I recommend to use the search function here in eevblog.
This item was discussed already several times and in detail.
/PuLuLe
I did, thank you. None answered my question.
You can make a DMM with 1000 counts. I don't ever recall seeing one. Maybe they happened for a brief period.
You can make a DMM with 2000 counts. Maybe 90%+ of the meters on the market are like this.
You can make a DMM with 4000 counts. Some exist, but it seems to be quite rare.
You can make a DMM with 10000 or 20000 counts. That exists but is very high end.
It should be pretty much exactly as much harder to make 4000 count DMM compared to 2000 count, as to make a 2000 count DMM compared to 1000. But *everyone* takes that first step -- you just don't see 3 digit DMMs -- and almost no one takes that 2nd step.
That seems like it should have a psychological/marketing explanation rather than a physical/electronic reason.
Sure, a 2000 count DMM is better than a 1000 count one, but a 4000 count DMM is exactly as much better again ... another 30% of numbers start with a 2 or a 3.
Was there ever a time that 3 digit DMMs were in the majority? I don't remember it. Did DMMs start from 3 1/2 digits, right off the bat? Or was someone first and then shortly after you simply couldn't sell a 3 digit DMM at any price? And yet there's been very little pressure for the low end to move from 2000 to 4000 count. It's weird. It's *got* to be psychological. not cost or difficulty.