oscilloscopi

An oscilloscope, also known as an oscilloscope, is an electronic test instrument used to visualize electrical signals. It displays waveform voltage on a screen, with time on the horizontal axis and voltage on the vertical axis. This allows engineers to analyze amplitude, frequency, phase, noise, and transient events that are not evident from a meter reading. The instrument typically consists of a front-end input stage, a display system (analog CRT in older models or digital LCD/OLED in modern scopes), and a timing system that controls the sweep of the electron beam or the digital redraw.

Most scopes have multiple input channels, calibrated probes, and adjustable vertical sensitivity (volts per division), a timebase control (seconds per division), and triggering to stabilize repetitive waveforms. Probes are designed to match impedance (commonly 1 MΩ or 50 Ω) and may be attenuating to protect the scope and extend its dynamic range.

There are analog oscilloscopes, which continuously display a live waveform, and digital storage oscilloscopes (DSOs), which sample the signal with analog-to-digital converters, store it in memory, and replay it. Digital scopes often provide higher bandwidth, deeper memory, accurate triggering, and additional features such as math operations, FFT analysis, persistence, and waveform reconstruction. Mixed-signal oscilloscopes add digital channels to observe both analog signals and digital logic.

Common applications include design verification, circuit debugging, component testing, maintenance, and education. The plural form oscilloscopi is used in some languages, while in English the standard plural is oscilloscopes.