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What does it mean when multimeter accuracy is

marked as: 0,03%+10Digit?
up I have a digital multimeter and its accuracy for VDC is marked like this:
vote do2
wn vote 0,03%+10Digit
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This multimeter has maximum display of 80000. So in the 80 V range it can show for
example 79.999V.

0.03% of 80V is 0.024V - that is clear for me. But what does the +10Digit mean?
The device in question in Digitek DT-80000.
multimeter accuracy

shareimprove this question asked Dec 3 '11 at

miernik
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2 Answers
activeoldestvotes

up vote 2downThe 1 digit means that the least significant digit can be off by +/- 1. In this resolution 1
digit would mean +/- 0.001V. 10 digit means that basically of your 79.999V displayed,
vote accept it could also be 79.989V (not including the 0,03%!)
ed
So basically in your range the 10 digit specification means that +/- 0.03% + 0,01V is
your error. For measuring 79.999V it means an absolute maximum error or +/-
0.03%*79.999 + 0.01 = 0.034V.

shareimprove this answer answered Dec

Hans
3,8281921
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 up Like Hans says +/-1 digit means that the last digit can be 1 off. +/-10 digits means it can
4
vote down be 10 digits off, or 1 digit in the one but last position. It shows how relative 5 digits
vote (actually 4 3/4) of resolution are: while you get 5 digits, only 4 are significant, the last
one is not reliable. This may not look too bad, 10 in 80000 is 0.01%, to be added to the
0.03% basic accuracy. However, while the 0.03% is relative to the measured value, the
10 digits are absolute, and they weigh more if your reading is lower. 10 in 80000 was
0.01%, if your reading is 20000 this error will be 0.05%, or larger than the relative
error.

shareimprove this answer answered Dec

stevenvh
104k7317538

Good point on mentioning the digit is like an absolute offset on the range, and the % is a relative error. Hans Dec 3
'11 at 20:37