Analog of Analog and

DigitalDigital
Comparison

Parameter
Display

the value of quantity is

displayed with the help of
electromechanical
movement of pointer over a
calibrated scale.

Value of the quantity

measured us displayed
using 7 segment LED,
alphanumerical display
and liquid crystal display
(LCD).

Accuracy

Less upto 0.1% of scale

Very high accuracy upto

0.0005%

Resolution

Limited

High

Power

Power required is high

Negligible power required

Cost

Low in cost

High in cost

Frictional errors

Errors due to moving parts

are present

No moving parts, so no
frictional errors

Input impedance

Low

High

Observational
errors

Errors such as parallax error

and approximation errors are Due to digital display,
present
observational error is
absent

Speed

Reading speed low

Instruments

Reading speed high

Multimeter

Digital multimeter is a instrument which is capable of measuring

a.c voltages
d.c voltages
a.c current
d.c current
resistances over several ranges.
Using integrated circuit technology, most DMMs are able to offer
additional test capabilities. These may include some of the following:
Capacitance
Temperature
Frequency
Transistor test - hfe, etc
Continuity (buzzer)
Most DMMs will offer two additional capabilities
Auto-range: This facility enables the correct range of the digital
multimeter to be selected so that the most significant digits are shown,
i.e. a four-digit DMM would automatically select an appropriate range to
display , 0.233v can be displayed as 233 mv.
Auto-polarity: This is a very convenient facility that comes into action
for direct current and voltage readings. It shows if the voltage or
current being measured is positive or negative (i.e. opposite polarity )

DMM Digital
Multimeter

The current is converted to voltage by passing it through low

shunt resistance .
The a.c quantity is converted to d.c by employing various
rectifier and filtering circuits.
For Resistance measurements DMM uses constant current
source which is passed through unknown resistance.
All quantities are digitized using analog to digital converter
and displayed in digital form on the display.

DMM Digital
Multimeter
Basic building blocks of DMM

Basic building blocks of DMM are

A/D converter
counting circuitry
attenuation circuitry
Dual slope integration type ADC is used preferred in DMM.

DMM Digital
Multimeter
The key process that occurs within a digital multimeter for any
measurement that takes place is that of voltage measurement. All
other measurements are derived from this basic measurement.
To measure Current
Unknown current is applied to summing junction of opamap and the
current causes the voltage drop , which is propotional to current to be
measured. Voltage drop is applied across the A/D converter, thus
providing the reading that is propotional to unknown current.
Current to Voltage Converter

To measure Resistance
To measure resistance constant current source is used.
The known current is passed through the unknown resistance
Voltage drop is applied to A/D converter, thus providing the reading
propotional to unknown resistance.

DMM Digital
Multimeter

Advantages of DMM over analog meters:

Accuracy is high
Input imepedence high so there is no loading effect
Cheap
Small size
Limitations:

Electrical noise and isolation problems.

requirement of power supply

Digital Storage
Oscilloscope (DSO)
A digital oscilloscope samples the waveform and uses an

analog-to-digital converter (or ADC) to convert the voltage

being measured into digital information. It then uses this
digital information to reconstruct the waveform on the screen.
Digital oscilloscopes allow us to capture and view events that
may
happen only once. Thy can process the digital waveform data
or send the data to a computer for processing. Also, they can
store the digital waveform data for later viewing and printing.
DSO operation
1) input signal is applied to attenuator and amplifier section.
2) Then it is digitised using A/D convertor and stored in
memory
3) Digitizing the signal means taking the samples at periodic
intervals of input signal. Rate of sampling should be atleast as
twice as highest frequency present in the signal.

Digital Storage
Oscilloscope (DSO)

Modes of operation:
i) Roll mode ii) Store mode iii) Hold and save mode
Roll Mode:
This mode is used to display very fast moving signals clearly
on screen.
Fast varying signals are displayed as if it is changing slowly on
the screen. In this mode, input signl is not triggered.
Stored signal is rolled slowly from right to left across the
screen.

Digital Storage Oscilloscope

(DSO)
Store Mode:

Known as Refresh mode.

In this mode, inoput initiates the trigger circuit. Tbhis

initiates the
memory write cycle.
Digital data is transferred to memory. When memory is full,
the write cycle stops.
Using D/A converter, memory is converted to analog and
then displayed on screen.

On next trigger, memory is refreshed.

Hold and Save Mode:
This is called automatic refresh mode.
When new sweep signal is generated by time base
generator, old contents in memory is overwritten by new
one.
If a particular signal is to be stored by pressing the hold and
save button.

DVM DIGITAL VOLTMETER

A digital voltmeter, or DVM, is used to take highly

accurate voltage measurements. These

instruments measure the electrical potential
difference between two conductors in a circuit.
Any digital instrument requites analog to digital
converter at its input.ADC requires a reference
Output of ADC is decoded and signal is processed
in decoding stage.
Data from decoder is transmitted to Display

DVM TYPES

DVM is mainly classified into two types

1) Non integrating type
2) integrating type
Non integrating type can be classified as Potentiometric
and Ramp type.
Potentiomentric can be classified as
1) Servopotentimetric type
2) Successive approximation type
3) Null balance type
Ramp type can be classified as
1)Linear type
2)Staircase type
Integrating type can be classified as
1) Voltage to frequency converter type
2) Potentiometric type
3) Dual slope integrating type

Ramp type DVM

Two Types - linear ramp technique and staircase ramp technique
Staircase Ramp Technique:

Staircase ramp DVM

Staircase ramp technique
The staircase ramp is generated by the digital to analog converter. The
technique of using staircase ramp is also called null balance technique.
The input voltage is properly attenuated and is applied to a null detector.
The input to null detector is the staircase ramp generated by the digital to
analog converter. The ramp is continuously compared with the input signal.
The logical control circuit sends a reset signal. This signal resets the
counter.T he digital to analog converter is also resetted by same signal.
At start of measurement ,logic control circuit sends a starting pulse
which opens the gate. Counter starts counting the pulses generated by
local oscillator
The output counter is given to the digital to analog converter which
generates the ramp signal.
At every count there is an incremental change in the ramp generated. Thus
the staircase ramp is generated at the output of the digital to analog
converter.This is given as the second input of the null detector.
The increase in ramp continues till it achieves the voltage equal to
input voltage. When the two voltages are equal, the null detector
generates a signal
which inturn initiates the logic control circuit. Thus logic control circuit
sends a stop pulse which closes the gate and counter stops counting.

Ramp type DVM

Advantages of Staircase ramp technique
Greater Accuracy
Design is simple
Input impedance is high

Voltmeter

Weighing Balance Principle

The object is placed on one side of the balance and the approximate weight is
placed on the other side.
If this weight is smaller than the object, another small weight is added weight
is removed and smaller weight is added.
Thus by such successive procedure of adding and removing, the weight of the
object is determined.
The successive approximation type DVM works exactly on the same principle.

Successive Approximation Type

Digital Voltmeter
In successive approximation type DVM, the

comparator compares the output of digital to

analog converter with the unknown voltage.
Accordingly, the comparator provides logic
high or low signals.
The digital to analog converter successively
generates the set pattern of signals.
The procedure continues till the output of the
digital to analog converter becomes equal to
the unknown voltage.

Dual Slope Integrating Type

DVM
Most

popular method of Analog to Digital

Coversion.
Basic Working Principle
Input signal is integrated for a fixed interval of
time to get positive ramp signal.
Same integrator is used to integrate the reference
voltage to get negative ramp(slope) signal
So the name is given as dual slope integrating
DVM.
Excellent noise rejection as in this dual slope
method, noise is averaged out by positive and
negative ramps using the process of integration

Dual Slope Integrating Type

DVM

At the start of the measurement, the

counter is reset to zero. This is given to

control logic, which sends a control signal
which closes the switch to position 1 and
integration of voltage starts. Capacitor
starts charging from zero level.This
continues till time t1.

Dual Slope Integrating Type

DVM

As the output of integrator changes from its zero

value, zero comparator output changes and it

provides a signal to control logic which opens the
gate and the counter starts counting the pulses.
It counts the pulses till 9999 and generates a carry
pulse and all digits go to zero.
Now Filpflop gets activated to logic level 1 and it
activates the control logic.
Control logic now sends the signal which changes
the switch position to S2.
Now -Vref gets connected to Opamp, as the
polarity of opamap is opposite, the capacitor starts
discharging. So integrator ouput is negative slope.

Dual Slope Integrating Type

DVM

Output decreases linearly and after time

interval t2 it attains zero when the

capacitor is fully discharged.
Now the output of zero comparator
changes the state and it sends a signal to
control logic and so the gate closed.
Thus gate remains opened for time t1+t2.
Now the counting operation is stopped.
Pulses counted by the counter has direct
relation with the input voltage. The counts
are then transferred to digital readout
display.

BRIDGES

The two types of bridges are

D.C bridges and 2. A.C Bridges

D.C bridges are used to measure the resistance
A.C bridges are used to measure impedance.

1.

D.C bridges use d.c voltage as the excitation voltage.

A.C bridges use a.c voltage as the excitation voltage.
Two types of d.c bridges are
1) Wheatstone bridges 2)Kelvin bridges
A.C bridges are
1)Maxwell Bridge 2)Anderson Bridge
3) Schering Bridge
4) Wien bridge

Wien bridge

Its basic form is designed to measure

frequency. It can also be used for the
instrument of an unknown capacitor with great
accuracy

Wien bridge
The impedance of one arm is

The admittance of the parallel arm is

Z2 = R3, Z4 = R4.
The bridge balance equation is
Therefore

Wien bridge

From Real term

Wien bridge
From imaginary term

Generally R1 = R3 = R and C1 = C3 = C. so, f=

1/2RC

Q Meter

Q Factor:
What is Q factor:
Q factor is called quality factor. It is defined
as ratio of power stored to power
dissipated.
Q is the ratio of reactance to resistance of a
reactive element.

Schering bridge

It is most important bridge

to measure
capacitance, dielectric loss, power factor.

Cx
C3

Rx

Z1 = R1 ll 1/jwC1
1/Z1 = 1/R1 + jwC1 Y1 = 1/R1 + jwC1
Z2 = R2 , Z3 = 1/jwC3 , Z4 = Rx + 1/jwCx

Schering bridge
At balance condition Z1 Z4 = Z2 Z3.
Z4 = Z2 Z3 / Z1
Z4 = Y1 Z2 Z3
Substitute values of Y1, Z2 and Z3 in above equations
Rx + 1/jwCx = (1/R1 + jwC1) R2 (1/jwC3)
Rx j/wCx = C1R2/C3 j R2/wR1C3
Rx = C1 R2 / C3
Cx = R1 C3/ R2