CHAPTER 2

How the Computer Works?

2 Chapter Objectives
Identify output devices. Become familiar with the Operating System of a computer. Explain how the Central Processing Unit (CPU) works. Differentiate between memory and storage.

Chapter 2: How the Computer Works

2 Section A: Output Devices

What are Output Devices What are the types of Output Devices Understanding the Characteristics of Display Devices Understanding the features of Printers

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2 Output Devices
An output device facilitates the presenting of information to the end-user. There are two main types of input devices:
o Hard copy o Soft copy

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2 Soft Copy Output Devices

These devices present information to the end user in an electronic form. They include:
o Display Devices o Audio Devices o Data Projectors

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2 Display Devices
An output that shows text and often graphic images to the computer user, using:
o o o o o a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) Light-emitting Diode, Gas Plasma Or other image projection technology.

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2 Display Devices
Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) is a specialized vacuum tube in which images are produced when an electron beam strikes a phosphorescent surface. Most desktop computer displays make use of CRTs.
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2 Cathode-Ray Tube Monitors

ADVANTAGES Cheap Better colour representation Less fragile and harder to damage. More responsive Disadvantages Consumes a lot of power (about 100 watts for a 19inch display) Large footprint (space taken up) Very bulky and large Generate a lot of heat

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2 Display Devices
Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD) is a screen display technology that uses liquid crystals that are sandwiched between polarized filters and glass panels. This is the technology used with laptops, calculators, watches, etc.
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2 Liquid Chrystal Displays

ADVANTAGES Require less power. Smaller and weigh less Less strain on the eyes More adjustable you can tilt, swivel, mount, etc. Disadvantages Very fragile Blurry images Some models have reduced colour depth. More expensive

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2 Characteristics of Display Devices

Colour Depth
o the number of colours a monitor can display.

Dot Pitch
o a measure of the clarity of the image. o The smaller the dot pitch the crisper the image. o A dot pitch between .26 and .23 is typical for todays monitors.

Refresh rate
o is the speed at which the screen elements are redrawn. o The faster the refresh rate the less the screen flickers. Refresh rate is measure in cycles per second.

Resolution
o the quality of sharpness of the images. Resolution is measured dots per inch (dpi). The greater the dpi the better sharper the image appear

Viewable Size
o the portion of the screen that will be used to display output. o The Viewable is smaller than the actual size.
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2 Characteristics of Display Devices

TYPE OF RESOLUTION Video Graphics Array (VGA) Super Video Graphics Array (SVGA) eXtended Graphics Array (XGA) MEASUREMENT 640x480 800x600 1024x768

Super eXtended Graphics Array (SXGA)

Ultra eXtended Graphics Array (UXGA)

1280x1024
1600x1200

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2 Hard Copy Output Devices

These devices present information to the end user in a printer form. They include:
o Printers o Plotters

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2 Printers
A peripheral which produces a text or graphics of documents stored in electronic form, usually on physical print media such as paper or transparencies. Types
o Impact o Non-Impact
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2 Impact Printers
Impact printer produces text and images when tiny wire pins on print head strike the ink ribbon by physically contacting the paper. Types:
Dot Matrix Daisy Wheel Line
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2 Impact Printers
ADVANTAGES Less expensive Fast (some types) Can make multiple copies with multipart paper Disadvantages Noisy Print quality lower in some types. Poor graphics or none at all.

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2 Non-Impact Printers
Non-Impact printer produces text and images by spraying printer ink or else toner powder onto the surface. Types:
Ink Jet
Sprays ink onto paper to form characters

Thermal
Uses heat on chemically treated paper to form characters.
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2 Liquid Chrystal Displays

ADVANTAGES Quiet! Can handle graphics and often a wider variety of fonts than impact printers. Disadvantages More expensive Slower

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2 Characteristics of Printers
Resolution:
o the quality of sharpness of the images. o Resolution is measured dots per inch (dpi). o The greater the dpi the better sharper the image appears.

Operating cost
o the cost to maintain the printer such as the purchase of ink or tonner cartridges

Duplex Capability
o Whether the printer can print on both side of the paper.

Print Speed
o how fast the printer generates output. o This is measured in characters per second (cps) or pages per minute (ppm).

Memory (Buffer)
o the capacity of the printer to retain jobs. o A large memory capacity is needed to print color or graphic intensive documents.

Duty cycle
o how many pages a printer is able to church out. o This is measured in pages per month.
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2 Section B: The Operating System

What is an operating system? What are the functions of an operating system? What are the types of operating system?

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2 Operating System
The operating system is:
A type of system software that controls the overall operations of your computer. It controls from the start-up of the system to shutting down of the system.

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2 Operating System
The functions are:
Starting up the computer Managing files Managing hardware Managing programs Managing Input/Output

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2 Functions of Operating System

Starting the Computer
When you turn on your computer system, the operating system assumes control and prepares the computer for use. It turns on devices such as the hard drive and checks to ensure that the hardware is functioning properly. The OS then displays the interface
The screen elements that you use to interact with your computer system.

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2 Functions of Operating System

Managing Files
Your computer contains files that are used internally by your programs as well as the documents, images, and other data your create. The OS allows you to:
Create these files on your storage devices Delete, Rename, Move, Compress, Backup and Secure the files.

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2 Functions of Operating System

Managing Hardware
The OS uses small programs called device drivers to communicate with your systems hardware Example:
When you insert a flash drive the OS
Install the device Configures the device for use Makes the accessible to you.

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2 Functions of Operating System

Managing Programs
The OS interacts with application software. Example:
When you give an instruction to start a program the OS:
Find the appropriate file Open the file in memory Allocate resources such as memory space to the program.

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2 Functions of Operating System

Managing Input
When you use the keyboard, move the mouse, or talk into the microphone, the resulting input is first intercepted by operating system. The OS then directs the input appropriately.

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2 Functions of Operating System

Managing Output
When you request data output the OS responds to your request. Example:
If you instruct a program to print a document, it is the OS that :
Checks to see if printer is installed Checks to see if it can communicate with the printer Relays the document to the printer

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2 Types of Operating Systems

Windows Windows XP Windows Vista Windows 7
Home Basic Home Premium Professional Enterprise Ultimate

Non-Windows UNIX Linux Mac OS

SmartPhones Android Blackberry OS Windows Mobile Symbian

Windows 8 (released in 2012)

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2 Section C: The Central Processing Unit

What is the CPU? What the CPU does? Types of CPU The CPUs Speed/Cache/Front Side Bus

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2 What is the CPU?

The Central Processing Unit is:
A computer chip that contains small electronic devices called transistors Transistor are like a gate or switch that controls the flow of electric signals to the circuit. The latest CPUs:
contain over 100 million transistors Can perform billions of instructions per second.
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2 What is the CPU?

Components:
Control Unit
Manages and coordinates the function of the computer system

Buses
Provides the electrical pathway via which instructions, data and/or information travels

Register
Temporary storage areas found within the CPU.

Arithmetic Logic Unit

Allow the component to perform mathematical and logic operations.
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2 What is the CPU?

The Control Unit:
o Fetches: get the instruction from RAM o Decodes: tries to understand the instruction o Executes: Passes the instruction to the ALU for processing o Store: Writes the information to Back to RAM
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2 Types of Processors (CPUs)

Intel
Name Itanium Pentium D Pentium 4 Extreme Edition Celeron Pentium M Mobile Pentium 4 System Type Servers Servers & Desktops Servers & Desktops Desktops Desktops Notebooks & PDAs Notebooks & PDAs

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)

Name Opteron Athlon Sempron Mobile Athlon Mobile Sempron System Type Servers Servers & Desktop Desktops Notebooks & PDAs Notebooks & PDAs

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2 Knowing the CPU

The CPUs Speed
The speed of CPU is measured in cycles per second or Hertz (Hz) A cycle represents a single task performed such as the adding of two numbers. Todays CPU speeds are usually measured in gigahertz (GHz) or billions of cycles per second.

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2 Knowing the CPU

The CPUs Cache
A storage area where the CPU keeps frequently used data. This feature improves the processing time of the CPU. Todays CPUs may feature:
Level 1 Cache (L1) Fast & Expensive Level 2 Cache (L2) Slow, Bigger, Cheaper than L1 Level 3 Cache (L3) - Slow, Bigger, Cheaper than L2
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2 Knowing the CPU

The CPUs Front Size Bus (FSB)
The pathway along which data travels. This determines how fast data travels. The faster the bus speed the faster the computer performs. Bus speed is measured in millions of cycles per second (megahertz)

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2 Section B: Memory vs. Storage

What is memory? RAM vs. ROM How memory is measured? A Bit more About Storage

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2 Memory
Memory is:
Also referred to as RAM A volatile storage location within your computer system. In order to programs to be accessible the OS loads the desire in memory. The more memory you the more programs you can open. Improves the performance of your computer.

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2 Memory
Random Access Memory A volatile storage location Store data waiting to be processed, instructions waiting to be process and/or information waiting to be sent to output/storage device. The contents can be changed.
Read-Only Memory

A non-volatile storage location. Store instructions needed to get the computer system started. The instructions cannot be changed.

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2 Memory
Memory is:
Also referred to as RAM A volatile storage location within your computer system. In order to programs to be accessible the OS loads the desire in memory. The more memory you the more programs you can open. Improves the performance of your computer.

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2 Memory
Memory:
Chips store data using tiny devices that are either ON or OFF. When the state is ON it has a value of 1, when the state is OFF it has a value of 0. These values are called bits which is the short for binary digits. Characters such as letters are represented by 8-bit values called bytes.
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2 Storage
Device Hard Disk Tape Drive CD-ROM CD-R CD-RW DVD-ROM DVD-R DVD-RW Description Main Storage Media Used primarily for the backing of data Compact Disc Read-only Memory Compact Disc Recordable Compact Disc Rewritable Digital Versatile Disc Read-only Memory Digital Versatile Disc Recordable Digital Versatile Disc Rewritable Type Magnetic Magnetic Optical Optical Optical Optical Optical Optical Capacity Gigabytes Megabytes Megabytes Megabytes Megabytes Gigabytes Gigabytes Gigabytes

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2 Storage

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CHAPTER 2
How the Computer Works?