Should Handheld multimeters have color LCD displays?

How would individuals with colour blindness be impacted on colour display meters?

I think I see all the spectrum of colour. I worked with an individual that didn't identify the colour red. To him it was black. Red & black being two colours in a single pair cable gave him a 50/50 chance of getting the pair connected correctly. After understanding his colour shortcoming we came to an agreement. I would terminate cables and he drove the truck. As electronic installers terminating 250 pair cables was a regular occurrence. Not seeing red made terminating cables difficult.

Do meters that support colour offer an override option to set the output to monochrome? If John and I still worked together I can hear him now "Who set this GD meter to colour! No wonder I can read the numbers."

I am fortunate that is not an issue that applies to me, but you are absolutely correct this is an important topic for consideration. Perhaps the meter should allow the user to chose a color scheme.

There are a few thermalcamera-multimeters that also have color displays. The Fluke 279 and FLIR DM166, they both seem to use a white on black or black on white display font when in multimeter mode. (I haven't used either)

Re: Battery Life. I would not want to have to take my multimeter apart all the time to charge the battery like the Fluke 279 thermalcam multimeter:

That would bother me.

 scottiebabe , is this the same one: MP720780 ?

I have a shopping cart from project14. May pick this one ...

I can't say for certain but if I had to guess I would say yes! That is exciting news!! You may also consider the model with an AWG included 

I ordered one of that family. MP720783

Nice specs! Looking forward to hearing what it's like.

Woohoo! I am excited for you! We are twins for Scopes (DS1054z), I have the big sister to your function generator and now you have the big brother to my scopemeter! Excellent choice, can't wait to hear your opinion of the meter:)

Funny you mention this ... I've just reviewed the Fluke 279 FC/iFlex -  Experimenting with Thermistors – Grand Prize Pt.2: Fluke 279 FC/iFlex DMM Review

Using that as my reference point for a colour LCD DMM, I guess the 279 FC/iFlex has no choice as the thermal imager really needs a colour LCD to truly shine. But the colour LCD is a compromise - for use outside in direct sun, its contrast is barely enough for reading DMM digits. Power consumption means that the lifetime of a 22Wh battery is only about 13-14h so charging becomes necessary (although if not using continuously, you can still get quite a bit of mileage). Unfortunately, the 279 FC/iFlex doesn't make the most of the LCD either - colour is only used for the "danger" icon, and there is no bar graph as you may see with segment mono LCDs.

In the end, for a plain DMM, I still find monochrome segment LCDs preferable - they're just more readable in more situations (backlights help in the dark) and they consume much less power. Simple technology, low-cost ... nothing wrong with that.

- Gough

My scope arrived!