General ADC Tutorial

ADCs accept an analogue signal on the input within its input range (usually either specifically defined, or the voltage of the built-in or external reference).

ADCs have two primary performance numbers: bit count, and sample rate.

Bit count referes to the number of different states the ADC can read. An 8-bit ADC with an input range of 0-5V will map the 0-5V range with 256 (2^8) different states, allowing you to know the input voltage in steps of ~19.5mV.

Sample rate tells you how fast the ADC can take readings. For most applications, a high sample rate is not needed.

Analogue signals are susceptible to noise from nearby interference. It is recommended that you apply some filtering in hardware, and make sure to avoid running analogue signals close to noisy signals like digital communications or clock signals to try and minimize this issue.