Morgan BellAmplifiers are getting smaller and greener
July 24th 2008 12:39
The obvious answer is we should do everything possible. Of course, this can get extreme... if I don't do any work at all, I'm not producing any greenhouse gases, am I?
A better metric is how much pollution you're causing for a given amount of work. The truth is, we need electronics for everyday life; a smarter move would be to make them as efficient as possible.
The Class D amplifier is such a project, an amplifier that is smaller and uses less energy compared to other classes of amplifiers.
As shown in the above figure. class AB amplifiers hit a maximum of around 60%, but class D gets all the way up to 90%.
""The big advantage with Class D amplifiers is that they're much more efficient from an energy usage point of view than conventional Class AB amplifiers, which are what you've seen in most audio equipment up until now," said John Widder, market development manager at STMIcroelectronics, a semiconductor manufacturer.
He said Class AB amps typically run at between 15 and 40 percent efficiency when playing back music, while Class D amps run at between 40 and 85 percent. And that's only part of the picture.
"The advantages of that efficiency then ripple through the entire system … power supplies can be smaller, or if it's battery operated equipment, the battery life is longer," said Widder."
He said Class AB amps typically run at between 15 and 40 percent efficiency when playing back music, while Class D amps run at between 40 and 85 percent. And that's only part of the picture.
"The advantages of that efficiency then ripple through the entire system … power supplies can be smaller, or if it's battery operated equipment, the battery life is longer," said Widder."
It seems like a small change, but using more efficient amps in electronics means less generated heat, so fewer heat sinks are used. Smaller batteries, less packaging. Everything is reduced by this simple improvement.
Hopefully, the innovation will continue; class Ds are already being used in LCD TVs, but they'll be useful in a variety of applications...!
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