Compute the number of points per revolution needed:

For θ = 3°, N = 120 pulses per revolution.

Check feasibility against encoder hardware limits:

Exceeding this causes degraded output, missed pulses, or cumulative error.

Quadrature decoding (optional):

If using A/B channels with quadrature and counting both rising and falling edges, you can effectively get 2× (X2) or 4× (X4) the nominal pulses, increasing effective resolution.

Absolute Encoders (Bit-based)

First find how many discrete positions you need per 360°, using the same angular increment logic:

Then pick the smallest bit-depth whose number of unique codes ≥ N. For example, a 14-bit encoder gives 2¹⁴ = 16,384 positions per revolution — enough for applications needing fine angular resolution.