The SN65HVD17xx family of RS-485 transceivers are designed to operate up to 115 kbps (HVD1785 and HVD1791), 1 Mbps (HVD1786 and HVD1792), or 10 Mbps (HVD1787 or HVD1793) and to withstand DC overvoltage faults on the bus interface pins. This helps to protect the devices against damages resulting from direct shorts to power supplies, cable mis-wirings, connector failures, or other common faults.

The SN65HVD178x devices are half-duplex, and thus have the transmitter and receiver bus interfaces connected together internally. The SN65HVD179x family leaves these two interfaces separate, allowing for full-duplex communication. The low receiver loading allows for up to 256 nodes to share a common RS-485 bus. The devices feature a wide common-mode range as well as fail-safe receivers, which ensure a stable logic-level output during bus open, short, or idle conditions.