
be improved by reducing the reference input. Changing from 5 V to 2.5 V gives a
resolution of 2.5/256, or 9.7 mv. However, the maximum voltage that can be
measured is now 2.5 V instead of 5 V.
The only way to increase resolution without changing the reference is to use an
ADC with more bits. A 10-bit ADC using a 5 V reference has 2
10
, or 1024 possible
output codes. So the resolution is 5 V/1024, or 4.88 mv.
Types of ADCs
ADCs come in various speeds, use different interfaces, and provide differing
degrees of accuracy. Three types of ADCs are illustrated in Figure 2.3.
Tracking ADC
The tracking ADC has a comparator, a counter, and a digital-to-analog