AEMC® - Understanding Uncertainty/Accuracy Specs (5215 Discontinued Replaced by 5217)

When assessing a measurement instrument’s performance, few things are more critical than accuracy. Unfortunately, the uncertainty specifications that come with your instrument may be difficult for inexperienced users to understand. What do these numbers mean and how do they affect the instrument’s measurements? What is the difference between digits and counts, “% range” and “% reading,” or resolution and accuracy? What exactly is a “3¾ -digit” instrument? What impact does changing the measurement range have on accuracy?

This video answers these and other questions, using a digital multimeter (DMM) as our demonstration instrument. By the end of this video, you should have a good basic understanding of what uncertainty specifications mean and how you can use them to compare instruments and choose the one best suited to your requirements.