sine wave vs step wave 1

[pizartyman]

I was wondering what the major advantages of heving the sine wave power output is as opposed to the stepped wave, as the apc consultant is pushing it as a great option but hasnt really given me a good rason as to why. I am getting this for a workstation in the presntation room, for a p4 3200 with a 36" monitor screen, with a inkjet printer, and am I wrong in assuming the sine wave output it unessacary for this application? Or am I missing somthing?
Thank you

 

[josepablomir]

The good:
Most power supplies do fine with stepwave. From this point of view sinewave is not crucial.

The bad:
One important parameter to keep in mind in power quality issues is the THD or total harmonic distortion. Usually this is expresed as a percentage, and, in a very simplified way, means how bad the wave looks. Well, the stepwave is a sinewave that looks very very bad! And I'm not joking with this. Every electrical wave is an addition of component waves (all sinewaves) of the same (fundamental harmonic) and higher (higher armonics) frequency. So, to make it simple, a stepwave is an addition of a fundamental 60 Hertz sinewave and a lot (and I mean A LOT!) of harmonic waves. This is called DISTORTION.

The ugly:
Even if stepwave is not a problem on its own, it is one half degree toward entropy. If your budget is not an issue (I know, budget is always an issue) sinewave is better and won't add any additional disturbance (electrical in this case) to the system.

I hope it helps. Sorry for my english!

Jose.-
pm@pablomir.com

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Pablo Mir
pm@pablomir.com