Figure of merit

Numeric statement of performance
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A figure of merit (FOM) is a performance metric that characterizes the performance of a device, system, or method, relative to its alternatives.[1][2]

Examples

  • Accuracy of a rifle[3]
  • Audio amplifier figures of merit such as gain or efficiency
  • Battery life of a laptop computer[4]
  • Calories per serving
  • Clock rate of a CPU is often given as a figure of merit, but is of limited use in comparing between different architectures. FLOPS may be a better figure, though these too aren't completely representative of the performance of a CPU.
  • Contrast ratio of an LCD
  • Frequency response of a speaker
  • Fill factor of a solar cell
  • Resolution of the image sensor in a digital camera
  • Measure of the detection performance of a sonar system, defined as the propagation loss for which a 50% detection probability is achieved
  • Noise figure of a radio receiver
  • The thermoelectric figure of merit, zT, a material constant proportional to the efficiency of a thermoelectric couple made with the material
  • The figure of merit of digital-to-analog converter, calculated as (power dissipation)/(2ENOB × effective bandwidth) [J/Hz]
  • Luminous efficacy of lighting
  • Profit of a company
  • Residual noise remaining after compensation in an aeromagnetic survey
  • Heat absorption and transfer quality for a solar cooker

Computational benchmarks are synthetic figures of merit that summarize the speed of algorithms or computers in performing various typical tasks.

References

  1. ^ Olivieri, Alejandro C.; Escandar, Graciela M. (2014), "Analytical Figures of Merit", Practical Three-Way Calibration, Elsevier, pp. 93–107, doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-410408-2.00006-5, ISBN 978-0-12-410408-2, retrieved 2022-03-24
  2. ^ Allegrini, Franco; Olivieri, Alejandro C. (2020), "Figures of Merit", Comprehensive Chemometrics, Elsevier, pp. 441–463, doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-409547-2.14612-8, ISBN 978-0-444-64166-3, S2CID 193125279, retrieved 2022-03-24
  3. ^ Minshall, David. "Measuring Accuracy". Research Press. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
  4. ^ Decoding Battery Life For Laptops New York Times, June 25, 2009