Output devices

It is common for people to spend long periods of time in front of a computer. This can be detrimental to their health unless they follow a few simple guidelines. It is important that they remain relaxed and comfortable and that they avoid eyestrain. To achieve this, they must have appropriate furniture, lighting, and computer equipment – and must make sure that it is positioned correctly. The term workstation is sometimes used to describe a very powerful desktop computer but in this unit it refers to the furniture and environment used for working with a computer.

A printer is a very common output device. It is used to print the computer output on paper. Colour printers are available but sometimes printing is done using a mono printer that prints only in blaсk. The types of printer mentioned in this unit are inkjet, laser mono, and dye sublimation. Each type of printer has its own advantages and disadvantages.

A monitor is the most common type of output device. It displays the output from the computer on a screen. Because the user sees the computer in action using the monitor screen, the quality of the monitor can make a tremendous difference to the way the user interacts with the computer, and feels about the computer. The display image on a monitor screen can be thought of as being made up of a series of dots. The quality of the image depends on a number of factors including:

Although technical factors are discussed in this unit, subjective preferences are important when choosing a monitor. The only way to choose a good monitor is by trying to use it.