Task 1. Read, write the translation and learn the basic vocabulary terms:
peripheral (n)
scales (n)
delete
resolution (n)
measurement (n)
pixel (n)
random (adj)
processing (n)
keyboard (n)
touch screen (adj, n)
back up (n, v)
peripheral device
electronic scales
swipe card reader
numeric keypad
LCD ((Liquid Crystal Display)
CCD (Charge-Coupled Device)
photo-transistor
solid state memory
storage media
disk / tape drive
read / write head
flexible plastic
versatile disk
magneto-optical device
removable storage
fixed storage
comparison
viewfinder
dot-matrix printer
solid-ink printer
loyalty card
delivery
holographic storage
high-end server
recordable
power-hungry
to re-shoot
rechargeable battery
ink-jet
strain injury
to superimpose
approximate
improvement
contender
AFM
application
conventional camera
fixed hard disk
stock control information
sufficient
access rate
plenary
spinning plastic disk
holographic
medium
sensitive
· Introductory reading
Text A. PERIPHERALS
EPOS (electronic point of sale) tills used in supermarkets form part of a computer system with various input and output peripheral devicesattached to the till, including: electronic scalesfor weighing produce, barcode readerforlooking up prices using barcodes, swipe card readerfor reading bank cards, numeric keypadfor inputting prices manually, LCD(liquid crystal display) screen for outputting purchase details.
Digital cameras are gradually being developed that are as good as conventional cameras. They have various electronic devices inside, including:
a) LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screen used as a view-finder and for viewing the pictures after they have been taken.
b) CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) consisting of thousands of photo-transistors(light-sensitive transistors - a transistor is an electronic switch). It creates the pictures as a set of dots or pixels(picture elements).
c) Memory cards e.g. flash cards – solid state memory(electronic integrated circuits, i.e. chips, used for storing the pictures).
There is no delay in getting pictures from digital cameras because there is no film requiring chemical processing. They can be attached to a computer to directly transfer pictures for editing using special software and unwanted pictures can be deleted. However, they cost more than conventional cameras and the quality is not quite as good. You also need to buy rechargeable batteries and a photo-quality colour printer with high printing costs for paper, ink, etc. Two important features when buying a digital camera are:
a) picture quality or resolution.The resolution of a camera is measured in pixels and given as two numbers, indicating how many pixels there are across the image and how many going down the image e.g. 1280 by 960 (or 1280x960).
b) the number of pictures the camera can store. The higher the resolution, i.e. the more pixels, the more memory is required to store the pictures. Data can be compressed to allow more pictures to be stored.
Storage devices are used to store data and programs that are not being used by the processor. They usually consist of:
a) storage media in the form of a circular disk or a tape where the data is stored
b) a disk or tape drive that moves the media past a read/write head that reads the data from and writes data to the storage media.
Types of storage devices include:
magnetic devices(that use magnetism)
floppy disks(diskettes) and magnetic tapemade of a magnetic coated flexible plastic; hard disksmade of magnetic coated aluminium disks
optical devices
(that use laser light)
CD-ROM – compact disk read only memory
CD-R – recordable compact disk
CD-RW – re-writable compact disk
DVD-ROM – digital versatile disk read only memory
DVD-RAM – digital versatile disk random access memory
magneto-opticaldevices (that use a combination of magnetism and laser light)
CD-MO – magneto optical compact disk
Read only mediaenable the user to both read data from and write data to the media. Read and write mediacan only be used for reading data i.e. the stored data cannot be changed in any way.
Removable storageenables the user to change the media and transfer it to another computer.
Fixed storagedoes not allow the media to be changed or transferred to another computer.
Other factors that vary between storage devices include:
a) the speed at which the drive moves the media past the read/write head and reads or writes data to the storage media
b) the capacity of the media i.e. how much data can be stored on each disk or tape
c) the cost of the drive and the media.
There are various types of printersfor out-putting text and graphics to paper.
Some types of printers are mono(print in black and white only) and others can print in colour. The speed, quality and cost of printing varies between different types of printer. Some are designed for printing text and are not really suited to printing graphics.
Data can take many forms and there is a wide variety of input, output, storage and communication peripherals.
Units of measurementused in data storage include:
bit
a binary digit i.e. a 1 or a 0
byte
8 bits = 1 character i.e. a letter, numerical digit or a punctuation mark
megabyte (MB)
1,048,576 bytes (approximately one million bytes)
gigabyte (GB)
1,073,741, 824 bytes (approximately one thousand million bytes)
terabit
1,099,5 11, 627,776 bits (approximately one thousand gigabits)
