Glossary
TDS 500C, TDS 600B, & TDS 700C User Manual
Glossary–9
Oscilloscope
An instrument for making a graph of two factors. These are typically voltage
versus time.
Peak Detect acquisition mode
A mode in which the oscilloscope saves the minimum and maximum
samples over two adjacent acquisition intervals. For many glitch-free signals,
that mode is indistinguishable from the sample mode. (Peak detect mode works
with real-time, non-interpolation sampling only.)
Peak-to-Peak
Amplitude (voltage) measurement of the absolute difference between the
maximum and minimum amplitude.
Period
A timing measurement of the time covered by one complete signal cycle. It
is the reciprocal of frequency and is measured in seconds.
Phase
A timing measurement between two waveforms of the amount one leads or
lags the other in time. Phase is expressed in degrees, where 360_ comprise
one complete cycle of one of the waveforms. Waveforms measured should be
of the same frequency or one waveform should be a harmonic of the other.
Pixel
A visible point on the display. The oscilloscope display is 640 pixels wide
by 480 pixels high.
Pop-up Menu
A sub-menu of a main menu. Pop-up menus temporarily occupy part of the
waveform display area and are used to present additional choices associated
with the main menu selection. You can cycle through the options in a pop-up
menu by repeatedly pressing the main menu button underneath the pop-up.
Positive duty cycle
A timing measurement of the ratio of the positive pulse width to the signal
period, expressed as a percentage.
Positive overshoot
Amplitude (voltage) measurement.
PositiveOvershoot +
Max * High
Amplitude
100%