Tektronix DPO4034B 4-channel oscilloscope, Digital Storage oscilloscope, DPO4034B Information Guide

LONG RECORD LENGTHS

Record length is the number of points in a complete waveform record.  
A scope can store only a limited number of samples so, in general,  
the greater the record length the better.

What you need

 

„

 Time captured = record length/sample rate. So, with a record length of 1 Mpoints  
and a sample rate of 250 MS/sec, the oscilloscope will capture a signal 4 ms in 
length. 

 

„

 Today’s scopes allow you to select the record length to optimize the level of detail 
needed for your application. 

 

„

 A good basic scope will store over 2,000 points, which is more than enough for a 
stable sine-wave signal (needing perhaps 500 points). But to find the causes of timing 
anomalies in a complex digital data stream you should consider, for example, a DPO 
(Digital Phosphor Oscilloscope) with a record length of 1 Mpoints or more. 

 

„

 To search for infrequent transients such as jitter, runt pulses and glitches, select 
at least a mid-end scope that combines long record length with a high waveform 
capture rate.

Since an oscilloscope can store only 
a limited number of samples, the 
waveform duration (time) will be inversely 
proportional to the oscilloscope’s 
sample rate. 

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12 THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN CHOOSING AN OSCILLOSCOPE

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CONTENTS

8 9 10 11 12 CONTACT

INTRO

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