Non-linear insulating material is widely used in the insulations of XLPE cable terminations and stator windings insulation of electric machines, and has obvious capability to improve the distribution of electric field. Actually, the dielectric loss factor of non-linear insulating materials is not equal to the tanδ describing linear insulating materials, and depends on applied voltage and their structures. This paper firstly discusses the difference between ac loss characteristic of non-linear dielectrics and linear dielectrics and presents a kind model of non-linear composite material. Based on the model, specific characterization and measurement methods and their numeric simulation analysis are given. Finally, a measuring system for non-linear insulating materials based on digital measuring technology is presented.