oscilloscope (redirected from oscilloscopic)

oscilloscope (əsĭl`əskōp'), electronic device used to produce visual displays corresponding to electrical signals. Displays of such nonelectrical phenomena as the variations of a sound's intensity can be made if the phenomena are converted into electrical signals. The display is formed by a moving dot on the screen of a cathode-ray tube. For most applications horizontal deflecting circuits move the dot in a repetitive cycle from left to right, and then, very quickly, back to its starting position to begin the next sweep. If during this process the vertical deflecting circuits move the dot up and down in response to the variations of the signal to be observed, a wavelike picture of the signal appears on the screen. An oscilloscope is one of the most valuable tools of an engineer or electronics technician.

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A test instrument that displays electronic signals (waves and pulses) on a screen. The x-axis represents time, and the y-axis represents an instantaneous view of the voltage of the input signal. To allow viewing signals across a wide frequency range, the rate and speed at which the sweep of the x-axis occurs is configurable. The sensitivity of the inputs can also be configured to accept signals from microvolts peak-to-peak to many thousands of volts peak-to-peak.

Both analog and digital oscilloscopes are available. In an analog scope, the x-axis is controlled by an internal time base, and the y-axis is directly controlled by the input signal. In a digital model, the input voltage is sampled at a preset frequency. The x-axis represents the samples along a time line, and the y-axis shows the voltage levels of each sample. See spectrum analyzer.

Using an Oscilloscope

Oscilloscopes are used to examine the voltages on circuit boards, radios, TVs and countless electronic devices. This one is being used to test chips after manufacture. (Image courtesy of VLSI Technology, Inc.)