First, understand the specifications of a DVM.

The displays are usually specified as 3½ digit, 4½ digit or 4¾ digit, or something like that.

3½ digit means a maximum display of 1999
4½ digit means a maximum display of 19999
4¾ digit means a maximum display of 39999

So for a 3½ digit DVM reading 5 volts, the display may be 5.00, and for a 4½ digit DVM 5.000.
But if we now measure 500volts with the same DVMs
3½ digit 500
4½ digit 500.0

It is meaningless to think in terms of decimal places without thinking about the magnitude of the voltage.

This discussion just considers the RESOLUTION of the display, the ACCURACY is another thing entirely.

I am off to eat now, if we want to talk about accuracy, I will be back later.

JimB

Sometimes the term decimal place is used to mean the number of accurate digits, such as: it's accurate to three decimal places. Perhaps that's what shermaine was asking.

Originally Posted by shermaine

yes, i was asking if the maximum decimal pt can be up to 3 or above...but it all depends on the scale one is testing,right

Exactly, it is the number of figures (digits), how many of those are after the decimal point depends on the range the DVM is set to.

JimB