Analog vs. Digital Oscilloscope

Oscilloscopes is an important test tool in electronic engineering. Especially when we measure a repetitive waveform or high frequency signal, it has a great effect. However, beginners will have a question: analog oscilloscope or digital oscilloscope, which one is better? However, in most cases, you will find that digital oscilloscopes are more expensive than analog oscilloscopes. In this article, we mainly introduce the differences between analog and digital oscilloscope.

Operation:

For newbies in the electronics industry, there is a huge misconception. Many people think that only analog oscilloscopes use CRT (cathode ray tube) monitors. This is inappropriate. Essentially, the manipulation of digital storage ranges is more complex. A digital scope can do everything an analog scope can. However, when you start scaling down the analog, especially when it's a lower frequency, the output image starts flickering. This is because of the way the CRT screen displays waveforms.

Digital storage oscilloscopes solve this problem by providing a more stable image. Therefore, the DSO will sample, store, and display the waveform at various points, rather than displaying changing voltages. This makes for a more stable display, making it easier to see the entire waveform. A digital oscilloscope does this through its analog-to-digital converter (ADC). It takes the measured voltage as an analog signal and converts it to a digital signal.

Analog scopes don't last as long as digital scopes. Additionally, you can adjust the effective persistence of the digital scope to allow it to pick up more noise. Display calibration lets you see more accurate measurements and better graphics quality.

Bandwidth:

This describes how high frequencies the front end of the oscilloscope can handle, and how fast rise times it can capture. Therefore, the frequency of the signal and the rise time of the signal are intrinsically related. To calculate the fastest rise time a range will see, divide 0.35 by the range's specified bandwidth. So the formula is this: Fastest capture time = 0.35 / bandwidth. Both analog and digital oscilloscopes have bandwidth specifications. However, the bandwidth capabilities of modern digital scopes far exceed those of older scopes.

Memory Depth:

Sample rate and memory depth are closely related properties in an oscilloscope. Memory depth describes how much waveform data the oscilloscope can capture. The faster the sampling rate, the shorter the captured waves. Therefore, waveforms with faster sampling rates take up more memory. Also, the more memory you can utilize, the more time you can store.

Memory depth is the third most important characteristic of a digital oscilloscope. Again, this is a specification unique to digital storage oscilloscopes. Analog oscilloscopes cannot capture or record waveforms. Therefore, they do not have a memory depth property.