A voltage output transmitter represents its measured quantity as a voltage proportional to the position within the configured range. PV is the process variable, the standard instrumentation term for that measured quantity, whatever it happens to be. PV_min and PV_max are the values the transmitter is configured to report at each end of the signal, which is the range set in the transmitter rather than the physical span of the sensor.

Both signal endpoints are entered by hand, because 0 to 10 V is not the only convention. 0 to 5 V is common on shorter runs, and 1 to 5 V and 2 to 10 V exist for the same reason 4-20 mA starts at 4 rather than 0. Enter whatever the transmitter is configured to output.

Zero is not live on a 0 to 10 V signal

With a signal that starts at 0 V, a broken wire, a dead transmitter or a lost supply produces 0 V, which is exactly what a genuine reading at the bottom of the range produces. The two are indistinguishable at the receiving end. A 4-20 mA loop or a 1 to 5 V signal reserves the bottom of the electrical range so a failure falls outside it and can be detected. If fault detection matters, that is the argument against 0 to 10 V, not signal quality.

Voltage drops along the cable

A voltage signal is measured across the receiver input, so any resistance in the wiring puts an error directly into the reading, and the error grows with cable length and with any current the receiver draws. A current loop does not have this problem, because the same current flows everywhere in the loop regardless of resistance. On long runs or in electrically noisy environments this is the practical reason to prefer 4-20 mA. Verify the receiver input impedance against the transmitter drive capability, since a low impedance input loads the signal and shifts the reading.

Outside the signal range

There is no equivalent of NAMUR NE 43 for voltage signals, so there is no standard current-style convention that says which voltages mean a fault. Readings outside the configured signal range are scaled anyway here and flagged, since a small excursion past the end is usually a real over-range rather than a failure. Check the transmitter manual for how far outside it is specified to drive and what, if anything, it does to signal a fault.

What this does not cover

The scaling is linear. A transmitter with square root extraction or a custom characterisation curve does not follow this relationship.