Scales have come a long way from the traditional spring-loaded analog devices found in bathrooms years ago. Digital technology has allowed new scales to provide a more accurate reading of weight. Some scales give you data such as information on body mass, body fat content and tracking your weight over time. Some newer scales feature wireless integration into your home network to allow you to track your weight on your computer.
Function
Modern digital scales don't use spring gauges to measure weight. Instead, they use strain gauge technology. Inside a digital scale is a device called a load cell that has an electrical current passing through it. As you stand on the scale, it bends the load cell, changing its electrical resistance. A sensor in the cell detects this resistance and passes the information to a microchip, which drives the visual display on the scale, indicating your weight.
Form
The technology that operates a digital scale is far smaller than that of analog scales. This allows industrial designers to produce thinner, sleeker and more aesthetically pleasing designs for scales. A variety of materials can be used including stainless steel, porcelain and clear glass to create a beautiful and functional device.
Accuracy and Flexibility
The sensor that detects changes in the load cell within a digital scale can read a far narrower range of change that a traditional spring scale. While a spring scale can read in pounds, a digital scale can read in tenths and or hundredths of pounds. You can program most scales to read in pounds or kilograms.
Additional Features
You can program some scales to accommodate the statistics for several different people, so it keeps track of everyone in the household. There are also scales with the technology to record other information as well. Some scales can use electrical impulses sent through the body to track body fat and water density, while others can calculate your body mass index (BMI).
Computer Connection
The level of sophistication of digital scales continues to improve. Several models of scales incorporate Wi-Fi technology. The information recorded by the scale is forwarded, wirelessly, to a database through your home computer network. You can even track the information on some types of cell phone. Or you can use a social networking application to broadcast your weight.
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