Glossary
Warm-Up Drift
The initial change in output voltage of a power supply from turn-on until it reaches thermal equilibrium at nominal line, full load and ambient temperature.
Joule Rating
A measure of a device's ability to absorb energy spikes before failing. This term is often used in the context of surge protectors.
Input Filter
A device used to filter out noise and spikes from incoming power to stabilize the input to the power supply.
Hold-up Time
The time during which a power supply can continue to provide output without input power, typically after a power failure.
80 Plus
The 80 Plus is a voluntary certification where manufacturers send samples of their power supplies to an independent body for testing and certification.
Voltage Dropout
Dropout is the smallest difference between a regulator’s input and its output voltage, which is required to maintain regulation and enable the regulator to provide rated voltage and current.
Parallel Forced Sharing
Parallel forced sharing is a method of paralleling power supplies and using their combined current to generate a feedback signal that adjusts each of the power supplies’ outputs accordingly.
Power Factor
Power factor is the ratio of actual AC input value when compared to the power consumed by the various PSU system circuitry.
