Categorize the following devices as Input (I) and Output (O)

Question

Categorize the following devices as Input (I) and Output (O)

i) Light Pen

ii) Punch Card Reader

iii) Plotter

iv) Sound Card

v) Digitizer Tablet

vi) Drum Printer

vii) Scanner

1. A. Input: i), ii), v), vii); Output: iii), iv), vi)
2. B. Input: i), ii), v); Output: i), iii), iv), vi)
3. C. Input: ii), vii), viii); Output: i), iii), iv), vi)
4. D. Input: i), ii), v), vii); Output: iii), iv), vi) (Correct answer)

Correct Answer

Option D — D

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is Option D.

Key Points

• Input: Light Pen, Punch Card Reader, Digitizer Tablet, Scanner; Output: Plotter, Sound Card, Drum Printer.
• Classifying each device:
• Input: Light Pen (i), Punch Card Reader (ii), Digitizer/Graphics Tablet (v), Scanner (vii) — these feed data INTO the computer.
• Output: Plotter (iii), Sound Card (iv), Drum Printer (vi) — these present results OUT of the computer.
• Option D is the only one that lists these correctly without repeating a device in both columns (options B and C wrongly place Light Pen in output).

Exam Tip

• a Sound Card is often misjudged — it is an output device for producing audio (some also do input via a mic port, but in this classification it is output).
• A plotter is a large-format output device for engineering drawings.

Additional Information

• Input devices: keyboard, mouse, light pen, scanner, digitiser tablet, punch-card reader, joystick, microphone, webcam, barcode reader.
• Output devices: monitor, printer, plotter, speaker, projector.
• Devices that do both: touchscreen, modem, network card and any storage drive — the category examiners most often use to construct distractors.