The DAC8541 is a low-power, single channel, 16-bit, voltage output DAC. Its on-chip precision output amplifier allows rail-to-rail voltage swing to be achieved at the output. The DAC8541 utilizes a 16-bit parallel interface and features additional powerdown function pins as well as hardware-enabled, asynchronous DAC updating and reset capability.

The DAC8541 requires an external reference voltage to set the output range of the DAC. The device incorporates a power-on-reset circuit that ensures that the DAC output powers up at min-scale and remains there until a valid write takes place to the device. In addition, the DAC8541 contains a power-down feature, accessed via two hardware pins, that when enabled reduces the current consumption of the device to 200 nA at 5 V.