Agilent Technologies N1996A-503 User Reference page 83

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Peak For each display point (interval) on the trace, Peak detection displays the highest
amplitude within the frequency interval represented by that display point.
Peak detection should be used for measuring CW signals and for some pulsed-RF
measurements. For FFT analysis, the highest amplitude across the frequency width of a
display point is shown, even if that peak amplitude falls between samples of the spectrum
computed in the FFT process.
Example
Key Path
Sample The sample detector displays the instantaneous level of the signal at the first
sample in the frequency interval represented by each display point. It does not matter how
many samples there are for each display point because only the first sample is used.
Sample detection is good for displaying noise or noise-like signals.
Sample detection is not the best for making amplitude measurements of CW-like signals.
The peak response to a signal can occur between samples, so unless the Span to RBW ratio
is lower than usual, then the chosen sample can be well below the peak signal amplitude.
Example
Key Path
Negative Peak For each display point (interval) in the trace, Negative Peak detection
displays the lowest sample within the frequency range represented by that display point.
Negative peak detection is similar to peak detection, but selects the minimum value.
Chapter 3
The following Legacy Auto State command:
[:SENSe]:DETector:AUTO ON | OFF | 1 | 0
[:SENSe]:DETector:AUTO?
will be supported for Backwards Compatibility.
The command [:SENSe]:DETector:AUTO will turn the AUTO state
ON or OFF for ALL detectors. This implementation is required to
preserve the classic functionality wherein all traces are affected
when a detector is addressed
DET:TRAC3 POS sets trace 3 to positive detection.
Trace/Detector, Detector, Peak
DET:TRAC SAMP sets trace 1 to sample detection.
Trace/Detector, Detector, Sample
Meas Off (Spectrum Analyzer) Measurement
Mode
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