User Manual

PicoScope 4000 Series Programmer's Guide 101
Copyright © 2008-2011 Pico Technology Ltd. All rights reserved. ps4000pg.en
Maximum sampling rate. A figure indicating the maximum number of samples the
oscilloscope can acquire per second. The higher the sampling rate of the oscilloscope,
the more accurate the representation of the high-frequency details in a fast signal.
MS/s. Megasample (million samples) per second.
Oversampling. Oversampling is taking measurements more frequently than the
requested sample rate, and then combining them to produce the required number of
samples. If, as is usually the case, the signal contains a small amount of noise, this
technique can increase the effective vertical resolution of the oscilloscope.
PC Oscilloscope. A virtual instrument formed by connecting a PicoScope 4000 Series
scope unit to a computer running the PicoScope software.
PicoScope 4000 Series. A range of high-resolution PC Oscilloscopes from Pico
Technology. The range includes two-channel and four-channel models, with or without
a built-in function generator and arbitrary waveform generator.
PicoScope software. A software product that accompanies all Pico PC Oscilloscopes.
It turns your PC into an oscilloscope, spectrum analyser, and meter display.
Streaming mode. A sampling mode in which the oscilloscope samples data and
returns it to the computer in an unbroken stream. This mode allows the capture of
data sets whose size is not limited by the size of the scope's memory buffer, at
sampling rates up to 6.6 million samples per second.
Timebase. The timebase controls the time interval that each horizontal division of a
scope view represents. There are ten divisions across the scope view, so the total time
across the view is ten times the timebase per division.
Trigger bandwidth. The external trigger input is less sensitive to very high-
frequency input signals than to low-frequency signals. The trigger bandwidth is the
frequency at which a trigger signal will be attenuated by 3 decibels.
USB 1.1. Universal Serial Bus (Full Speed). This is a standard port used to connect
external devices to PCs. A typical USB 1.1 port supports a data transfer rate of 12
megabits per second, so is much faster than an RS232 COM port.
USB 2.0. Universal Serial Bus (High Speed). This is a standard port used to connect
external devices to PCs. A typical USB 2.0 port supports a data transfer rate 40 times
faster than USB 1.1 when used with a USB 2.0 device, but can also be used with USB
1.1 devices.
Vertical resolution. A value, in bits, indicating the precision with which the
oscilloscope converts input voltages to digital values. Oversampling (see above) can
improve the effective vertical resolution.
Voltage range. The range of input voltages that the oscilloscope can measure. For
example, a voltage range of ±100 mV means that the oscilloscope can measure
voltages between –100 mV and +100 mV. Input voltages outside this range will not
damage the instrument as long as they remain within the protection limits of ±200 V.