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TechXchange

What's the Difference: Oscilloscopes

Oct. 25, 2024

Not all oscilloscopes are created equal. Find out what the differences are and what is important.

Related To: Electronic Design - House Ads

The term oscilloscope covers a lot of ground. They have different characteristics and can be used to test and observe a host of electronic applications. Knowing the difference between these characteristics is what this TechXchange is about.

These articles present the details about the differences of oscilloscope features like the number of bits associated with the analog-to-digital converters (ADC) used with most scopes today as well as the difference between types of scopes like real-time and sampling oscilloscopes.

Check out the parent TechXchange, Engineer's Guide Oscilloscope Techniques, for more articles and videos on the use and operation of oscilloscopes.

Oscilloscopes

Oscilloscopes: Resolving Finer Detail

Here are some of the methods reputed oscilloscope manufacturers use to achieve high resolution in analog to digital conversion.

Test & Measurement

What’s Really the Difference Between a 12-Bit and 8-Bit Oscilloscope?

The difference between 12- and 8-bit scopes seems straightforward, but there’s a bit more to the answer than that 4-bit differential.

Test & Measurement

What’s the Difference Between Digitizers and Oscilloscopes for Wideband Measurements?

Despite many similarities, it’s important to understand that oscilloscopes and digitizers are quite different, with each optimized for different target applications. Which will...

Test & Measurement

What’s The Difference Between Real-Time And Sampling Oscilloscopes?

The path to digitalization for both real-time and sampling scopes is essentially the same. The input signal passes through front-end signal conditioning circuitry on the oscilloscope...

Test & Measurement

What’s the Difference Between a DSO and DPO?

A digital phosphor oscilloscope is also a digital storage oscilloscope, and the same can be true in reverse. So what exactly separates the two?

Test & Measurement

What’s The Difference Between A Mixed-Signal Oscilloscope And A Logic Analyzer?

Logic analyzers and oscilloscopes have coexisted for many years and test-equipment vendors can sell you either one or the other. Which one is best for you? Agilent's Joel Woodward...

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Engineer's Guide Oscilloscope Techniques

This TechXchange is all about oscilloscopes, including their selection, techniques, and vendors.

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Engineer's Guide Oscilloscope Techniques

This TechXchange is all about oscilloscopes, including their selection, techniques, and vendors.

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Looking to buy an oscilloscope? Here are some places to look.

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About the Author

William G. Wong | Senior Content Director - Electronic Design and Microwaves & RF

I am Editor of Electronic Design focusing on embedded, software, and systems. As Senior Content Director, I also manage Microwaves & RF and I work with a great team of editors to provide engineers, programmers, developers and technical managers with interesting and useful articles and videos on a regular basis. Check out our free newsletters to see the latest content.

You can send press releases for new products for possible coverage on the website. I am also interested in receiving contributed articles for publishing on our website. Use our template and send to me along with a signed release form.

Check out my blog, AltEmbedded on Electronic Design, as well as his latest articles on this site that are listed below.

You can visit my social media via these links:

I earned a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Masters in Computer Science from Rutgers University. I still do a bit of programming using everything from C and C++ to Rust and Ada/SPARK. I do a bit of PHP programming for Drupal websites. I have posted a few Drupal modules.

I still get a hand on software and electronic hardware. Some of this can be found on our Kit Close-Up video series. You can also see me on many of our TechXchange Talk videos. I am interested in a range of projects from robotics to artificial intelligence.