Above is the unshaped input pulse train. Red line is the set point for the comparator.
I see many pulse conditioning and sharpening circuits use Schmitt triggers instead of comparators.
Imagine the input pulse train is not sharp enough so we need to make it sharper. There are some applications in industry where you need sharp pulses to count frequencies. My question is:
Why not only to use a comparator? Is that because rising and falling edges are sharper in case of Schmitt trigger? Could one explain it in an illustrative manner?