ZTEC Instruments Technical Article

Oscilloscope Measurement Fundamentals

Many oscilloscope users take advantage of only a small fraction of the powerful features available to them. In
addition, selecting the right measurement from a catalog of possibilities and accurately interpreting the results
can lead to confusion and mistakes. This article is intended to help users understand oscilloscope
measurements more completely in order to avoid common pitfalls.

Digital storage oscilloscopes vary greatly among vendors in terms of form factor (stand-alone, PXI, VXI, PCI, etc),
resolution (8-bit, 12-bit, 16-bit, etc), acquisition rates (1 MS/sec, 1 GS/sec, 40 GS/sec, etc), functionality
(advanced triggering, deep memory, self-calibration, etc.), and more. One aspect that separates true
oscilloscopes from most PC-based, modular digitizers is the ability to make measurements in hardware on an
onboard processor. The available measurements also differ from one oscilloscope to another, although this
paper will cover a large segment of them. In addition, the algorithms used to complete the measurements may
differ slightly among vendors. This paper will focus on the measurements and algorithms used in ZTEC modular
oscilloscopes, but most of these concepts are universal.

Oscilloscope measurements can be sorted into the following three categories:

Vertical-Axis Measurements

Horizontal-Axis Measurements

Frequency Domain Measurements

Vertical Axis Measurements understand these limitations. An oscilloscope with an 8-

bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) has 28 (256) levels
Vertical-axis measurements analyze the vertical
available while a 16-bit ADC has 216 (65536) levels.
component of the applied signal. These measurements
Thus, a 16-bit oscilloscope has 256 times more
most often describe a signal in terms of a voltage level.
resolution than an 8-bit oscilloscope. Since only finite
However, they can also correspond to current, power,
levels are available to represent the signal, there is a
or any other physical phenomena converted to voltage
quantization error of 1 least significant bit (LSB). To find
via a probe or transducer. Some common vertical-axis
the minimum detectable voltage change (code width),
measurements include Amplitude, Peak-To-Peak,
divide the input range by the number of levels. Figure 1
Average, and RMS measurements.
depicts a 16-bit oscilloscope digitizing an 8 Vpp square
wave with a 100 mV ripple voltage. In this case, the
Vertical Resolution and Accuracy oscilloscope’s code width is (10/65536) 150 uV which
The resolution and accuracy of an oscilloscope can allows it to produce a good representation of both the
affect measurements greatly, so it’s important to large and small signals. An 8-bit oscilloscope’s code

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width would be only (10/256) 39 mV, so it could not errors, while low-frequency errors are caused by drift
show the 100 mV component adequately. Changing the stemming from temperature, aging, bias currents, etc.
input range setting to 250 mVpp would improve the High-frequency errors can usually be removed by
performance, reducing the code width to (0.25/256) 1 oversampling and averaging. Low-frequency errors
mV. often require the calibration of the instrument, either
internally or through a factory calibration.

Relative vs. Absolute Measurements

An oscilloscope’s accuracy is often specified in terms of
gain accuracy and offset accuracy. Gain accuracy is
related to how well it handles high-frequency noise and
can be called its relative accuracy. Offset accuracy is
related to how well it handles the low-frequency issues
and can be referred to as absolute accuracy. Figure 2
shows a real and measured 1 Vpp sine wave. Notice that
the measured Amplitude is 0.99 V which equates to a
gain error of 0.01 V or 1%. The measured signal is also
Figure 1. Signal with Large & Small Components
offset 0.02 V for a 2% offset error.

The dynamic range of an oscilloscope refers to how well

the instrument can detect small signals in the presence
of large signals and is expressed in decibels (dB). It is
limited by the quantization error and all other noise
sources such as background noise, distortion, spurious
signals, etc. The equation for computing the dynamic
range is:
Dynamic Range(dB) = 20 * log(Vmax/Vres)

Vmax is the maximum voltage that must be acquired and

Vres is the minimum resolution that can be seen. A good
rule of thumb is that every bit of resolution equals 6 dB
Figure 2. Gain & Offset Errors
of dynamic range. An 8-bit instrument’s theoretical
maximum dynamic range is 48 dB, but it is significantly
Vertical-axis measurements can either be relative or
less once all limitations are considered.
absolute in nature. Relative measurements compare two
voltages within the same signal. Amplitude is an
Accuracy refers to the oscilloscope’s ability to represent
example of a relative measurement because it returns
the true value of a signal. An oscilloscope with high
the difference between the high and low voltage. The
resolution, does not necessarily translate into giving an
Amplitude of a 1 Vpp sine wave will be the same when it
accurate result. Accuracy and resolution are related
is centered at zero or has an offset of 5 V. Therefore,
though, because the achievable accuracy of an
relative measurements are unaffected by the offset
instrument is limited by the resolution of the ADC.
error. Absolute measurements are a representation of
their real-world value and are affected by gain and
The factors that reduce the accuracy of an oscilloscope
offset errors. The Average measurement is an example
can be mostly lumped into high- and low-frequency
of an absolute measurement.
errors. Noise is generally the cause of high-frequency

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Amplitude vs. Peak-To-Peak

Two vertical-axis measurements that are often confused
are Amplitude and Peak-To-Peak. This is
understandable because they are identical for all types
of signals, except a pulse signal. Figure 3 shows the
difference between the Amplitude and Peak-To-Peak
(PTPeak) for a pulse signal. Peak-To-Peak returns the
difference between the extreme Maximum and
Minimum values, while the Amplitude returns the
difference between where the pulse settles at the top
(High) and bottom (Low) of the signal. The other
Figure 4. Histogram Processing of a Sine Wave
measurements shown--Rise Overshoot (ROV), Rise
Preshoot (RPR), Fall Overshoot (FOV), and Fall Preshoot
(FPR)--are only valid when measuring pulses.
Root Mean Squared (RMS) & Average
The Direct Current (DC) RMS, Alternating Current (AC)
RMS, and Average measurements are methods of
characterizing the vertical level and power using the
entire waveform.

The Average function is the mean vertical level of the

entire captured waveform. It can be calculated by taking
the sum of all of the voltage levels and dividing that by
the number of points as shown:

Vavg =
∑V
Number of Samples
Figure 3. Vertical Axis Measurements [1]
The DC RMS and AC RMS measurements return the
The measurements shown in Figure 3 are computed on average power of the signal. The DC RMS returns the
the oscilloscope processor using a histogram. Figure 4 entire power contained within a signal including AC and
shows how the pulse signal in Figure 3 is represented in DC components. This can also be described as the
an 8-bit oscilloscope histogram. The samples are sorted heating power when applied to a resistor. The AC RMS
into one of 256 bins, each corresponding to a voltage is used to characterize AC signals by subtracting out
range. The algorithms simply look for the bit value with the DC power, leaving only the AC power component.
the most points for the Low and High measurements The equations for the RMS measurements are as
and the absolute largest and smallest bit values for the follows:
Maximum and Minimum. This allows for an extremely
fast computation, but the measurement’s resolution is
DC RMS =
∑V 2

limited by the quantization error (1 LSB) of the ADC. The Number of Samples
accuracy also suffers due to a single sample’s
susceptibility to noise.
∑ (V − V )
2

AC RMS =
avg

Number of Samples

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Figure 5 shows these results on a 4 Vpp square wave

with 0.5 V of offset.

Figure 6. Average & RMS with Partial Cycle

There are a few ways to avoid this circumstance. The

best way is to acquire a longer waveform that includes
Figure 5. Average & RMS many cycles so that the offset is effectively minimized.
This method requires more time and more onboard
All three of these measurements are capable of more memory to store the waveform. Another way to solve
accuracy than the Amplitude and Peak-To-Peak the problem is to make use of the Cycle RMS or Cycle
measurements described in the previous section. The Average measurements. These calculate the RMS and
reason for this is that every single point in the waveform Average including only the points from the first cycle of
is included in the calculation of the Average and RMS the waveform. The third way to solve the problem would
measurements. This naturally cancels out noise that be to use a gated measurement. Gated measurements
may be present in the signal. Additionally, when allow the user to choose the points that are included.
measuring the Average or RMS values, the more points This can be done by selecting a start and stop time or a
that are acquired in the waveform, the better the start and stop point. Both the Gated By Time and Gated
accuracy of the measurements become. The upper By Points methods require the user to know the period
bound of the accuracy is determined by the number of of the waveform to solve the problem shown in Figure 6.
bits in the onboard processor. Some oscilloscopes use
a 16-bit processor, so these measurements are limited
to 16 bits of resolution because the largest number that
can be stored on the chip is 16-bits. However, the 64- Horizontal-Axis Measurements
bit processor on the ZT4611 modular oscilloscope
Horizontal-axis measurements involve analyzing the
allows users to attain up to 64 bits of resolution. The
horizontal time axis of the applied signal, and include
tradeoff for the higher accuracy is longer computations
measurements such as Period, Frequency, and Rise
since more points must be analyzed.
Time. The value returned is usually in time, but can also
be expressed as a ratio, radians, or in Hertz.
When only a few cycles of a waveform is acquired, it
becomes critical to acquire only the full cycles or
otherwise the results contain an asymmetric error. Horizontal Resolution and Accuracy
Figure 6 shows the same signal as Figure 5 except that The horizontal-axis resolution is limited by the sample
an additional (high) half cycle was acquired. The rate of the onboard clock. A board with a 1 GS/sec
Average and RMS values are offset because of this. acquisition rate can only achieve a time resolution of 1 /
(1 GS/sec) = 1 nsec. Much like the vertical axis, the

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horizontal-axis accuracy can be reduced by high- and

low-frequency errors.

High-frequency errors consist of clock jitter or phase-

noise, but these are usually minute when considering
that clocks used on most oscilloscopes have errors of
100 parts per million (ppm) or less. An error this small is
insignificant when compared to the accuracy of the
vertical axis. Occasionally, when completing horizontal-
axis measurements, it may appear that clock jitter or
phase-noise is causing incorrect readings. However, it
is usually the lack of vertical-axis accuracy or noise that
causes the incorrect time measurement. This will be
further discussed later in the Edge Measurement
section. Figure 1. Horizontal-Axis Measurements

Low-frequency errors can be a problem and consist of When acquiring Period and Frequency measurements
drift associated with temperature, aging, etc. Annual their accuracy can be very much affected by the sample
factory calibrations must be completed to guarantee the rate. Both of these measurements are calculated by
accuracy of the clock over a long period of time. counting the number of samples that occur between
Middle crossings. If a 10 MHz signal is being sampled at
Horizontal Waveform Measurements 100 MHz, this will result in exactly ten samples per
period. The samples at the zero crossings may be very
The majority of the horizontal-axis measurements are
near the borders. If one is missed, this results in only
fairly straight forward. They are shown in Figure 1. The
nine samples being detected which returns a Period of 9
Period measures the average time for a cycle to
* (10nsec) = 90 nsec and a resulting Frequency of 11.1
complete using the entire waveform in the capture
MHz. This resolution is obviously not very good. It could
window. The Frequency is the inverse of the period and
be improved by acquiring long waveforms to capture
is measured in Hertz. The Positive Pulse Width
many cycles and average out the resolution error.
measures the time from the first rising edge to the first
Another solution would be to sample the signal at 1 GHz
falling edge, while the Negative Pulse Width does the
or greater. Overall, for more accurate Frequency and
opposite. The Positive and Negative Duty Cycles are
Period measurements, it is best to sample at a far
then calculated by taking the ratio of their
greater rate than the signal and capture many cycles.
corresponding Pulse Widths to the Period. All of these
Cycle Average and Cycle Frequency measurements can
measurements are calculated based on the Middle
be used to measure only the first cycle if desired. Also,
voltage level which is simply halfway between the High
the gated methods described in the vertical-axis section
and Low values. The time of the first maximum and
can also be employed. All of these methods are still
minimum levels can also be retrieved using the Time of
susceptible to the resolution errors described above.
Maximum and Time of Minimum measurements.
Phase measurements make most sense when acquiring
two or more waveforms to determine how many radians
or degrees a waveform is shifted in relation to another.
However, the phase can be measured on a single
periodic signal. This can be confusing, but it is simply
calculated by comparing the starting point of the

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waveform to the rising edge Middle crossing. Figure 2 which number edge to characterize within the capture
shows one signal with a positive 90 degree (1.57 rad) window.
phase shift and another with a 270 degree (4.72 rad)
phase shift.

Figure 3. Edge Measurements

Figure 2. Phase Measurement
One possible problem when taking edge measurements
are inaccurate crossings due to noise on the vertical
Edge Measurements
axis. Figure 4 shows a signal with and without vertical
A subset of Horizontal-Axis measurements is Edge noise and how that could affect a horizontal
Measurements. All of these measurements are made in measurement. The noisy signal crosses the voltage
relation to the Reference High (REF HIGH), Reference thresholds at slightly different points than the smooth
Middle (REF MID), and Reference Low (REF LOW). signal, causing a shorter Rise Time Measurement.
These references are user-selectable and are different Another problem with a noisy signal is the potential for
than the High, Middle, and Low levels discussed in the false crossings. This occurs when noise causes a signal
previous sections, which are not user-selectable. By to dither near the crossing points in several recorded
default, the REF HIGH, REF MID, and REF LOW are set crossings. Both of these problems can be avoided
to 90%, 50%, and 10% of the Amplitude (High – Low). either by oversampling and averaging or by using the
However, all of these percentages can be adjusted to Smooth function before taking the measurement to
suit the application’s needs, or input in terms of reduce the noise. The algorithms used on ZTEC
absolute voltages. oscilloscopes incorporate hysteresis at the crossings
which helps avoid detecting false crossings. This does
With a firm understanding of the references, the result in a minimal detectable edge, however.
meaning of the edge measurements becomes clear.
They are shown in Figure 3. The Rise Time (RTIMe)
measures the relative time for the leading edge of a
pulse to rise from the REF LOW to the REF HIGH. The
Fall Time (FTIMe) measures the same thing on the falling
edge. The Rise Crossing Time (RTCRoss) is the
absolute time when the waveform rises above the REF
MID, measured from the start of the waveform. The Fall
Crossing Time (FTCRoss) measures the same thing on
the falling edge. All four of these measurements are
edge selectable, meaning that the user can choose

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calculating the FFT of a signal and a few of the

measurements.

Figure 4. Noisy & Smooth Rise Times

Figure 1. Frequency Domain Measurements

Relative vs. Absolute Measurements
Much like the distinction made between absolute and ZTEC oscilloscopes provide four FFT windows that can
relative voltage measurements made in the vertical-axis be applied as well. Windows are used to increase the
section, there are absolute and relative time spectral resolution in the frequency domain. The
measurements as well. For example, the Period of a Rectangular Window provides the best frequency and
waveform compares two points on the same waveform, worst magnitude resolution. It is almost the same as no
so it’s often unnecessary to relate this to a real-world or window. The Blackman-Harris Window provides the
absolute time. Therefore, this is considered a relative best magnitude and worst frequency resolution. The
time measurement. An example where the absolute time Hamming Window provides better frequency and worse
would be important is measuring the Time of Maximum magnitude resolution than the Rectangular Window. It
(TMAX), which returns the timestamp of the first provides slightly better frequency resolution than the
maximum voltage level in relation to the start of the Hanning Window. The Hanning Window provides better
acquisition. frequency and worse magnitude resolution than the
Rectangular Window.

Frequency Domain Measurements Like some of the vertical- and horizontal-axis

Frequency domain measurements involve translating a measurements discussed previously, the accuracy of
time-domain waveform with a fast Fourier transform the FFT can be improved by analyzing longer
(FFT), and then measuring the noise and distortion waveforms. Due to the nature of the calculations, the
characteristics in the frequency domain. Frequency- resolution is limited to half of the resolution of the
domain measurements provide magnitude and phase onboard processor. In the case of the ZTEC ZT4611
characteristics versus frequency. oscilloscope, which uses a 64-bit processor, the
accuracy would be limited to 32 bits of resolution. The
FFT algorithm is binary in nature, so for the best
Frequency Resolution and Accuracy
performance it is wise to select a waveform size that is
Using the FFT to quickly transform a signal into its equal to 2N.
frequency components is powerful, because it reveals
signal characteristics that can’t be seen in the time-
Frequency Domain Measurements
domain. The FFT used within ZTEC oscilloscopes
returns complex IQ data which is then converted to Once a signal has been converted to the frequency-
magnitude and phase data. Figure 1 shows the result of domain, five valuable measurements can be performed

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 ZTEC Instruments Technical Article

as explained in the following paragraphs. All of these magnitude of the fundamental by the sum of the
measurements assume that the input signal is a perfect magnitudes of all of the other frequency components,
single-frequency sine wave and that all other frequency including harmonics and noise. SINAD is used in broad-
components are assumed to be harmonics or noise. All band applications where all harmonics and noise will
except the ENOB (bits) are expressed in decibels affect the signal.
relative to carrier (dBc). THD is the only negative value.
The Effective Number of Bits (ENOB) is another way of
The Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) is the ratio of the RMS expressing SINAD. It provides a measure of the input
amplitude of the fundamental frequency to the RMS signal dynamic range as if the signal were converted
amplitude of all non-harmonic noise sources. SNR does using an ideal ADC. For instance, the ENOB of an 8-bit
not include the first nine harmonics as noise. In Figure oscilloscope is often somewhere in the 6-7 bit range
1, the SNR would be computed by dividing the due to the noise and distortion affecting the instrument.
magnitude of the fundamental by the sum of the The ENOB is calculated using the following equation:
magnitudes of all of the other frequency components,
excluding the 2nd through the 10th harmonics. SNR is SINAD − 1.763
commonly used when only the narrow-band around the ENOB =
6.02
fundamental frequency is of concern and the harmonics
will not have an effect on the system under test.
High-Speed ADC Test Example
The Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) is the ratio of the The specifications and test procedures of a high-speed
RMS amplitude of the sum of the first nine harmonics to Analog to Digital Converters (ADCs) are generally
the RMS amplitude of the fundamental. In Figure 1, this expressed in the frequency domain. The frequency
would be calculated by summing the magnitudes of the measurements on a ZTEC oscilloscope can be used to
2nd through the 10th harmonics and then dividing that by mimic a more expensive spectrum analyzer to complete
the fundamental magnitude. THD is a concern when these tests. One test that is often used is a two-tone or
using active components such as amplifiers and mixers multi-tone distortion test. This is completed because
where the harmonics need to be minimized to reduce intermodulation distortion can occur when the ADC
distortion. samples a signal composed of more than one sine
wave. Figure 2 shows the FFT of an acquired ADC data
The Spurious-Free Dynamic Range (SFDR) is the ratio of record undergoing a two-tone test. Once the FFT is
the RMS amplitude of the fundamental to the RMS created, measurements such as THD and SINAD can be
amplitude of the largest spurious signal. This spurious used to characterize the performance of the ADC.
signal can be a harmonic or noise frequency
component. In Figure 1, the SFDR would be computed
by dividing the magnitude of the fundamental by the
magnitude of the 2nd harmonic, since it is the largest
spurious signal. SFDR is used when there is a dominant
spurious signal in relation to the other noise and
distortion components.

The Signal-to-Noise and Distortion (SINAD) is the ratio

of the RMS amplitude of the fundamental to the RMS
amplitude of the sum of all noise and distortion sources.
This is equivalent to the sum of the SNR and THD. In
Figure 1, this would be calculated by dividing the Figure 2. FFT of Two-Tone Distortion Test

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Summary
Waveform measurements calculated by digital
oscilloscopes provide useful insight into waveform
behavior. This article discussed many measurements
related to voltage, time and frequency found on ZTEC
oscilloscopes. Remember, however, that not all
oscilloscopes will calculate waveform parameters in
exactly the same way, nor will they calculate exactly the
same set of measurements. Always check the
instrument’s manual or check with your scope vendor if
you have questions about your oscilloscope’s
measurements.

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About ZTEC Instruments

ZTEC Instruments is a pioneering modular instrument company whose product focus is oscilloscopes and arbitrary waveform
generators. Our products are unique in that they provide common traditional instrument capabilities in PCI, CompactPCI/PXI,
VXI, and LXI modular instrument form factors. For more information about ZTEC Instruments and how our products can address
your test and measurement needs, please visit www.ztecinstruments.com.

What makes ZTEC oscilloscopes different?

Benchtop Oscilloscopes vs. ZTEC Modular Oscilloscopes

ZTEC oscilloscopes offer:
1. Higher channel density
2. Easy integration using software tools
3. Multi-instrument synchronization
4. Responsive remote control

Modular Digitizers vs. ZTEC Modular Oscilloscopes

ZTEC oscilloscopes offer:
1. Advanced triggering
2. Flexible analog input signal conditioning
3. Advanced acquisition modes
4. On-board waveform analysis and waveform math
5. Flexible segmented on-board memory
6. Intuitive graphical user interface

ZTEC Instruments

www.ztecinstruments.com

7715 Tiburon St. NE

Albuquerque, NM 87109
(866) ZTEC-NOW

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