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Measuring Waveforms
3–114
TDS 500C, TDS 600B, & TDS 700C User Manual
Taking Automated Measurements
The TDS Oscilloscope provides the feature Measure for automatically taking and
displaying waveform measurements. This section describes how to set up the
oscilloscope to let it do the work of taking measurements for you.
Because automatic measurements use the waveform record points, they are
generally more accurate and quicker than cursor and graticule measurements.
The oscilloscope will continuously update and display these measurements.
Automatic measurements are taken over the entire waveform record or, if you
specify gated measurements (see page 3–118), over the region specified by the
vertical cursors. Automated measurements are not taken just on the displayed
portions of waveforms.
The oscilloscope can also display almost all of the measurements at once — see
Take a Snapshot of Measurements on page 3–123.
The TDS Oscilloscope provides you with automatic measurements. Table 3–10
lists brief definitions of the automated measurements in the oscilloscope (for
more details see Appendix B: Algorithms, page B–1).
Table 3–10: Measurement definitions
Name Definition
Amplitude Voltage measurement. The high value less the low value measured over the entire waveform or
gated region.
gated region.
Amplitude = High – Low
Area Voltage over time measurement. The area over the entire waveform or gated region in
volt-seconds. Area measured above ground is positive; area below ground is negative.
Cycle Area Voltage over time measurement. The area over the first cycle in the waveform, or the first cycle
in the gated region, in volt-seconds. Area measured above ground is positive; area below
ground is negative.
Burst Width Timing measurement. The duration of a burst. Measured over the entire waveform or gated
region.
Cycle Mean Voltage measurement. The arithmetic mean over the first cycle in the waveform or the first cycle
in the gated region.
Measurement List