Patent ID: 7808416

Claim:
A digital to analog conversion circuit having an output voltage range determined by a lower level to a upper level of an output voltage that may be output and that has a same polarity with regard to a predetermined electric potential, said output voltage range being divided into a plurality of sections that are not overlapped with one another, said digital to analog conversion circuit comprising: m number of reference voltages having respective different voltage levels, where m is an integer not less than 2, and accommodated for at least one section out of the plurality of sections; said m number of reference voltages not used for generation of an output voltage of any other section than said one section and exclusively allocated to said one section; a decoder circuit that receives said m number of reference voltages and selects first and second voltages out of said m number of reference voltages, including an overlap, based on an input digital signal to output the selected first and second voltages to first and second terminals; and an amplifier circuit that receives the first and second voltages at said first and second terminals and performs operational amplification of the voltages at said first and second terminals to output the resultant voltage at an output terminal thereof; wherein, in said one section, for said m number of reference voltages, n number of voltage levels different to one another, wherein n is greater than m, can be output from said output terminal.