Quick backstory, we recently bought an HDMI splitter to increase the amount of HDMI slots for our TV, it had issues displaying, so we returned it. The sales lady asked us “which end was connected to the input and which end was connected to the output?”
This is where the confusion began. I said the computer was the input and the TV the output, because the computer is inputting information that the tv then outputs for us to see.
My dad is arguing that the computer is the output and the tv the input because the information travels *out of the computer* and *into the tv*.
We’ve been arguing this shit for three days now, and I’m starting to lose my mind, because we’ve gone to best buy and talked to the computer guy, talked to one of their tv guys, called my dad’s friend who is an electrician, called my cousin’s husband who works at Google, and they’ve all told me I’m wrong. Now, to be clear, we never explained our reasoning, we just asked “is the tv or the computer the input?” And left when we got the answer. And on anything else I probably would have accepted correction the first time I was told I was wrong, but according to everything I find online I’m not.
Example: http://imgur.com/a/EVC1OvO
Clearly it states the monitor is the output, right? But my old man says I’m reading into and interpreting things that aren’t there, and what the article is really saying is that the monitor is displaying the *output of the computer* and is not it’s own output.
The actual cable we bought has “input” written on the splitter side where the computer connects, but my dad insists that that is just an extension of the ports on the tv, where the information is going *into the inlets* and therefore the tv is still the input and the computer the output.
…so, after so many people telling me I’m wrong, I’m not here to argue, I’m here for answers. Why are so many people telling me I’m wrong? Is all the information on the net about input and output devices wrong? Do I have this whole input output thing mixed up?
Tl;dr: what’s the difference between input and output?
In: Technology
>My dad is arguing that the computer is the output and the tv the input because the information travels *out of the computer* and *into the tv*.
* Your dad is correct.
* The confusion comes from the fact that the monitor *accepts* an input and *displays* an output.
* Like others have said “input/output” is relative to the situation.
* The computer outputs a video signal that the monitor takes as input.
* But then the monitor outputs light that your eyes take as input.
* So which device gets which label depends on the context.
* In the context of your HDMI switch, the computer is the output and the switch is the input.
* In the context of the monitor, the switch is the output and the monitor is the input.
* In the context of your brain, the monitor is the output and your eyeballs are the input.
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