what does an inverter do in a microwave
Microwave oven Modern microwave ovens use either an analog dial-type timer or a digital control panel for operation. Control panels feature an LED, liquid crystal or vacuum fluorescent display, in the 90s brands such as Panasonic and GE began offering models with a scrolling-text display showing cooking instructions, numeric buttons for entering the cook time, a power level selection feature and other possible functions such as a defrost setting and pre-programmed settings for different food types, such as meat, fish, poultry, vegetables, frozen vegetables, frozen dinners, and popcorn. In most ovens, the magnetron is driven by a linear transformer which can only feasibly be switched completely on or off. As such, the choice of power level does not affect the intensity of the microwave radiation; instead, the magnetron is cycled on and off every few seconds, thus altering the large scale duty cycle. Newer models have inverter power supplies that use pulse-width modulation to provide effectively continuous heating at reduced power, so that foods are heated more evenly at a given power level and can be heated more quickly without being damaged by uneven heating.