altimeters : digital vs analog

[Eule 0]

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has there ever been a study on just how accurate both types of altimeters actually are?

Not sure, but it would be relatively simple to do. You can get "altimeter calibrators" which are basically
just a little chamber that you can pull a vacuum on while watching the altimeter-under-test and a
reference altimeter. On some of them you can also put pressure on the chamber, if you want to test
the full range of an altimeter that reads MSL when you're in Denver.

I think it would be interesting to go to a big gear store and test several copies of each model new in the
box, then go to a boogie and test the same models of altimeter after they've had a few hundred or a few
thousand jumps.

I think some of the altimeter manufacturers go to the big events with a calibrator and offer to check your
altimeter, but I don't know if any of them have ever posted data on how far off the altimeters they looked
at were.

Eule

PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

[spoons 0]

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On the accuracy statement - just because a digital readout reads to the nearest foot does NOT imply that it's an accurate reading. Just like digital watches can be wrong, so can digital altimeters.

I don't understand the comments about difficulty reading numbers either - I'm 60 and can read my analog alti and my Protrack's digital read outs just fine, without my trifocals.

You misunderstood what I said i think...I didn't mean an analgue alti is hard to read nor did I mean it wasn't accurate...I meant the scale is a bit small to be read accurately - especially under 1000ft.

Using, for example, a Neptune - it is much easier to accurately read under canopy.

At least that's what I think
Edited to add what Alti2 say:

"The tolerances of the Altimaster III Galaxy are tighter than you will be able to detect in freefall (and the Neptune even more so)... ...In terms of skydiving, the Galaxy and the Neptune are both equally accurate but the Neptune is far more precise."

Which is what I meant...both are accurate but it's easier to accurately read a digital altimeter than an analogue - for most people. It might not be what a lot of people prefer, but it is a fact that a digital reading does not have such a large reading error as an analogue.