Specifications

5
What Is an Oscilloscope and Why Do You Need One?
Signal integrity
Signal integrity
The main purpose of an
oscilloscope is to give an
accurate visual representation
of electrical signals. For this
reason, signal integrity is very
important. Signal integrity refers
to the oscilloscope’s ability to
reconstruct the waveform so that
it is an accurate representation
of the original signal. An
oscilloscope with low signal
integrity is useless because it is
pointless to perform a test when
the waveform on the oscilloscope
does not have the same shape
or characteristics as the true
signal. It is, however, important
to remember that the waveform
on an oscilloscope will never
be an exact representation of
the true signal, no matter how
good the oscilloscope is. This
is because when you connect
an oscilloscope to a circuit, the
oscilloscope becomes part of the
circuit. In other words, there are
some loading effects. Instrument
makers strive to minimize loading
effects, but they always exist to
some degree.
Oscilloscope Fundamentals