ADCs and DACs

Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC)

Converts an analog signal (usually voltage) to an $N$-bit digital representation, where:

• $0$ and $2^N-1$ represent the lower and upper voltage limits provided by the ADC ($V_{min}$ and $V_{max}$).
• The resolution, $Q=(V_{max}-V_{min})/2^N$ is the minimum change in input voltage that causes a change in output value.

Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC)

Converts an $N$-bit digital signal to an analog signal (usually voltage).

• $0$ and $2^N-1$ represent the lower and upper voltage limits provided to the DAC ($V_{min}$ and $V_{max}$).
• The resolution, $Q=(V_{max}-V_{min})/2^N$ is the change in output voltage caused by a change in the least significant bit (LSB) of the DAC input.