The definition of the “Quality,”Q, of a count-rate meter algorithm is introduced as the reciprocal of the algorithm’s (&tgr;×&egr;) product, where &tgr; is the response time of the algorithm to a sudden change in the average count rate and where &egr; is the fractional standard deviation of the steady-state measurement of a constant average count-rate pulse stream. Analytical expressions for &tgr; and &egr; of digital rate meter algorithms are used to calculate maximum values ofQfor both linear and exponential algorithms. The values of the basic algorithm parameters necessary to achieve these minimum (&tgr;×&egr;) products are derived for both algorithms. The use of these values results in algorithms that have relatively short response times and, simultaneously, relatively small steady-state errors. ©1997 American Institute of Physics.