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Oscilloscope terminology
1.
Volts/div: Determines how many volts the signal at the input must swing for the trace to move one division.
2.
Time/div: Determines the time the trace needs to scan from the the left hand side to the right hand side of a division.
3.
Division: Imaginary or visible grid on the oscilloscope screen. It helps estimating signal amplitude and period.
4.
Period (T): Duration of one cycle of the AC waveform (= 1/f).
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'AC coupling': The oscilloscope only displays the AC component of a signal, any DC level is ignored.
'AC voltage': (AC: Alternating Current) With AC, the flow of the current periodically reverses, as opposed to DC, where the current flows in one direction. An AC
source does not have a polarity.
'Auto setup'-mode or Automatic Volts/div and/or time/div: The oscilloscope automatically selects a setting for Volts/div and Time/div in such a way that
one or more periods of signal are displayed correctly.
Bandwidth: Usually expressed in MHz. It is the frequency at which an applied sine wave will be displayed at an amplitude of around 70% of its original amplitude.
More expensive scopes feature a higher bandwidth. Rule of thumb: the bandwidth of an oscilloscope needs to be at least 5 times higher than the frequency of the
signal applied to the input of the scope.
OSCILLOSCOPE TERMINOLOGY
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5. Frequency (f): The number cycles of the AC waveform per sec.
6. Trace: 'line' that is drawn on the screen, which represents the signal
at the input.
7. Amplitude: How far does the signal 'swing'in a direction. Expressed
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in mV or V. For repetitive signals: Vpeak.
8. Peak-to-peak: Difference between most positive and most negative
swing of the signal. 2xVpeak for sinusoidal signals.
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