What does a camcorder do?

A camcorder, or digital video camera, records moving pictures and converts them into digital data that can be stored and edited by a computer with special video editing software.
Digital video cameras are used by home users to create their own movies, or by professionals in
Computer art and video
Conferencing.
They are also used to send live video images via the Internet. In this case they are called web cameras, or webcams.

What does a digital camera do?

A digital camera takes photos electronically and converts them into digital data (binary codes made up of 1 s and Os). It doesn't use the film found in a traditional camera; instead it has a special light-sensitive silicon chip.

Photographs are stored in the camera's memory card before being sent to the computer. Some cameras can also be connected to a printer or a TV set to make viewing images easier. This is usually the case with camera phones - mobile phones with a built-in camera.

What does a scanner do?

A scanner'sees'images and converts the printed text or pictures into electronic codes that can be understood by the computer. With a flatbed colour scanner, the paper with the image is placed face down on a glass screen, as with a photocopier. Beneath the glass are the lighting and measurement devices. Once the scanner is activated, it reads the image as a series of dots and then generates the digitized image that is sent to the computer and stored as a file.
The scanner operates by using three rotating lamps, each of which has a different coloured filter: red, green and blue.The resulting three separate images are combined into one by appropriate software.

What is a computer?

A computer is an electronic machine which can agree to data in a confident form, process the data, and provide the results of the processing in a particular format as information.
First, data is fed into the computer's memory. Then, when the program is run, the computer performs a set of instructions and processes the data. Finally, we can see the results (the output) on the screen or in printed form
A computer system consists of two parts: hardware and software. Hardware is any electronic or mechanical part you can see or touch. Software is a set of instructions, called a program, which tells the computer what to do. There are three basic hardware sections: the central processing unit (CPU), main memory and peripherals.
Perhaps the most influential component is the central processing unit. Its function is to execute program instructions and coordinate the activities of all the other units. In a way, it is the 'brain' of the computer. The main memory (a collection of RAM chips) holds the instructions and data which are being processed by the CPU. Peripherals are the physical units attached to the computer. They include storage devices and input/ output devices.

Storage devices (hard drives, DVD drives or flash drives) provide a permanent storage of both data and programs. Disk drives are used to read and write data on disks. Input devices enable data to go into the computer's memory. The most common input devices are the mouse and the keyboard. Output devices enable us to extract the finished product from the system. For example, the computer shows the output on the monitor or prints the results onto paper by means of a printer.
On the rear panel of the computer there are several ports into which we can plug a wide range of peripherals - a modem, a digital camera, a scanner, etc. They allow communication between the computer and the devices. Modern desktop PCs have USB ports and memory card readers on the front panel.