Editing Digital-to-analog converter (section)

==Figures of merit==
* Static performance:
** [[Differential nonlinearity]] (DNL) shows how much two adjacent code analog values deviate from the ideal 1&nbsp;LSB step.<ref name="maxim">{{cite web |url=http://www.maxim-ic.com/appnotes.cfm/appnote_number/641/ |title=ADC and DAC Glossary |publisher=Maxim |df=ymd-all |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070308223113/http://www.maxim-ic.com/appnotes.cfm/appnote_number/641 |archive-date=2007-03-08}}</ref>
** [[Integral nonlinearity]] (INL) shows how much the DAC transfer characteristic deviates from an ideal one.  That is, the ideal characteristic is usually a straight line; INL shows how much the actual voltage at a given code value differs from that line, in LSBs (1&nbsp;LSB steps).<ref name="maxim"/>
** Gain error<ref name="maxim"/>
** Offset error<ref name="maxim"/>
** Noise is ultimately limited by the [[thermal noise]] generated by passive components such as resistors. For audio applications and in room temperatures, such noise is usually a little less than 1{{nbsp}}[[μV]] (microvolt) of [[white noise]]. This practically limits resolution to less than 20~21 bits, even in 24-bit DACs.
* Frequency domain performance
** [[Spurious-free dynamic range]] (SFDR) indicates in dB the ratio between the powers of the converted main signal and the greatest undesired spur.<ref name="maxim"/>
** Signal-to-noise and distortion ([[SINAD]]) indicates in dB the ratio between the powers of the converted main signal and the sum of the noise and the generated harmonic spurs<ref name="maxim"/>
** i-th harmonic distortion (HDi) indicates the power of the i-th harmonic of the converted main signal
** [[Total harmonic distortion]] (THD) is the sum of the powers of all the harmonics of the input signal<ref name="maxim"/>
** If the maximum DNL is less than 1 LSB, then the {{nowrap|D/A}} converter is guaranteed to be monotonic. However, many monotonic converters may have a maximum DNL greater than 1 LSB.<ref name="maxim"/>
* Time domain performance:
** Glitch impulse area (glitch energy)<ref name="maxim"/><!--[[User:Kvng/RTH]]-->