LDO and Linear Regulator

I'm developing a voltage regulator, where the I/p volt is 12V Battery and O/p is 5VDC. Which type of regulator is good? (LDO or Linear regulator). Power dissipation is concerned.

Thanks in advance..
Nithin

An LDO IS a linear regulator. LDO simply means that the input-output differential for useful operation is lower than 'standard'.

nithinmoncy said:

I'm developing a voltage regulator, where the I/p volt is 12V Battery and O/p is 5VDC. Which type of regulator is good? (LDO or Linear regulator). Power dissipation is concerned.

Thanks in advance..
Nithin

Click to expand...

LDO (Low Drop) is used when we have small difference between input voltage and output voltage, and in simple words, low voltage difference. Like example you want 5V on output and input voltage is just 5,5V or 6V, normal linear regulators needs at least 2,5V-3V difference.

Additional LDO regulators often have small quiescent current, this is not always case. This quiescent current can be in uA range for LDO regulators. Normal 7805 have 5mA quiescent current (in standby - self current consumption of internal circuit in regulator). If you use small battery as power source, such as for example A23 or A27, this 5mA can be big problem.

For your situation you can use linear 7805, 78S05, 78M05,.... linear.

You didnt specify current its important because power dissipation.

You can use switching regulators for your circuit since power loss is a concern. Switching regulators have greater efficiency than linear regulators.