
Section 5: Basic Digital Multimeter (DMM) Operation
Series 3700 System Switch/Multimeter User's Manual
5-6
3700S-900-01 Rev. C / July 2008
Traditional DMM 4-wire measurements are made in two phases, SHI and SLO.
If the dmm.nplc=1 or a multiple of the power line, theoretically, the average AC
noise is 0. Refer to the 4W-Rdg calculation (http://www.maxim-
ic.com/appnotes.cfm/appnote_number/1041/).
Figure 5-3: 1plc Line Sychronization Block Diagram
For Line Synchronization off and <1plc, reading rate increases, but
measurement uncertainty and noise increases due to the Average AC noise
during the SHI phase not cancelling with the SLO phase. With Line
Synchronization ON, the SHI and SLO measurement phases are triggered at the
rising edge of the power line zero crossing. This improves reading uncertainty
and noise by >30x while minimal reading rate reduction.