Acquisition Modes of an Oscilloscope

References and Acknowledgements

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The acquisition of an oscilloscope is the process of sampling and converting analog signals into digital data, which is then assembled into waveform records and stored in acquisition memory. The acquisition mode determines how waveform record points are calculated from the sampled waveform data.

Various Acquisition Modes and Their Principles

Sample Mode

Sample mode retains the first sample point in each acquisition interval. This is the default mode of an oscilloscope. In this mode, no post-processing is applied to the acquired samples.

Peak Detect Mode

Peak detect mode retains the highest and lowest values from all samples within each acquisition interval. This mode is only applicable to real-time, non-interpolated sampling, and is particularly useful for capturing high-frequency fault signals.

High Resolution Mode

High resolution mode applies a unique FIR filter based on the current sampling rate, ensuring maximum bandwidth while suppressing aliasing. When the usable bandwidth exceeds the selected sampling rate, this filter removes noise from the oscilloscope amplifier and ADC.

High resolution mode reduces triggering jitter and is also suitable for fast acquisition in high-precision applications.

Envelope Mode

Envelope mode overlays the peak values of periodic signals, using peak detect mode for each round of acquisition.

Average Mode

Average mode calculates the average value of each record point over multiple acquisition processes. In each individual acquisition, average mode uses sample mode. Using average mode can reduce the impact of random noise.

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