---
title: "TMW: What's a half digit, anyway?"
description: "(/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/DMM_Ziffernrollen.jpg)](/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/DMM_Ziffernrollen.jpg) (http://www.twitter.com/measurementblue) over at…"
canonical: "https://www.baldengineer.com/tmw-whats-a-half-digit-anyway.html"
author: "James Lewis"
date: "2012-07-18T09:30:45Z"
lastmod: "2016-12-07T17:21:51Z"
categories: ["around-the-web"]
tags: ["dmm","tmworld","tools-2"]
---

# TMW: What's a half digit, anyway?


[![Digital meter display showing 021916 and a partial half digit](/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/DMM_Ziffernrollen.jpg)](/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/DMM_Ziffernrollen.jpg)

[Martin Rowe](http://www.twitter.com/measurementblue) over at [Test & Measurement World](http://www.tmworld.com) published an article quite some time ago (1994) that explains what it means when a DMM claims to have "½" digits in their display.  Intuitively, to me anyway, when I heard this I always thought of gas-pumps and how we pay for 9/10 of a penny with every gallon of gas (in the United States).

Check out Martin's post:  [What's a half digit, anyway](http://www.edn.com/electronics-news/4389451/What-s-a-half-digit-anyway- "TMW: What's a half digit, anyway?")?