Keyboards:

An alphanumeric keyboard for a graphics system is utilized primarily as a device for entering text strings. Keyboards may also be provided with features to facilitate entry of screen coordinates, graphics functions or menu selections. The keyboard is an efficient device for inputing such monographic data such as picture labels linked with a graphics display.

On general-purpose keyboards Common features are cursor-control keys. Functions keys are used to enter frequently utilized operations in a single keystroke, and cursor-control keys may be utilized to select displayed objects or coordinate positions by positioning the screen cursor. Additionally, a numeric keypad is frequently included on the keyboards for fast entry of numeric data. Some keyboards contain other types of cursor-positioning devices, such as a trackball or joystick.

For specialized applications, input to a graphics application can come from a set of buttons, dials, or switches that choose data values or customized graphics operations. Buttons and switches are frequently utilized to input predefined functions, and dials are common devices for entering scalar values.