This section explains the advantages and disadvantages of linear voltage regulators.
Advantages
The advantages of linear voltage regulators are as follows.
- The design is simple, operating by only connecting capacitors to both the input and output sides.
- Low noise
- Few components, saves space
- Low price
- There are many products, making it easy to select an optimal one.
Low noise in particular is much superior to that of a DC/DC converter, which is a switchable voltage regulator.
DC/DC converters perform a switching operation, which, in principle, generates a switching noise. This switching noise could cause an IC to malfunction, so components and filters, etc., to counter the noise must be added.
Linear voltage regulators do not conduct switching, so, in principle, switching noise is not generated and low-noise voltage can be applied.
Disadvantages
The disadvantages of linear voltage regulators are as follows.
- The loss is large and the efficiency poor when there is a large difference between the input voltage and the output voltage.
- A large amount of heat is generated when the difference between the input voltage and the output voltage is large, so measures to dissipate the heat are required.
- Only step-down operations (lowering the voltage) are possible.
If these disadvantages can be tolerated, then a linear voltage regulator is often the best option. Conversely, if these disadvantages cannot be tolerated, then using a switching type DC/DC converter rather than a linear voltage regulator must be considered.