The Collaborative International Dictionary
Comparator \Com"pa*ra`tor\ (? or ?), n. [L., a comparer.] (Physics) An instrument or machine for comparing anything to be measured with a standard measure; -- applied especially to a machine for comparing standards of length.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1883, agent noun in Latin form from compare.
Wiktionary
n. 1 Any device for comparing a physical property of two objects, or an object with a standard. 2 An electronic device that compares two voltages, currents or streams of data.
Wikipedia
In electronics, a comparator is a device that compares two voltages or currents and outputs a digital signal indicating which is larger. It has two analog input terminals V and V and one binary digital output V . The output is ideally
$$V_o =
\begin{cases}
1, & \mbox{if }V_+ > V_- \\
0, & \mbox{if }V_+ < V_-
\end{cases}$$
A comparator consists of a specialized high- gain differential amplifier. They are commonly used in devices that measure and digitize analog signals, such as analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), as well as relaxation oscillators.
Comparator may refer to
- An electrical comparator
- A digital comparator
- An optical comparator
- The Comparator Hypothesis in the psychology of motivation
- a biological comparator system
Usage examples of "comparator".
The shop presented one flax wall opposite Com-central, a wall about four and a half meters high and ten meters long-its face covered with plugboards, comparators, simultaneous multiplexers, buffer-system monitors, diagnostic instruments -- dials and telltales.
I programmed it as a comparator of optical isomers for a first step in trying to detect where and how our instincts are imprinted on us.
The shop presented one flax wall opposite Com-central, a wall about four and a half meters high and ten meters long-its face covered with plugboards, comparators, simultaneous multiplexers, buffer-system monitors, diagnostic instruments -- dials and telltales.
I programmed it as a comparator of optical isomers for a first step in trying to detect where and how our instincts are imprinted on us.
The comparator chronometer was going crazy, the Ship's Relativistic Objective accelerating to the point where even the hours were a mere blur, moving too fast for the numbers to register.
I agree with Doctor Markham, some pattern change has taken place in the storage units of the comparator, but how that change has taken place, or why, I have no idea.
His electronic package was relatively unsophisticated but Ranjit's comparator found Gonzales, Texas, and after that it was a simple matter to cram fuel into the afterburners for his dash to San Marcos.
And her aura is extinct, as far as the Krondak comparators can determine.