OMR

Short for optical mark reading or optical mark recognition, OMR is the process of gathering information from human beings by recognizing marks on a document. OMR is accomplished by using a hardware device (scanner) that detects a reflection or limited light transmittance on or through a piece of paper.

OMR allows for the processing of hundreds or thousands of documents per hour. For example, students may recall taking tests or surveys where they filled in bubbles on paper (shown right) with a pencil. Once the form had been completed, a teacher or teacher's assistant would feed the cards into a system that grades or gathers information from them.

Why is OMR an input device?

The OMR card by itself is not considered an input device. However, the OMR reader that reads the card is sending data (input) to the computer, which is why it is considered an input device.

Scanner

A scanner may refer to any of the following:

1. When referring to hardware, a scanner or optical scanner is a hardware input device that optically "reads" and image and converts it into a digital signal. For example, a scanner may be used to convert a printed picture, drawing, or document (hard copy) into a digital file which can be edited on a computer. The picture shows an example of a flatbed scanner, the Epson V300.

How is a scanner connected?

A scanner can be connected to a computer using many different interfaces although today is most commonly connected to a computer using a USB cable.

·         Firewire

·         Parallel

·         SCSI

·         USB

Other types of computer scanners

There are also other types of scanners that can be used with a computer.

·         Sheetfed scanner - scans paper by feeding it into the scanner

·         Handheld scanner - scans text and images by dragging the device over the page you want to scan

·         Card scanner - designed to scan business cards

When was the first scanner created?

The earliest forms of scanners appeared in the 1860s. However, the scanner as we know it today was created in 1957 by a man named Russell Kirsch at the United States National Bureau of Standards. The first image scanned by this device was a picture of Kirsch's son. This black and white image measured only 5x5 cm and had a resolution of 176 pixels on each side.

Why is a scanner an input device?

A computer scanner is a digitizer, which is a type of input device. It takes information from the real world (e.g., a document or picture) and converts it into digital information for a computer to store or manipulate. A scanner is only able to send information to the computer and cannot receive information from the computer like a printer (which is an output device).

2. When referring to software, a scanner may refer to any program that scans computer files for errors or other problems. An example is an antivirus program, which scans the files on the computer for viruses or other malware.