What Are Computer Peripherals? Here’s What You Need To Know

Summary: This article explores computer peripheral devices – what they are, what they do and what users need to know about them. Setting up peripheral devices may create issues during a new pc setup or when replacement devices are installed on older computers.

What Is A Peripheral Device?

Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripheral) defines a peripheral device or peripheral as “an auxiliary hardware device used to transfer information into and out of a computer. The term peripheral device refers to all hardware components that are attached to a computer and are controlled by the computer system. Still, they are not the core components of the computer.”

In short, your computer processes and stores data. Peripherals send or receive data. However, peripherals respond to commands by users. For example, a printer won’t print without being given the “Print” command, just as your computer will not save data unless it is given the command to “Save” or it is operating an application that “Autosaves” data.

Technically, computer systems don’t need peripherals to operate. The core components of a computer, without which data cannot be processed, include central processing units (CPUs), power supplies, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM) and motherboards. Peripherals must be connected, via wiring or wirelessly, to the computer system to send or receive data. There are three main types of peripheral devices:

• Input Devices – Input devices send data or commands to the computer. Examples of input devices include your keyboard, mouse, webcams, barcode readers and microphones.
• Output Devices – Output devices receive data from your computer system and share it with you in different formats. They include printers, monitors, speakers, projectors, headphones and other devices.
• Input/Output Devices – As the name indicates, input/output devices function by sending and receiving data. Hard drives, solid-state drives (SSDs) and USB drives are the most common input/output devices.

Basic Input Peripheral Devices

• Keyboards – Keyboards have been part of the computer world for many decades. They are the most common method of inputting data as letters, numbers and special characters. When pressed, each key sends unique data to a computer’s processor, where it is translated to produce the corresponding character.
• Mouse – Most laptop users have touchpads built into their laptops, whereas many desktop computer owners use a mouse to interact with their computers. A basic mouse, wired or wireless, allows users to point, click and scroll through pages of documents, including text and images.
• Scanners – Today, scanning is often one of the functions of all-in-one printers that copy, print and scan (and sometimes fax) documents and images. After an image or document is scanned, the file is digitally saved to a folder on your computer.
• Barcode and QR Code Scanners – The pandemic spawned a wave of new contactless business operations through which information can be shared and web commerce can be conducted. Most smartphones now include barcode and QR code scanners in their camera platforms.
• Webcams – Since the pandemic, webcam use is at an all-time high. Now, video conferencing and online presentation tools have been simplified and are accessible to novice users. Webcams are built into most laptops and tablets and can capture video and still images. Most desktop systems require a separate peripheral webcam.
• Microphones – Microphones capture and digitally transmit audio signals to computers. To set up a microphone on Windows 10 (or later) and Mac iOS, navigate to your “Settings” or “System Preferences.” Then, click “Sound” and select the microphone input device you wish to use.

Output Peripheral Devices

• Monitors – Beyond displaying background images on your screen, monitors offer a temporary display of data in the form of text and images. RAM is the memory module that temporarily retains what is displayed. If the data isn’t saved and the program or system is closed, the data displayed on the screen will be gone.
• Printers – Printing allows “hard copies” to be printed and retained by users. In the past, dot-matrix printers were loud, slow machines that gradually cranked out low-resolution documents by creating characters and images from many dots of ink created by pins and a printer ribbon. Very few businesses and personal users have dot-matrix printers anymore. The most popular printers are inkjet and laser printers. They are faster and print crisp, clean copies of the data output.
• Speakers – Bluetooth technology has made wired speakers a thing of the past. Now, speaker placement is only limited by your Bluetooth signal. Setup for most devices is very easy. First, turn on your device’s Bluetooth connection. Next, follow your speaker manufacturer’s instructions on how to set the speakers on pairing mode. Once your device recognizes the Bluetooth speakers, select them and click “Connect.”

Input/Output Devices

• Hard Disk Drives and SSDs – Hard disk drives and SSDs are vital and are good examples of input/output devices. Their main job is to store, retrieve, read and write data. Data flows in and out from storage drives.
• USB Drives are flash memory drives that simplify data transfer from one device to another. When you transfer and save data from a computer to a USB drive, that is output. The transfer of data from the USB drive to the computer is input.
• Network Interface Cards (NICs) – NICs do what their name says: They are cards that allow your computer to interface with your network. Simply put, sending data through the NIC is output to the network and receiving data from the network is input. Without an NIC, your system would be limited to a stand-alone computer with no internet access or connection with other devices.

Selecting, installing and maintaining peripheral devices can overwhelm an untrained, non-techy user. If peripherals are beyond your skillset or you are having problems with peripheral devices, enlist the help of IT maintenance professionals to help you with your in-home computer setup.