Can a DMM be trusted?

[BusyBee]

I see that the higher the input impedance / resistance of the meter the more likely one is to be misled by phantom voltage pickup. It would not be helped by a better high frequency response either. The closer you get to electrometer performance the greater the issues their traits become noticeable. The good thing about an Avo is that, with their loading on the circuit, phantom pickup is almost non existant. Maybe some have it, I don't know, but there is maybe a need for having a switched input load / impedance on a DMM to compensate in some circumstances. A setting with the same load as an Avo 8, for instance, might make comparing with some circuit descriptions a lot easier.

Tracy