High resolution digital-to-analog converter

A digital-to-analog converter capable of high resolution performance, e.g. for converting 16-bit digital signals, comprising a cascaded two-stage device wherein the first stage consists of a segment converter with a series-connected string of resistors and switches operable by a set of higher-order input bits for selecting the voltage across any one of the resistors, buffer amplifiers for directing the selected voltage to the input of a second-stage converter comprising a CMOS DAC with an R/2R ladder controlled by a set of lower order bits to interpolate between the limits of the selected voltage from the first stage, and wherein the switches for the first stage function to interchange the roles of the buffer amplifiers for each step up (or down) the resistor string so as to eliminate or minimize differential non-linearity errors due to offset mismatch between the buffer amplifiers.