It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Computer hardware. (Discuss)

For an account of the words periphery and peripheral as they are used in biology, sociology, politics, computer hardware, and other fields, see the periphery disambiguation page.

Look up peripheral in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

A peripheral is a piece of computer hardware that is added to a host computer ,i.e any hardware except the computer, in order to expand its abilities. More specifically, the term is used to describe those devices that are optional in nature, as opposed to hardware that is either demanded or always required in principle. Image File history File links Merge-arrow. ... Computer hardware is the physical part of a computer, including the digital circuitry, as distinguished from the computer software that executes within the hardware. ... Generally, a periphery is a boundary or outer part of any space or body. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wiktionary (a portmanteau of wiki and dictionary) is a multilingual, Web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in over 151 languages. ... Computer hardware is the physical part of a computer, including the digital circuitry, as distinguished from the computer software that executes within the hardware. ... This article is about the machine. ...

The term also tends to be applied to devices that are hooked up externally, typically through some form of computer bus like USB. Typical examples include joysticks, printers and scanners. Devices such as monitors and disk drives are not considered peripherals when they are not truly optional. In computer architecture, a bus is a subsystem that transfers data or power between computer components inside a computer or between computers and typically is controlled by device driver software. ... USB redirects here. ... For other uses, see Joystick (disambiguation). ... A computer printer, or more commonly a printer, produces a hard copy (permanent human-readable text and/or graphics) of documents stored in electronic form, usually on physical print media such as paper or transparencies. ... In computing, a scanner is a device that analyzes images, printed text, or handwriting, or an object (such as an ornament) and converts it to a digital image. ... A computer display monitor, usually called simply a monitor, is a piece of electrical equipment which displays viewable images generated by a computer without producing a permanent record. ... Disk Drive is the afternoon show on CBC Radio Two. ...

Some people do not consider internal devices such as video capture cards to be peripherals because they are added inside the computer case; for them, the term peripherals is reserved exclusively for devices that are hooked up externally to the computer. It is debatable however whether PCMCIA cards qualify as peripherals under this restrictive definition, because some of them go fully inside the laptop, while some, like WiFi cards, have external appendages. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Video editing card. ... The PCMCIA is the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association, an industry trade association that creates standards for notebook computer peripheral devices. ... Wi-Fi (or Wi-fi, WiFi, Wifi, wifi), short for Wireless Fidelity, is a set of standards for wireless local area networks (WLAN) currently based on the IEEE 802. ...

Due to these considerations, the term has somewhat fallen out of modern usage; it was mainly used in the early days of the home computer boom to refer to things like floppy disk drives and modems. Today most devices are integrated inside the computer's case, and external devices typically function on their own such as mp3 players and cell phones. Children playing on a Amstrad CPC 464 in the 1980s. ... A floppy disk is a data storage device that comprises a circular piece of thin, flexible (hence floppy) magnetic storage medium encased in a square or rectangular plastic wallet. ... For other uses, see Modem (disambiguation). ...

List of common peripherals

• Storage
  • Removable (Writes/reads portable media)
    • CD
      • CD-ROM
      • CD-RW
      • CD-R
    • DVD
      • DVD-ROM
      • DVD-RW
      • DVD-R
    • HD DVD
      • HD DVD-ROM
      • HD DVD-R
      • HD DVD-RW
      • HD DVD-RAM
      • HD DVD/DVD-RW Combo
    • Blu-ray Disc
      • BD-ROM
      • BD-RW
      • BD-R
      • BD/DVD-RW Combo
    • USB flash drive
    • Tape drive
    • Floppy disk
    • Punch card
  • Non-removable
    • Disk drive
    • Disk array controller

Input This article does not cite any references or sources. ... CD may stand for: Compact Disc Canadian Forces Decoration Cash Dispenser (at least used in Japan) CD LPMud Driver Centrum-Demokraterne (Centre Democrats of Denmark) Certificate of Deposit České Dráhy (Czech Railways) Chad (NATO country code) Chalmers Datorförening (computer club of the Chalmers University of Technology) a 1960s... The CD-ROM (an abbreviation for Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (ROM)) is a non-volatile optical data storage medium using the same physical format as audio compact discs, readable by a computer with a CD-ROM drive. ... Compact Disc ReWritable (CD-RW) is a rewritable optical disc format. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... DVD (also known as Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc) is a popular optical disc storage media format. ... DVD is an optical disc storage media format that is used for playback of movies with high video and sound quality and for storing data. ... The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... A DVD+R disc The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... HD-DVD disc HD DVD (for High Density Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical media format which is being developed as one standard for high-definition DVD. HD DVD is similar to the competing Blu-ray Disc, which also uses the same CD sized (120 mm diameter) optical data... This article needs to be wikified. ... HD DVD-R is the writable disc variant of HD DVD, and is now currently available with a single-layer capacity of 15GB. Currently, HD DVD-R has slower write speeds than the competing BD-R format (1–2x vs 1–4x) and lower storage capacity. ... HD DVD, or High-Definition DVD is a high-density optical disc format designed for the storage of data and high-definition video. ... An example of proposed HD DVD-RAM media. ... Blu-ray Disc (also known as Blu-ray or BD) is an optical disc storage media format. ... ... BD-R stands for Blue Ray Recordable meaning that data can only be written onto it once. ... JumpDrive redirects here. ... DDS tape drive. ... A floppy disk is a data storage device that is composed of a disk of thin, flexible (floppy) magnetic storage medium encased in a square or rectangular plastic shell. ... Punched cards (or Hollerith cards, or IBM cards), are pieces of stiff paper that contain digital information represented by the presence or absence of holes in predefined positions. ... Disk Drive is the afternoon show on CBC Radio Two. ... In computing, a disk array controller is a computer hardware device which provides secondary storage services to computer systems, often in large servers. ... Input3 is the term denoting either an entrance or changes which are inserted into a system and which activate/modify a process. ...

Main article: Input device

• • Manual
    • Keyboard
    • Pointing devices
      • Mouse
      • Trackball
      • Joystick
      • Touch screen
    • Gamepad
  • Power Cord/Transformer
  • Microphone
  • Brain-computer interface
  • Image scanner
  • Computer terminal
  • Computer speech recognition
  • Webcam
  • Digitizing tablet
  • Barcode reader

• Output (see also output device, display device, graphical output device, computer display)

Main article: output device

• • Printing
    • Plotter
    • Printer
    • Braille embosser
  • Sound
    • Computer speech synthesis
    • Sound card
    • Speakers
  • Visual
    • Digital Camera
    • Graphics card
    • Monitor
  • Refreshable Braille display
• Networking
  • Modem
  • Network card
• Expansion
  • docking station
• except memory and processor

An input device is a hardware mechanism that transforms information in the external world for consumption by a computer. ... A 104-key PC US English QWERTY keyboard layout The Dvorak Simplified Keyboard layout A standard Hebrew keyboard showing both Hebrew and QWERTY. A computer keyboard is a peripheral partially modelled after the typewriter keyboard. ... An Apple pro mouse A pointing device is any computer hardware component (specifically human interface device) that allows a user to input spatial (ie, continuous and multi-dimensional) data to a computer. ... Operating a mechanical 1: Pulling the mouse turns the ball. ... Logitech TrackMan A trackball is a pointing device consisting of a ball housed in a socket containing sensors to detect rotation of the ball about two axes—like an upside-down mouse with an exposed protruding ball. ... For other uses, see Joystick (disambiguation). ... Nintendo DS Touch screen A touch screen is an input/output device that allows the user to interact with the computer by touching the display screen. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Microphones redirects here. ... // A brain-computer interface (BCI), sometimes called a direct neural interface or a brain-machine interface, is a direct communication pathway between a human or animal brain (or brain cell culture) and an external device. ... In computing, a scanner is a device that analyzes images, printed text, or handwriting, or an object (such as an ornament) and converts it to a digital image. ... A computer terminal is an electronic or electromechanical hardware device that is used for entering data into, and displaying data from, a computer or a computing system. ... Speech recognition (in many contexts also known as automatic speech recognition, computer speech recognition or erroneously as voice recognition) is the process of converting a speech signal to a sequence of words in the form of digital data, by means of an algorithm implemented as a computer program. ... A typical webcam Webcams are small cameras, (usually, though not always, video cameras) whose images can be accessed using the World Wide Web, instant messaging, or a PC video conferencing application. ... A graphics tablet (or digitizing tablet) is a computer peripheral device that allows for a relatively simple method of inputing hand-drawn graphics or art into a computer in real time. ... A typical barcode scanner. ... Output is the term denoting either an exit or changes which exits a system and which activate/modify a process. ... An output device is any piece of computer hardware equipment used to communicate the results of data processing carried out by an information processing system (such as a computer) to the outside world. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into output device. ... A graphical output device is a computer output device that produces visual material. ... A computer display monitor, usually called simply a monitor, is a piece of electrical equipment which displays viewable images generated by a computer without producing a permanent record. ... An output device is any piece of computer hardware equipment used to communicate the results of data processing carried out by an information processing system (such as a computer) to the outside world. ... For other uses, see Plot. ... A computer printer, or more commonly a printer, produces a hard copy (permanent human-readable text and/or graphics) of documents stored in electronic form, usually on physical print media such as paper or transparencies. ... A Braille embosser is a printer, necessarily an impact printer, that renders text as Braille. ... Speech synthesis is the artificial production of human speech. ... A sound card (also known as an audio card) is a computer expansion card that can input and output sound under control of computer programs. ... A loudspeaker is a device which converts an electrical signal into sound. ... Look up digital camera in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A graphics/video/display card/board/adapter is a computer component designed to convert the logical representation of visual information into a signal that can be used as input for a display medium. ... Nineteen inch (48 cm) CRT computer monitor A computer display, monitor or screen is a computer peripheral device capable of showing still or moving images generated by a computer and processed by a graphics card. ... A refreshable Braille display is an electro-mechanical device for displaying Braille characters, usually by means of raising dots through holes in a flat surface. ... A computer network is an interconnection of a group of computers. ... For other uses, see Modem (disambiguation). ... A network card, network adapter or NIC (network interface controller) is a piece of computer hardware designed to allow computers to communicate over a computer network. ... Docking station. ...

See also

• Peripheral device
• Expansion card
• Computer hardware