STM32 DAC Monotonicity vs DNL

michaelrigby-jones9 · ‎2012-11-13

Posted on November 13, 2012 at 11:33

I was planning on using an STM32F103RE in a design where the DACs would be part of a control loop, and will need to be used in 12 bit mode. Unfortunately the DAC specifications in the datasheet show extremely bad DNL performance of +-2LSBs in 12 bit mode which, if correct, means the DAC can not be monotonic and is useless for my application. However, the datasheet also states the DAC is monotonic. Which is correct? I have checked the errata but not yet found anything to clarify this.

#stm32-dac-monotonic-dnl

zzdz2 · ‎2012-11-13

Posted on November 13, 2012 at 17:26

I think it may be related to noise and not a lack of monotonicity.

You can use external analog filters to reduce the noise.

And it's always best to test such things in practice.