Digital storage scopes advance

The use of color display and data storage techniques that make for more meaningful signal views and complex statistical measurements, using the digital storage oscilloscope (DSO), are discussed. These techniques make good the loss of information about waveform stability, made evident by the varying intensity of traces on an analog scope display, that occurs when switching to a digital scope. Variable persistence techniques used by DSOs are described. Infinite persistence is an extension of variable-persistence techniques. In general, it accumulates waveforms on the DSO display indefinitely, displaying every acquired pixel with the same intensity. It reveals gross signal characteristics, such as long-term drift or worst-case jitter, and captures rare events such as a metastable state. Color grading is like infinite persistence with a colored version of intensity grading thrown in. The process allows waveform points to accumulate indefinitely on the display, with the user deciding when the screen should be cleared. Detailed quantitative analyses of the signal within the instrument itself are also examined.<>