User`s guide

Chapter 5 Digitizing 129
Chapter 5 Digitizing
Introduction
Digitizing is the process of converting a continuous analog signal into a series
of discrete samples (readings). Figure 22 shows the result of digitizing a sine
wave. This chapter discusses the various ways to digitize signals. The
importance of the sampling rate, and how to use level triggering.
Note As a supplement to the information in this chapter, Product Note 3458A-2
in Appendix D discusses the trigger and timebase errors that affect digitized
measurements.
Digitizing Methods
The multimeter can digitize signals by making DC voltage measurements,
by direct-sampling, or by sub-sampling. Table 26 summarizes the
characteristics of each digitizing method. Figure 23 shows a simplified block
diagram of the multimeter’s signal path for each digitizing method. Figure
24 and shows the front terminal connections for all methods of digitizing.
Figure 22. Digitized sine wave