In a fully differential amplifier, common-mode noise such as power supply disturbances is rejected; this makes FDAs especially useful as part of a mixed-signal integrated circuit.
A real FDA can only approximate this ideal, and the actual parameters are subject to drift over time and with changes in temperature, input conditions, etc.
Modern integrated FET or MOSFET FDAs approximate more closely to these ideals than bipolar ICs where large signals must be handled at room temperature over a limited bandwidth; input impedance, in particular, is much higher, although the bipolar FDA usually exhibit superior (i.e., lower) input offset drift and noise characteristics.
[citation needed] Where the limitations of real devices can be ignored, an FDA can be viewed as a Black Box with gain; circuit function and parameters are determined by feedback, usually negative.
Specialty and high-speed FDAs can achieve gain-bandwidth products of hundreds of megahertz.