Some people will meet this name – Human Interface Device – in Device Manager. When you open the category, you will a list of devices, including USBs. So what does that mean in computing? This article on MiniTool Website will give you an introduction to the Human Interface Device.
What Is a Human Interface Device?
Just by its name, you will think this creepy device comes from something out of a sci-fi movie but, simply, the HID standard was adopted primarily to facilitate innovation in PC input devices and to simplify the process of installing such devices.
In fact, there are many applications for this feature, such as a multimedia keyboard, and Bluetooth headset control buttons – these are useful features, if you find that these features don’t work, you may want to open the service.
The service only supports some simple devices, such as the volume control on your keyboard; if you are used to doing some controls on the keyboard, this feature can greatly improve the efficiency of use.
Enables universal input access to the Human Interface Device (HID), which initiates and maintains the use of predefined shortcuts on this keyboard, remote control, and other multimedia devices.
If the service is stopped, the service control button will no longer be in effect. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will not be able to start.
You can find this feature in your Device Manager. Press the Win + X keys and click on Device Manager from the menu. Then expand Human Interface Devices and you will see all your related devices.
Prior to HID, different types of input devices have their own protocols, which means there is one protocol for the mouse, one for the keyboard, and so on. The device needs to use an existing protocol or create a custom driver.
Therefore, what does Human Interface Device Protocol (HID Protocol) mean?
The Human Interface Device (HID) protocol is a USB protocol widely used in electronics. It is created to accommodate peripheral computer hardware used by human users and the protocol is built into many typical devices sold on the market. It quickly became popular for its friendly wide use.
Thanks to the HID protocol, it is easier for companies to produce widely compatible accessories. Because all modern operating systems now support the HID protocol, you can plug a USB keyboard into a Windows PC, Mac, Chromebook, or even an Android tablet and have it work instantly.
For example, when you plug a USB controller into your PC, that will work immediately for the operating system. The operating system interprets the data and classifies the device, which can make it usually control the game even without the efforts of the game developers.
Components of Human Interface Devices
The most commonly seen Human Interface Devices are USB peripherals. If you have checked your Human Interface Devices, you will find your USB input devices, Bluetooth HID devices and other HID-labeled devices.
In your USB devices, some common things, like keyboards, mice, webcams, trackpads, and gaming controllers, will be included.
There are 2 entities included in the HID protocol – the host and the device. The device means the one as a media interacting with humans, such as a keyboard, headset, or mouse while the host is responsible for communicating with the device.
The host can receive the input data from the device and send the data to the device, and then to the human. Devices define their data packets and then the host will receive a hard-coded array of bytes that describes the device’s data packets.
There are three types of data exchange:
- Input report – the HID device sends data to the application.
- Output report – the application sends data to the HID device.
- Feature report – the data can be manually read and written, typically related to configuration information.
HID devices today include a broad range of devices such as alphanumeric displays, bar code readers, volume controls on speakers/headsets, auxiliary displays, sensors, and many others. Many hardware vendors also use HID for their proprietary devices.
Bottom Line:
After reading this article about the Human Interface Device, you may have your understanding of it. This article has enumerated some points about the Human Interface Device and gives some examples. Hope this post helps resolve your problem.
About The Author
Position: Columnist
Anna is an editor of the MiniTool Team. She worked in this big family since her graduation. Her articles mainly focus on data backup and recovery, disk cloning, and file syncing, committed to resolving the data loss issues users may encounter on their PCs. Besides, more related computer articles are shared here. In her leisure time, she enjoys reading and watching movies. Travel can also be a good choice for her.