Are comparator ICs just Op Amps?

Question

I've been looking for a comparator IC for a circuit I'm trying to build and I'm a little confused with what I've found. I've looked at some parts labeled as comparators but it looks like the parts are just Op-Amps with different ratings. I'm aware that comaprators can be built using Op-Amps, however, I assumed that any extra design that was needed, such as preventing hysterisis in the circuit, would be built into the IC. From what I've seen from the data sheets, however, it looks like they're just plain old op amps. So my question is, are comparator ICs just Op-Amps, or do they have the extra circuitry I'm thinking of? In other words, will I be able to just plug in the two voltages I want to compare or will I have to add some parts around the IC first? It might seem like a silly question but I'm new to PCB design and I wanted to make absolutely sure before I purchased my part. For reference, I've looked at TLV1702-Q1 and LMV7275-Q1 among other parts on TI's website, both of which came up when I searched for comparators.

Answer 1

They are NOT op-amps. Op amps have built in compensation to make them stable in linear amplifier applications. This is usually done with a Miller-effect capacitor across an inverting gain stage. That limits the slew rate (due to finite current available to charge/discharge the cap) and makes an op-amp a poor choice for a comparator. A true comparator doesn't include the compensation cap, and will have other optimizations for the application. Another feature you might see in a comparator would be an open-collector output, which would not be useful in an op-amp.