What is the difference between pressure sensor and pressure transducer?

What is the difference between pressure sensor and pressure transducer?

The terms pressure sensors and pressure transducers are used interchangeably in the industrial world to avoid confusion. But a pressure sensor and pressure transducer are not the same.

Pressure Sensor

A pressure sensor is any device that converts applied pressure into a readable electrical signal. The pressure sensor is just the sensing element; it does not have the ability to convert its output signal into a usable, amplified signal. Pressure sensors generally produce electrical signals in millivolts. The wiring length must be kept short to offset the resistance losses associated with lengthy wires. Otherwise, coupled with a low voltage output, the signal loss is too much. But the output signal in millivolts lets engineers customize signal conditioning as per the requirements for an application.

One disadvantage of a pressure sensor is that it requires a regulated power supply to work efficiently. The second one is that it is not suitable for usage in electrically noisy environments because of its very low output signal.

Pressure Transducer

A pressure transducer is a pressure sensor as well, but it comes with the signal conditioning units built into it. The readable output signal generated by the pressure sensing element is in millivolts. The transducer has the capability to amplify this output to a higher magnitude.
The higher voltage level enables the usage of the signal at a much greater distance, say 20 feet. The power consumption is also pretty low. This makes it possible to use pressure transducers in applications that use battery powered equipment.