Oscilloscope specifications

A detailed description, including dimensions and other quantities, of the function, construction, materials, and quality of a manufactured article or an engineering project, is one definition of specifications presented. The details are important, and are sometimes where competitive advantage can be found. Often what is not stated is more important than what is stated. There are recognized and accepted meanings for the words and phrases used in oscilloscope specifications. IEEE Standard 1057 covers the term definitions used in Digitizing Oscilloscope specifications. These definitions describe and determine how the specifications apply to specific measurements. This article explains these definitions and shows how they apply to measurement applications. Specifications discussed include update rate, dynamic range, offset accuracy, gain accuracy, bandwidth, effective bits, and timing accuracy