Output

Updated: 12/30/2021 by Computer Hope

Output may refer to any of the following:

Input and output example

1. Any information processed by and sent from a computer or electronic device is considered output. An example of output is anything viewed on your computer monitor screen, such as the words you type on your keyboard. Without output that a human could see, feel, or hear, a human could not interact with the computer. In the picture, the bottom half shows data sent from a computer to a printer. When the printer finishes printing its hard copy, the paper is considered a form of output.

Examples of output on a computer

There are four basic types of output: audio output, graphics output, text output, and video output. Below are examples of each type of these outputs.

Audio output

Graphics output

Text output

Video output

Tip

See our output device page for a list of output devices used with a computer.

In addition to computers, the output can be produced from any electronic device. For example, a water heater may receive input from a temperature sensor. The output would be a signal that turns on a pilot light or gas burner to heat the water to the desired temperature.

2. With HTML (hypertext markup language), the <output> tag displays the result of a user's action or a calculation.

Control unit, Hard copy, Hardware terms, Input, Input/Output device, IPOS, Output device, Output screen, Output stream, Tactile output