Acquiring signals
When you acquire a signal, the oscilloscope converts it into a digital form and
displays a waveform. The acquisition mode defines how the signal is digitized,
and the time base setting affects the time span and level of detail in the
acquisition.
Acquisition modes
There are three acquisition modes: Sample, Peak Detect, and Average.
Sample. In this acquisition mode, the oscilloscope samples the signal in evenly
spaced intervals to construct the waveform. This mode accurately represents
signals most of the time.
However, this mode does not acquire rapid variations in the signal that may occur
between samples. This can result in aliasing, and may cause narrow pulses to be
missed. In these cases, you should use the Peak Detect mode to acquire data. See
time-domain aliasing.
Peak Detect. In this acquisition mode, the oscilloscope finds the highest and
lowest values of the input signal over each sample interval and uses these values
to display the waveform. In this way, the oscilloscope can acquire and display
narrow pulses, which may have otherwise been missed in Sample mode. Noise
will appear to be higher in this mode.
Average. In this acquisition mode, the oscilloscope acquires several waveforms,
averages them, and displays the resulting waveform. You can use this mode to
reduce random noise.
Time base
The oscilloscope digitizes waveforms by acquiring the value of an input signal at
discrete points. The time base allows you to control how often the values are
digitized.
To adjust the time base to a horizontal scale that suits your purpose, use the
Horizontal Scale knob.
Understanding oscilloscope functions
TBS1000B and TBS1000B-EDU Series Oscilloscopes User Manual 23
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