That single-supply span means this part can sit on a 5 V logic rail, a 12 V industrial bus, or a 24 V field supply without a secondary regulator — the comparator runs directly off whatever rail the board already carries. The open-collector output stage pulls down to ground and lets the user set the pull-up voltage independently, so the output level shifts cleanly between the comparator's supply domain and the logic input it drives.
The quiescent current maxes at 2.5 mA for all four comparators, so the thermal load on the SOIC is low even with all channels switching.
Open-collector output — level translation without a translator
The open-collector output on each of the four comparators can sink up to 16 mA at 5 V. Because the pull-up is external, the same comparator output can interface to 3.3 V CMOS, 5 V TTL, or even higher-voltage logic families — a single LM2901 can bridge a 24 V sensor signal to a 3.3 V microcontroller input without a separate level shifter IC. Input offset voltage is specified at 7 mV max at 30 V supply, and input bias current is 0.25 µA max at 5 V, both typical for a general-purpose comparator in this class.