How do you determine which one is best for your use?

There are many kinds of digital multimeters on the market. How do you determine which one is best for your use? Choosing a digital multimeter with more functions than required is a waste of money. However, if the selected digital multimeter is not functional enough, it may bring life-threatening electrical hazards to technicians.

The display number of a digital multimeter

In general, most manufacturers use resolution numbers to represent the display capabilities of digital multimeters. The number of decimal places is the highest significant digit that a multimeter can display. It is the ratio of the maximum possible value of a bit to the number of possible states. The higher the resolution, the more accurate the measurement results. Meanwhile, the higher the resolution, the multimeter.

Count of a digital multimeter

Because "bit resolution" often confuses users, manufacturers have begun to use "count" to specify display capacity. The count of a digital multimeter refers to the maximum number the multimeter can display before changing the range, and how many digits it can display in total, which will affect the accuracy of the digital multimeter.

The resolution of a digital multimeter

The resolution of a digital multimeter is the minimum change in the input signal that can change the output signal. As the range of a digital multimeter decreases, the resolution increases. At the end of the day, however, you want the multimeter to display the measured reading at the best resolution.

The range of a digital multimeter

When choosing a digital multimeter, you need to know the required minimum range, maximum range, and resolution. Most digital multimeters today offer both automatic and manual range measurements.

In automatic range measurement, what you need to do is select the desired measurement function and then let the multimeter automatically select the most appropriate range. In general, you should choose the automatic range when you do not know the possible range of measured readings. It is important to note that automatic range measurement is more time consuming than manual range measurement because multimeters consume extra time by selecting and displaying the best measurement results.

Manual range measurement is usually chosen when you know the expected measurements. Depending on your measurements, you can choose the range. If you do not know the measurements and want to use a manual range, it is recommended that you use the "step down" method. Start at the highest range and gradually shrink the range until the display reaches the best resolution.

Digital multimeter precision

Digital multimeters differ in accuracy from display resolution. Accuracy refers to the maximum allowable error limit of a reading. Generally, manufacturers compare the accuracy of DC voltage (DCV) to other manufacturers' technical indicators because DCV accuracy is higher than other functions. Precision index can be expressed as ± (% reading +% range)

There are many types of digital multimeters on the market. To choose the right one, you need to know your target application, range, and resolution.