A through-wall eddy current system produces similar signals for defects of equal size, independent of the location of the defects in the sample being tested. The remote field eddy current technique is also reported to generate similar signals for equal defects, independent of the location of the defects in the wall of the tube which is being inspected. A theoretical study of an ideal conventional through-wall eddy current system is presented, and the results are compared with the results of a remote field eddy current system. It is shown that while the remote field system does not always obey the one-dimensional skin effect equation, it detects external material loss with nearly equal sensitivity to internal material loss. Experimental results are presented which show that the complex plane displays of similar ID and OD defects are similar in shape, size and orientation.