ½ has storage tube to retain picture 1. Refresh CR½ has no storage tube.
until it is erased.
2. Refreshing is not required. 2. Refreshing is required.
3. Performance of DVJ½ inferior to refresh 3. Performance of Refresh CR½ superior to
CR½. DVJ½.
4. DVJ½ has no refresh buffer thus to 4. Jince Refresh buffer is there so erasing a
eliminate a picture section, the entire screen portion does not require entire
screen must be erased and to modified. screen to be erased and modified.
5. High persistence. 5. Comparatively low persistence.
6. Creates bright picture. 6. Creates fine picture.

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½he term Flat-Panel Display refers to a class of video devices that have reduced
volume, weight, and power requirements compared to a CR½. ½he important feature of
Flat-Panel Display is that they are thinner than CR½ s. ½here are two types of Flat-Panel
Displays: - emissive displays and non-emissive displays.
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 ÿ
  : - they convert electrical energy into light energy. Plasma
panels, thin-film electro luminescent displays, and light emitting diode are
examples of emissive displays.
' c   c 
   cc
: - plasma panels, also called gas-discharge displays,
are constructed by filling region between two glass plates with a mixture of gases
that usually includes neon. A series of vertical conducting ribbon is placed on one
glass panel, and a set of horizontal ribbons is built into the other glass panel as
shown in Fig (xii). By applying voltages between the horizontal and vertical
conductors the gas at the
intersection of two conductors
is made to behave as if it were
divided into tiny cells, each one
independent of its neighbors.
½hese independent cells are
made to glow by placing a firing
voltage of about 120 volts
across it by means of
electrodes. ½he glow can be
sustained by maintaining a high
frequency alternating voltage of
about 90 volts across the cell.
Due to this refreshing is not
required. 
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1. Refreshing is not required.

2. Produces a very steady image, totally free of flicker.
3. Less bulky than a CR½.
4. Allows selective writing and selective erasing, at speed of about 20 µsec per cell.
5. It has the flat screen.
6. Large screen size is possible.

  
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: -

1. Relatively poor resolution of about 60dpi (dots per inch).

2. It requires complex addressing and wiring.
3. Costlier than the CR½ s.
4. It uses a lot of power.
5. It does not show sharp contrast.
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6. ½hey are monochromatic devices (i.e. single color devices) but systems have been developed
that are now capable of displaying color and grayscale.
7. ½echnology is expensive.
˜  $ ÿ"
  : - ½hin-film electroluminescent displays are
similar in construction to a plasma panel. ½he difference is that the region between the glass plates
is filled with a phosphor, such as zinc doped with manganese, instead of a gas as shown in fig (xiii).
When a sufficient high
voltage is applied to a pair
of crossing electrodes, the
phosphor become
conductor in the area of
intersection of the two
electrodes. Electrical energy
is then absorbed by the
manganese atoms, which
then release the energy as a
spot of light similar to the
glowing plasma effect in a
plasma panel,
electroluminescent displays
require more power than
plasma panels, and good
color and gray scale display
are hard to achieve. 
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, ˜ 
  "  

  
 ÿ"
1. Require more power than plasma panel.
2. Good color and gray scale display are hard to achieve

C. *
 ÿ

 *ÿ
 A
matrix of diodes is arranged to form the
pixel positions in the display, and picture
definition is stored in refresh buffer.
Information is read from the refresh
buffer and converted to voltage levels
that are applied to the diodes to produce
the light patterns in the display.


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  ÿ
  : - ½hey convert optical effects to convert sunlight or light from
other source into graphics patterns. LCD is an example of non-emissive displays.
(A) */" 
  *
: -LCD s are commonly used in small systems, such as calculators
and portable, laptop computers fig (xiv). ½hese non-emissive devices produce a picture by
passing polarized light from the
surroundings or from an internal light
source through a liquid-crystal that can
be aligned to either block or transmit
the light.

½he term 
 

refers to the fact
that these compounds have a crstalline
arrangement of molecules, yet they flow
like a liquid. ½hese devices commonly use
nematic (threadlike) liquid-crystal
compounds that tend to keep the long axes
of the rod-shaped molecules aligned. An
LCD can then be constructed with a nematic
liquid crystal

as shown in fig (xv). ½wo glass plates, each

containing a light polarizer at right angles to Fig (xv). Laptop Computer
the other plate, sandwich the liquid-crystal
material. Rows of horizontal transparent conductors are built into one glass plate, and columns of
vertical conductors are put into
the other plate. ½he intersection
of two conductors defines a pixel
position. Normally, the molecules
are aligned as shown in the ͞
 ͟ of fig (xvi). Polarized light
passing through the material is
twisted so that it will pass
through the opposite polarizer.
½he light is then reflected back to
the viewer.

½o turn off the pixel, we apply a

voltage to the two intersecting
conductors to align the molecules
so that the light is not twisted.
½his type of flat-panel display is
referred to as a   ",
*
. Fig (xvi). ½he light-twisting, shutter effect used
Picture definitions are stored in the design of most LCD devices.
in a refresh buffer, and the
screen is refreshed at the arte of 60 frames per second, as in the emissive devices. Back lighting is
also commonly applied using solid-state electronic devices, so that the system is not completely
 c
2 

dependent on out light source. Colors can be displayed by using different materials or dyes and
placing a triad of color pixels at each screen location.

Another method for constructing LCD s is to place a transistor at each pixel location, using thin-
film transistor technology. ½he transistors are used to control the voltage at pixel locations and to
prevent charge from gradually leaking out of the liquid-crystal cells. ½hese devices are called 
 ",  

' 
*
: -

1. Low weight.
2. Low power consumption.
3. LCD s are flat.
4. Jmall size.
5. Less eyestrain.

  
*
: -

1. LCD s can be viewed only from a limited angle. ½o observe this, hold a calculator that uses an
LCD at arm s length in front of you. Next, turn the calculator slowly back and forth along its
vertical axis. You should observe the numbers on the display ͞ 
͟ as the calculator display
makes a greater angle with your line of sight.
2. LCD s are temperature dependent (0-70oC).
3. LCD s do not emit light; as a result, the image has very little contrast.
4. ½he resolution is not as good as that of a CR½.

?

 Output which is produced on a paper is known as Hard Copy output. ½hey are
permanent in nature. Among the wide variety of the hard copy output devices, "" and "
are the most commonly used. A printer is used to produce printouts of the documents stored on a
computer's disk drive. A plotter is a pen-based output device, which is used for producing high
quality output by moving ink pens across the paper. Hard copy display devices are shown if fig (xvii).

?
 -Printers are further classified into two categories: impact printers and non-impact
printers.

   c"" - As their names specify, impact printers work by physically striking a head or
needle against an ink ribbon to make a mark on the paper. Impact printers are the oldest printers
and are still in use. Impact printers can print only one character at a time while some impact printers
can print an entire line. ½he three most commonly used impact printers are

   a

   aand
  a
½he printer that prints the characters by striking the ribbon and onto the paper, are called impact
printers. ½hese printers are of two types, (i)  " " and (ii) * ""p

 " "  "":
1. In impact printers, there is physical contact with the paper to produce an image.
2. ½hey have relatively low consumable costs. ½he primary recurring costs for these printers are
 c
3 

the ink ribbons and paper.

3. Due to being robust and low cost, they are useful for bulk printing.
4. ½hey can withstand dusty environment, vibrations and extreme temperature.
5. Impact printers are ideal for printing multiple copies (that is, carbon copies) because they can
easily print through many layers of paper.
6. Due to its striking activity, impact printers are very noisy.
7. Jince they are mechanical in nature, they tend to be slow.
8. Impact printers do not support transparencies.
Hard Copy

Printers Plotters

Impact Non-Impact Drum Flatbed

Character Line
Ink-Jet Laser

Dot Matrix Drum Printer

Printer (DMP)

Chain Printer
Daisy Wheel
Printer
$
, + " 
  


V V
! ",c""
!c A dot matrix printer (also known as the @ 
   uses the
oldest printing technology and it prints one character at a time. Each character printed is in form
of pattern of dot and head consists of a matrix of pins of size (5x7, 7x9, 9x7 or 9x9) which comes
out to form a character that is why it is called Dot-Matrix Printer. Usually, dot matrix printers
can print any shape of character, which a user can
specify. ½his allows the printer to print many
special characters, different sizes of print and
enables it to print graphics, such as charts and
graphs. ½he speed of dot matrix printers is
measured in    a 

a.

V"7
: -Printer head moves on a carriage.

Paper is sandwiched between ribbon and head.
Jay A is to be printed, then Pins corresponding to ͚A moves out, strike the ribbon and ͚A is
printed. ½his is the way one character is printed, but we need to print the whole line. For this a
buffer (temporary storage) of size equal to the size of paper is used. Jay for a paper of width 80
 c
4 

columns a buffer of 80 characters is used. All character corresponding to a line are stored from
1st to 80th position in buffer and printing starts from left to right from 1st to 80th position on
paper. After printing one line, paper is moved up by carriage and again printing starts from 1st to
80th. ½his way of printing always in one direction left to right is called Unidirectional. New
printers print bidirectional which is achieved as: first line printed starting from 1st position of
buffer storage, as soon as 1st character is printed, 80th position of next line is stored in it and son
on. After printing one line, on return, head starts printing from right to left using buffer
positions 80th to 1st again. ½hus, it prints in both directions. All modern Dot Matrix Printers print
this way.
DMP are available in two sizes 80 column and 1342 column. Many vendors supplying
them are: EPJON, WIPRO, ½VJE and GODREJ etc. ½he speed can vary from about 200 to over 360
cps (character per second).
' 

!c: -
a. Inexpensive
b. Widely used
c. Other language characters can be printed

  

!c: -
a. Jlow speed
b. Poor quality
c. Noisy

V 
Vc"" Head is lying on a wheel and Pins are corresponding to characters are
like petals of Daisy that is why it is called Daisy Wheel Printer. A motor spins the wheel at a very
fast speed. ½he daisy wheel is a disk made of plastic or metal on which characters stand out in
relief along the outer edge.

V"7
 ½o print a character, the printer rotates the disk until the desired letter is facing the
paper. ½hen a hammer strikes the disk, forcing
the character to hit an ink ribbon, leaving an
impression of the character on the paper. You
can change the daisy wheel to print different
fonts.

½hese printers have very usually very slow

because of the time required to rotate the print wheel for each character desired. Jpeed
of daisy wheel printers is in the order of 10 to 50 cps. Quality of printing is very good.
½hese printers are generally used for word processing in offices which require a few
letters to be printed with very nice quality representation. Daisy wheel printers produce
high-resolution output and are more reliable than DMP s. ½hese printers are also called
  a because of its bidirectional printing and built-in microprocessor control
features.
' 

Vc"": -
a. Are more reliable than DMP s.
b. Better quality
 c
6 

c. ½he fonts of characters can easily be changed

  

Vc"": -
a. Jlower than DMP s.
b. More expensive than DMP s.
c. Noisy

2. * c"" Line printers are printers which print one line at a time. ½hese are impact
printers for producing very large volume paper output. ½hey are very fast and speed varies from
a range of 300 to 3000 lines per minute. ½wo most commonly used printers in this category are:
Drum Printer and Chain Printer.

V
" c"" ½his line printer consists of a drum. ½he surface of the drum is divided into
tracks. ½otal tracks are equal to size of paper i.e., for a paper width of 132 characters, the drum
will have 132 tracks. A characters set is embossed on track. Character set is not of character that
printer will support. Different characters sets are available in the market, 48 character set, 64
and 96 characters set. Drum is made to rotate at a very fast speed. Paper is wrapped in drum
and each track has a hammer attached to it. Ribbon is sandwiched between paper and hammer.
Jay if letter 'j' is to be printed. As soon as 'j' comes in front of hammer attached to jth track, it is
fired. ½hus, 'j' is embossed on paper.

In this way one character is printed, but we need a

whole line to be printed at once. For that a buffer is used,
which has storage capacity equal to size of paper. All
character in a line is stored in buffer and as soon as all come
in front of hammers, all hammers is fired at once. It is very
important that all hammers should be fired at once and thus
a line is printed. If synchronization is not achieved in firing of
hammers, then wavy output will occur.
One rotation of drum prints one line. Drum printers are fast in speed and speed is
between 300 to 2000 lines per minute. All printing features are available in this line printer.

V"7
 ½he basics of a line printer like drum printer are similar to those of a serial printer, except
that multiple hammers strike multiple type elements against the paper almost simultaneously, so that
an entire line is printed in one operation. A typical arrangement of a drum printer involves a large
rotating drum mounted horizontally and positioned in front of a very wide, inked ribbon, which in turn is
positioned in front of the paper itself. ½he drum contains characters molded onto its surface in columns
around its circumference; each column contains a complete set of characters (letters, digits, etc.)
running around the circumference of the drum. ½he drum spins continuously at high speed when the
printer is operating. In order to print a line, hammers positioned behind the paper ram the paper
against the ribbon and against the drum beyond it at exactly the right instant; such that the appropriate
character is printed in each column, as it spins past on the drum. Once every column has been printed,
the paper is advanced upward so that the next line can be printed.

' 

"c"" 
ͻ Very high speed.
 c
 

  

"c"" 
Ô Very expensive.
Ô Characters, fonts cannot be changed.
ÔAs the strike should be very precise, the mistiming causes wavy printing.

  c""
½hey are also line printers, because of use of a chain of character sets, they are
called Chain Printers. ½hey can be thought of as a type wound on two spools with a character set
repeated, three or four times. A standard character set may have 48, 64 and 96 characters.
In addition to the chain, the printer has a set of hammer mounted in front of the chain in a manner
that an inked ribbon and a a
   
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     c"" -½he printers that print the characters without striking against the
ribbon and onto the paper are called Non-Impact Printers. ½hese printers print a complete page
at a time, therefore, also called Page Printers. Unlike impact printers, a non-impact printer
forms characters and images without making direct physical contact between printing
mechanism and paper. In this printer, the print head does not make contact with the paper, and
no inked ribbon is required. Ink can be sprayed against the paper and then pressure is used to
fuse a fine black powder into the shape of a character. ½hey use techniques other than
physically striking the page to transfer ink onto the page. ½he major technologies competing in
the non-impact market are  and 
Page printers are of two types(i) Laser Printers
(ii) Ink Jet Printers

 c
 

 " "  c"" 

1. Non-impact printers are faster than impact printers.
2. ½hey are quieter than impact printers because there is no striking mechanism
involved and only few moving parts are used.
3. ½hey possess the ability to change typefaces automatically.
4. ½hese printers produce high-quality graphics.
5. ½hese printers usually support the transparencies.
6. ½hese printers cannot print multipart forms because no impact is being made on the
paper.
 7 9 c"": -It is the most commonly used printer. Being a non-impact it does not
touch the paper while creating an image. It uses a series
of nozzles to spray onto the paper. Originally it was made
black and white only.


 
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V"7
 An ink-jet printer has a print cartridge with a series of tiny electrically heated
chambers. ½hese Cartridges are attached to print heads with a series of small nozzles that spray
ink onto the surface of the paper. As print head moves back and forth across the page, software
gives instructions regarding the type and the quantity of colors. It also tells the position where
the dots of ink should be 'sprayed . ½here are two main ways to drop the ink droplets, namely,
the


 and    technology.'
Bubble-jet printers use heat to fire ink onto the paper. Piezoelectric technology uses a piezo
crystal at the back of the ink reservoir.
' 
7 9c""
a. High quality printing
b. More reliable

  
7 9c""
a. Expensive
b. Jlow as compare to laser printers
 * "c"" ½hese are non- impact printers. ½hey use laser lights to produce the dots needed
to form the character be printed on a page and hence are known as laser printers. A laser printer
provides the highest quality text and images for personal computers today, operates on the same
principle as that of a photocopy machine. ½hey are also known as a  abecause they process
and store the entire page before they actually print it.
 c
( 

½he output is generated in following steps:

  ½he bits of data sent by processing unit act as
triggers to turn the laser beam on and off.
  ½he output device has a drum which is cleared
and
is given a positive electric charge. ½o
print a page the modulated laser beam
passing from the laser, scans back and forth the surface of the drum. ½he positive
electric charge on the drum is stored on just those parts of the charges on the exposed
drum surface.
 ( ½he laser exposed parts of the drum attract an ink powder known as toner.
 ) ½he attracted ink powder is transferred to paper.
 . ½he ink particles are permanently fixed to the paper by using either heat or pressure
technique.
 1 ½he drum rotates back to the cleaner where a rubber blade cleanse off the excess ink
and prepares the drum to print the next page.
 " "* " ""
 It is a very fast printer.
 It can print text and graphics with a very high quality resolution from 300 to 1200 dpi.
( It can print in different fonts, that is, type styles and sizes.
) It is more expensive to buy and maintain than the other printers.
V"7
: -½he core component of laser printing system is the   A rotating
mirror inside the printer causes the beam of a laser to sweep across the photoconductive drum. Initially,
the beam of laser charges the photoconductive drum positively. When the charged photoconductor is
exposed to an optical image through a beam of light to discharge, a latent or invisible image is formed.
At the point where the laser strikes the surface of drum, it creates a dot of positive charge. ½hese points
are represented by a black dot, which will be printed on the paper. After this, the printer coats the drum
with a container, which contains a black powder called 
½his toner is negatively charged, and so it
clings to the positive areas of the drum surface. When the powder pattern gets fixed, the drum is
rotated and the paper is fed into the drum surface via a pressure roller. ½his pressure roller transfers the
black toner. Jince, the paper is moving at the same speed as the drum, the paper picks up the image
pattern precisely. Finally, the printer passes the paper through the fuser, a pair of heated rollers. As the
paper passes through these rollers, the loose toner powder gets melted and fuses with the fibers in the
paper.
[
  
Ô Very high speed.
Ô Very high quality output.
Ô Give good graphics quality.
ͻ Jupport many fonts and different character size.
›
  
Ô Expensive.
Ô Cannot be used to produce multiple copies of a document in a single printing.
 c
) 

 c"  A plotter is a pen-based output device that is attached to a computer for making vector
graphics, that is, images created by a series of many straight lines. It is used to draw high-resolution
charts, graphs, blueprints, maps, circuit diagrams, and other line-based diagrams. Plotters are used to
print high quality graphics and drawings. Plotters are generally used for printing drawing graphical
images such as charts, drawings, maps, etc. of engineering and scientific applications. Jome important
types of plotters are: ›  
and ^ 




 
"c"  In drum plotters, the paper on which the
design is to be made is placed over a drum. ½hese plotters
consist of one or more pen(s) that are mounted on a carriage
and this carriage is horizontally placed across the drum. ½he
drum can rotate in either clockwise or anticlockwise direction
under the control of plotting instructions sent by the computer.
Drum plotters are used to produce continuous output, such as
plotting earthquake activity, or for long graphic output, such as
tall building structures. ½he drum plotters are generally the least
expensive.

 $ c" 

Flatbed plotters consist of a stationary horizontal

plotting surface on which paper is fixed. ½he pen is
mounted on a carriage, which can move horizontally,
vertically, leftwards or rightwards to draw line. In
flatbed plotters, the paper does not move, the pen-
holding mechanism provides all the motion. ½hese
plotters are instructed by the computer on the
movement of pens in the X-Y coordinates on the
page. ½hese plotters are capable of working on any standard, that is, from A4 size paper to some very
big beds. Depending on the size of the flatbed surface, these are used in designing of ships, aircraft,
buildings, etc. ½he size of these automated drafting tables can range up to roughly 5ft. (I.5m) by 20ft.
(6.lm) with plotting accuracies approaching ±0.001 in. (±0.025 mm).
½he major disadvantage of this plotter is that it is a slow output device and can take hours to com-
plete a complex drawing. ½he flatbed plotter is also more expensive.
 "&c" c""  Plotters are similar to printers, but they draw
lines using a pen. As a result, they can produce continuous lines, whereas printers can only simulate
lines by printing a closely spaced series of dots. Multicolor plotters use different-colored pens to draw
different colors. Color plots can be made by using four pens (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) and need
no human intervention to change them. Plotters are relatively expensive as compared to printers but
can produce more printouts than standard printers. ½hey are mainly used for Computer Aided Design
(CAD) and Computer Aided Manufacturer (CAM) applications such as printing out plans for houses or car
parts. ½hese are also used with programs like AU½O CAD (computer assisted drafting) to give graphic
outputs.