Specifications
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E
The yellow 1 indicates the vertical position of 0 volts for channel 1. A similar cyan 2
indicator shows 0 volts for channel 2 when it is displayed.
F
The displayed waveform for channel 1 shown in yellow. Channel 2 is displayed in cyan.
G
The small yellow arrow (partially occluded by the letter G) shows that the scope is
being triggered on channel 1 and the vertical position with respect to channel 1's zero
volts point indicates the trigger level's voltage. In the figure, the trigger voltage is zero.
H
The yellow graphic shows that channel 1 is DC-coupled and that the volts per division
setting is 200 mV/div (also called the vertical gain). A similar display would be given in
cyan for channel 2 if it was turned on.
J
This information shows the trigger settings. The trigger source, trigger type (here, an
edge trigger), and trigger voltage are displayed.
K
This number indicates the time per division setting of the scope. The M indicates the
main timebase. If you enable the delayed timebase, its time/div setting will be above
the M setting and will be prefixed by the letter Z.
Other types of digital oscilloscopes
While this document is focused on the traditional oscilloscope in a box with controls and a display
screen, there are a number of other types of digital oscilloscopes. We'll briefly describe them.
Mixed signal oscilloscope (MSO)
When designing electronic equipment, the designer often makes use of digital technology. Digital
electronic devices are also analog devices, insofar as the same issues like propagation delay,
distortion, glitches, etc. can complicate designs just like they can in analog designs. The digital
engineer often uses a logic analyzer to analyze the digital behavior of a system. Occasionally, the
digital system doesn't behave as expected and an analog tool is needed to look at the signals.
This is the domain of the mixed signal oscilloscope (MSO). These products typically have two to four
analog oscilloscope channels for viewing the analog nature of digital signals and perhaps 8 to 16 digital
channels for the logic analyzer. They are conveniently, two tools in one package -- and the digital and
analog systems can work together. For example, a complex digital pattern trigger from the logic
analyzer can be used to trigger the analog scope operation.
USB oscilloscope
USB oscilloscopes interface with a computer, which provides the controls and display. The interface
with the computer is usually the USB interface. These devices are often used with laptop computers
and have the advantage of providing their functionality in a small package because the display and user
control electronics don't need to be present, as they're done in software on the computer. Some of
these tools can provide an oscilloscope, logic analyzer, and function generator, all in the same
surprisingly small package. Some of them support the decoding of serial data streams like SPI, I2C,
and RS-232.
Handheld oscilloscopes
Handheld oscilloscopes provide the same basic functionality as bench scopes, but in a handheld
package. These are popular with field service people. They can be more expensive than their bench
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