Comparators

A comparator is an elect ronic circuit , which compares t he t wo input s t hat are applied t o it and
produces an out put . The out put value of t he comparat or indicat es which of t he input s is great er
or lesser. Please not e t hat comparat or falls under non-linear applicat ions of ICs.

An op-amp consist s of t wo input t erminals and hence an op-amp based comparat or compares t he
t wo input s t hat are applied t o it and produces t he result of comparison as t he out put . This
chapt er discusses about op-amp based comparators .

Types of Comparators
Comparat ors are of t wo t ypes : Inver ting and Non-inver ting . This sect ion discusses about t hese
t wo t ypes in det ail.

Inverting Comparator

An inver ting comparator is an op-amp based comparat or for which a reference volt age is
applied t o it s non-invert ing t erminal and t he input volt age is applied t o it s invert ing t erminal. This
comparat or is called as inver ting comparat or because t he input volt age, which has t o be
compared is applied t o t he invert ing t erminal of op-amp.

The circuit diagram of an invert ing comparat or is shown in t he following figure.

The operation of an invert ing comparat or is very simple. It produces one of t he t wo values,
+Vsat and −Vsat at t he out put based on t he values of it s input volt age Vi and t he reference
volt age Vref .

The out put value of an invert ing comparat or will be −Vsat , for which t he input Vi volt age
is great er t han t he reference volt age Vref .
The out put value of an invert ing comparat or will be +Vsat , for which t he input Vi is less
t han t he reference volt age Vref .

Example

Let us draw t he output wave form of an invert ing comparat or, when a sinusoidal input signal and
a reference volt age of zero volt s are applied t o it s invert ing and non-invert ing t erminals
respect ively.

The operation of t he invert ing comparat or shown above is discussed below −

During t he positive half cycle of t he sinusoidal input signal, t he volt age present at t he
invert ing t erminal of op-amp is great er t han zero volt s. Hence, t he out put value of t he
invert ing comparat or will be equal t o −Vsat during posit ive half cycle of t he sinusoidal
input signal.
Similarly, during t he negative half cycle of t he sinusoidal input signal, t he volt age present
at t he invert ing t erminal of t he op-amp is less t han zero volt s. Hence, t he out put value of
t he invert ing comparat or will be equal t o +Vsat during negat ive half cycle of t he
sinusoidal input signal.

The following figure shows t he input and output waveforms of an invert ing comparat or, when
t he reference volt age is zero volt s.
In t he figure shown above, we can observe t hat t he out put t ransit ions eit her from −Vsat t o
+Vsat or from +Vsat t o −Vsat whenever t he sinusoidal input signal is crossing zero volt s. In
ot her words, out put changes it s value when t he input is crossing zero volt s. Hence, t he above
circuit is also called as inver ting zero crossing detector.

Non-Inverting Comparator

A non-invert ing comparat or is an op-amp based comparat or for which a reference volt age is
applied t o it s invert ing t erminal and t he input volt age is applied t o it s non-invert ing t erminal. This
op-amp based comparat or is called as non-inver ting comparat or because t he input volt age,
which has t o be compared is applied t o t he non-invert ing t erminal of t he op-amp.

The circuit diagram of a non-invert ing comparat or is shown in t he following figure

The operation of a non-invert ing comparat or is very simple. It produces one of t he t wo values,
+Vsat and −Vsat at t he out put based on t he values of input volt age Vt and t he reference
volt age +Vref .

The out put value of a non-invert ing comparat or will be +Vsat , for which t he input volt age
Vi is great er t han t he reference volt age +Vref .
The out put value of a non-invert ing comparat or will bee −Vsat , for which t he input
volt age Vi is less t han t he reference volt age +Vref .

Example

Let us draw t he output wave form of a non-invert ing comparat or, when a sinusoidal input signal
and reference volt age of zero volt s are applied t o t he non-invert ing and invert ing t erminals of t he
op-amp respect ively.
The operation of a non-invert ing comparat or is explained below −

During t he positive half cycle of t he sinusoidal input signal, t he volt age present at t he
non-invert ing t erminal of op-amp is great er t han zero volt s. Hence, t he out put value of a
non-invert ing comparat or will be equal t o +Vsat during t he posit ive half cycle of t he
sinusoidal input signal.

Similarly, during t he negative half cycle of t he sinusoidal input signal, t he volt age present
at t he non-invert ing t erminal of op-amp is less t han zero volt s. Hence, t he out put value of
non-invert ing comparat or will be equal t o −Vsat during t he negat ive half cycle of t he
sinusoidal input signal.

The following figure shows t he input and output waveforms of a non-invert ing comparat or, when
t he reference volt age is zero volt s.
From t he figure shown above, we can observe t hat t he out put t ransit ions eit her from +Vsat t o
−Vsat or from −Vsat t o +Vsat whenever t he sinusoidal input signal crosses zero volt s. That
means, t he out put changes it s value when t he input is crossing zero volt s. Hence, t he above
circuit is also called as non-inver ting zero crossing detector .