New high-resolution oscilloscopes are becoming more popular for a variety of applications including benchtop debugging, analysis and visualization of small signal details. Designing a quality oscilloscope for applications requiring high signal fidelity takes more than adding resolution. Care must be taken throughout the design process to ensure high signal fidelity from the probe to the display and the engineer. From component selection, layout and low noise power supply design, improving the overall performance of an oscilloscope necessitates expertise throughout the design process. SIGLENT’s design team brings years of industry knowledge to bear on the challenges of improved signal fidelity with our newest high-resolution oscilloscopes. Through careful design, these oscilloscopes showcase low noise, improved isolation and excellent gain error to assist engineers in improving signal fidelity. Improved visualization capabilities, including vertical zoom, deep memory fast Fourier transforms (FFTs) and dynamic scale offset, deliver signal fidelity improvements directly to the engineer. SIGLENT’s newest high-resolution oscilloscopes bring high fidelity signal quality to measurements from 70 MHz to 4 GHz with our newest additions. The SDS800X HD, SDS1000X HD and SDS3000X HD join the recently launched SDS7000A to bring improved signal fidelity to customer applications.

Overall design quality is more important to signal fidelity than just the number of bits on the analog-to-digital converter. SIGLENT’s design for signal quality means we have some of the most accurate high-resolution scopes on the market. High signal fidelity starts with improved noise performance. Low noise design requires careful component selection, EMI and power cleanliness in the front-end. An oscilloscope’s noise can be characterized by range, bandwidth and configuration. High sample rate and deep memory are important because filtering modes can be applied to optimize the noise floor for the bandwidth and noise requirement of a particular application. For example, an SDS7304A 3 GHz oscilloscope can sample at 20 GSa/sec and deliver 200 μVrms noise at full bandwidth. Because of the oversampling, memory depth, bandwidth limits and ERES filtering, it can also be configured to make measurements with 200 MHz of bandwidth and less than 40 μVrms noise. This flexibility is an important design characteristic of all SIGLENT’s new high-resolution oscilloscopes.

Figure 1 SDS3000X HD oscilloscope.

Channel-to-channel isolation is important to signal fidelity as more applications require comparing multiple channels at different amplitudes. Accidentally coupling in adjacent signals directly reduces measurement fidelity. The SDS3000X HD shown in Figure 1 implements 1000:1 isolation at 200 MHz, reducing coupling by 10× versus some competitive high-resolution oscilloscopes.

Gain accuracy is the amount of error added to a signal as the voltage moves from 0 V to the top of the ADC range. This is usually represented by a percentage and is related to the specifications of the ADC itself. SIGLENT’s high-resolution oscilloscopes, including the SDS1000X HD family, have a DC gain accuracy of ±0.5 percent on ranges at or above 5 mV/div. This is as much as 4x more accurate than other high-resolution models.

This design philosophy brings unmatched signal fidelity to oscilloscope applications from 70 MHz to 4 GHz. Engineers access this improved signal fidelity through visualization enhancements that include vertical zoom, dynamic scale offsets and a deep memory FFT.

Figure 2 20x vertical zoom inset view.

Vertical zoom is an important capability for any high-resolution oscilloscope. Above 10 bits, the resolution is more precise than a single pixel on a typical display. To fully utilize high resolution or the benefits of enhanced averaging, being able to zoom in on the voltage axis becomes necessary. Some oscilloscopes only let you achieve this in stop mode, but SIGLENT’s fully implemented vertical zoom lets you adjust the zoom range on the fly on live measurements without changing the vertical scale of the ADC. Figure 2 shows a 20× vertical zoom that makes it possible to view small signal artifacts without saturating the ADC. Combine this with our 7 in., 10.1 in. or 15.6 in. displays to get the best view for your bench or lab.

Dynamic scale offsets work together with the zoom to further increase access to difficult-to-capture signals. With a leading 11 offset ranges built into the oscilloscope, SIGLENT provides up to 8x higher offset on a given voltage scale. With this extended ability, engineers can view small signals offset from the ground on a more precise range to further improve fidelity. With some competitive high-resolution scopes and certain signals, engineers lose three effective digits of resolution because they are forced to use an 8± wider range to view the same signal.

Figure 3 32 Mpt FFT visualization.

Deep memory FFTs extend the value of high-resolution oscilloscopes into RF applications. With 50 Ω inputs and 12-bit resolution, use an SDS7000A to capture and analyze RF signals up to 4 GHz for emissions debugging or functional testing. All SIGLENT high-resolution oscilloscopes have deep memory FFTs with the SDS7000A using up to 32 million points in the calculation to improve signal fidelity over a wide frequency span. Figure 3 shows a display of this FFT visualization.

Combining advanced visualization capabilities with SIGLENT’s dedication to designing for signal quality makes our newest high-resolution oscilloscopes some of the most flexible and powerful instruments available. The combination of capability and value from 70 MHz to 4 GHz also makes SIGLENT’s offering the broadest in the industry. Whatever your application, SIGLENT provides a high-resolution oscilloscope built with signal fidelity, quality and advanced visualization that will more than meet your needs.

Go to www.siglentna.com to learn more about the new SDS800X HD, SDS1000X HD, SDS3000X HD and SDS7000A families of high-resolution oscilloscopes.

SIGLENT Technologies
Solon, Ohio
www.siglentna.com