A system that facilitates high-sensitivity detection of anomalous signals in systems with low-resolution sensors. During system operation, a low-resolution sensor monitors a signal within the system. The system periodically polls the low-resolution sensor in a burst mode to obtain a plurality of measurements of the signal within a specified short time interval, wherein the measurements are spread across multiple quantizing bins. The system then determines a mean value for the plurality of measurements. The system repeats the steps of polling the low-resolution sensor and determining the mean value to create a time-series of mean values. This time-series of mean values is subsequently analyzed to determine whether the signal is anomalous.
