Peripherals

Lesson Four: PERIPHERALS

DEFINITIONS FROM THE FOLLOWING SOURCES

3D Dictionary - Computer Terms - http://207.136.90.76/dictionary/index.html

Lycos Technology Terminology - http://webopedia.lycos.com/

Tek-Mom: http://www.tekmom.com/students/ (Buzzwords - Aimed at Kids)

Image from Tech Encyclopedia - http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/

Peripherals include additional physical piece of hardware that might be connected to your computer.

Parallel and Serial Ports - for Windows Machines Parallel Port - Your printer is usually connected to the parallel port with a cable. Zip drives also come in parallel port versions. Some flatbed scanners may be connected to a parallel port. You can often daisy chain several peripherals from the parallel port.
Serial Port - You might have your mouse connected to this port if it is a serial mouse. You might also have an external modem connected to the serial port.

Ports for Windows and Macintosh Machines USB - Universal Serial Bus Connector is commonly used with newer scanners, digtal cameras, USB zip drives, etc. The USB interface is also used for peripherals such as the keyboard, mouse, joystick, and printer . It also supports MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 digital video. Go to: http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/defineterm?term=USB for more information.

CD-ROM - Compact Disc Read Only Memory - A compact disc that holds text, graphics and audio stereo sound. CD-ROMs have spiral, grooved tracks, but data CDs use a different format for recording the audio CD player. CD-ROMs holds 650MB of data,

The SCSI port - Small Computer System Interface -SCSI, pronounced "scuzzy," is a hardware interface that includes an expansion board that plugs into the computer called a SCSI host adapter or SCSI controller. SCSI peripherals can be daisy chained together. SCSI connections are being used less since the development of the USB port. See Tech Web definition at: http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/defineterm?term=SCSI

Modem - MOdulator-DEModulator. A modem is an analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converter. A modem converts an analog telephone line to digital by converting digital pulses to audio frequencies and vice versa. The term usually refers to 56 Kbps modems (V.90), the current top speed, or to older 28.8 Kbps modems (V.34). The term may also refer to higher-speed cable or DSL modems or to ISDN terminal adapters, which are all digital and technically not modems. Go to: http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/defineterm?term=modem Also see: http://webopedia.lycos.com/TERM/m/modem.html

MIDI - Musical Instrument Digital Interface - MIDI is a standard protocol for the interchange of musical information between musical instruments, synthesizers and computers. It defines the codes for a musical event, which includes the start of a note, its pitch, length, volume and musical attributes, such as vibrato. It also defines codes for various button, dial and pedal adjustments used on synthesizers. From: http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/defineterm?term=MIDI

MIDI CABLE (Connecting to Internal Sound Card through Joystick Port)

More Peripherals