Pico 5444A PicoScope 4 Channel, 200 MHz Oscilloscope with Function

Pico Flexible Resolution Oscilloscopes allow you to reconfigure the hardware either to increase the sampling rate or the resolution. For the first time in an oscilloscope you can reconfigure the hardware to be either a fast 8-bit oscilloscope for looking at digital signals or a high-resolution 16-bit oscilloscope. Whether you're capturing and decoding fast digital signals or looking for distortion in sensitive analog signals, flexible resolution allows you to do both in the same oscilloscope.

Most modern oscilloscopes (including all PicoScopes) have the ability to average or filter 8-bit data to reduce noise and increase effective resolution. Typical names for such modes are Resolution Enhance,High Definition Mode and HiRes Mode. While these modes are valuable for some applications, each 0.5 bit increase in resolution halves the sampling rate, reducing the effective bandwidth and risking aliasing. The table below compares the PicoScope 5000 Series with a typical 8-bit oscilloscope with a 1 GS/s sampling rate. Flexible resolution offers a sampling rate up to 4000 times faster than traditional methods.

The PicoScope 5000 range of Flexible Resolution Oscilloscopes offer an impressive maximum sensitivity of 2 mV/div at the full resolution of the oscilloscope (many oscilloscopes use software zoom to provide the most sensitive ranges).

If you need more sensitivity then enable the high resolution modes. The example opposite shows how 14-bit mode and zoom can be used to provide 100 μV/div sensitivity while still providing more than 8 bits of resolution. At such low signal levels, noise can become significant so the PicoScope 5000 Series includes both a hardware bandwidth limit (20 MHz) and software programmable filters (high pass, low pass, band pass and band stop).

Even in 8-bit mode, flexible resolution offers an advantage over other oscilloscopes. Interleaving ADCs to increase sampling rate always introduces errors that reduce the effective resolution. Often 1 or 2 bits of resolution are lost, reducing the effective resolution to 6 bits. With Flexible Resolution, interleaving the high-resolution ADCs results in a near-perfect 8-bit result.

While the averaging and resolution enhance modes available on most oscilloscopes are effective at reducing noise, the method used (combining samples from a single ADC) does not remove linearity errors.

Flexible Resolution improves on this in two ways. First it uses high-resolution ADCs (with inherently low linearity errors). Secondly, by sampling the same signal with up to 8 different ADCs at once, both the differential and integral nonlinearities are reduced.

Of course, the dynamic performace of an oscilloscope is not just dependent on the ADCs. Designing a low-noise, low-distortion front end for a Flexible Resolution oscilloscope is a challenging task. Fortunately Pico has well over 20 years' experience in designing high-resolution oscilloscopes. The result is an oscilloscope with outstanding performance and versatility.

Maximum sensitivity is an impressive 2 mV/div at the full resolution of the oscilloscope. If you need more sensitivity then simply enable the high resolution modes. Combining 14 bit mode and zoom can provide 100 uV/div sensitivity while still providing more than 8 bits resolution.

We are proud of the dynamic performance of our products and publish these specifications in detail. The result is simple: when you probe a circuit, you can trust in the waveform you see on the screen.

Oscilloscopes with high waveform capture rates provide better visual insight into signal behavior and dramatically increase the probability that the oscilloscope will quickly capture transient anomalies such as jitter, runt pulses and glitches – that you may not even know exist. PicoScope oscilloscopes use hardware acceleration to achieve over 130,000 wfms/s.

An important specification to understand when evaluating oscilloscope performance is the waveform update rate which is expressed as waveforms per second (wfms/s). While the sample rate indicates how frequently the oscilloscope samples the input signal within one waveform, or cycle, the waveform capture rate refers to how quickly an oscilloscope acquires waveforms.

All oscilloscopes have an inherent “dead-time” between each waveform acquisition, when it is processing the previously acquired waveform. During the oscilloscope’s dead-time, any signal activity that may be occurring will be missed. Because of oscilloscope dead-time, capturing random and infrequent events becomes a matter of statistical probability. The more often a scope updates waveforms for a given observation time, the higher the probability of capturing and viewing an elusive event.

Oscilloscopes with high waveform capture rates provide better visual insight into signal behaviour and dramatically increase the probability that the oscilloscope will quickly capture transient anomalies such as jitter, runt pulses and glitches – that you may not even know exist.

PicoScope Fast mode uses dedicated hardware to accelerate the waveform capture process. Multiple streams of data are processed in parallel to construct the waveforms that will be displayed on the screen. Fast mode is available in all PicoScope series oscilloscopes, with the following typical performance levels*:

• USB 2.0 deep memory models (PicoScope 3000/4000/5000 Series) to 80,000 wfms/s.
• USB 3.0 SuperSpeed deep memory models (PicoScope 3207 & 6000 Series) to 100,000 wfms/s.

The animation below shows a 5 MHz clock signal with infrequent glitches captured on a PicoScope 6404D. The glitches occur approximately 25 times per second. Total capture time for each acquisition is 1 µs, so the probability of capturing the glitch with each capture is just 0.000025. But with a waveform update rate of more than 100,000 waveforms per second the scope will capture this glitch within 0.4 seconds on average. In this example, the scope captured the error several times in less than 3 seconds.

Pico was the first company to introduce such fast waveform update rates to PC oscilloscopes. Our waveform update rate outperforms all other PC oscilloscopes and many traditional benchtop oscilloscopes costing considerably more.

Listed below are some example specifications for maximum waveforms per second together with the test conditions used. Note that for applications that require even faster waveform capture, most of our oscilloscopes have a rapid trigger (segmented memory) mode that can collect bursts of waveforms at rates as fast as 1 million per second

The spectrum view plots amplitude vs frequency and is ideal for finding noise, crosstalk or distortion in signals. The spectrum analyzer in PicoScope is of the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) type which, unlike a traditional swept spectrum analyzer, can display the spectrum of a single, non-repeating waveform.

A full range of settings gives you control over the number of spectrum bands (FFT bins), window types, scaling (including log/log) and display modes (instantaneous, average, or peak-hold).

You can display multiple spectrum views alongside oscilloscope views of the same data. A comprehensive set of automatic frequency-domain measurements can be added to the display, including THD, THD+N, SNR, SINAD and IMD. A mask limit test can be applied to a spectrum and you can even use the AWG and spectrum mode together to perform swept scalar network analysis.

Unlike the oscilloscope views which display amplitude vs time, the spectrum view reveals new detail by plotting amplitude vs frequency. The spectrum view is ideal for finding the cause of noise or crosstalk in a signal which often looks random in the time domain. It is also often the best mode for testing distortion, frequency response and stability of amplifiers, filters and oscillators. The spectrum analyzer in PicoScope is of the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) type which, unlike a traditional swept spectrum analyzer, has the ability to display the spectrum of a single, non-repeating waveform.

PicoScope oscilloscopes have low-noise, low-distortion front-end designs and our high-resolution scopes offer exceptional levels of dynamic range (> 100 dB SFDR for the PicoScope 4262). This makes them capable of revealing signal details that other scope and dedicated analyzers miss.

A full range of settings gives you control over the number of spectrum bands (FFT bins), window types, scaling (linear, log, log/log) and display modes (instantaneous, average, or peak-hold).

You can display multiple spectrum views with different channel selections and zoom factors, and place these alongside oscilloscope views of the same data. A comprehensive set of automatic frequency-domain measurements can be added to the display, including THD, THD+N, SNR, SINAD and IMD.

A mask limit test can be applied to a spectrum for automated tests and you can even use the AWG and spectrum mode together to perform swept scalar network analysis.

All PicoScope 5000 units have a built-in 20 MHz low-distortion function generator (sine, square, triangle, DC level). As well as basic controls to set level, offset and frequency, more advanced controls allow you to sweep over a range of frequencies. Combined with the spectrum peak hold option this makes a powerful tool for testing amplifier and filter responses.

Trigger tools allow one or more cycles of a waveform to be output when various conditions are met such as the scope triggering or a mask limit test failing.

PicoScope 5000B models gain additional waveforms (white noise, PRBS etc) and also include a 14-bit 200 MS/s arbitrary waveform generator (AWG) . AWG waveforms can be created or edited using the built-in AWG editor, imported from oscilloscope traces, or loaded from a spreadsheet.

Electronic designs require a variety of stimulus signals during test. PicoScope comes with a function generator that can deliver standard waveforms such as sine, square, triangle etc. Many models also include an arbitrary waveform generator (AWG) that supports a wide range of application needs.

You can program the arbitrary waveform generator from a text file or using the built-in AWG editor. The number of samples in the created waveform is limited only by the hardware of your chosen oscilloscope, allowing you to define complex waveforms. As PicoScope can export CSV and TXT files, you can even capture a waveform using your oscilloscope, modify it (if needed) using the AWG editor, and then play it back using the AWG.

PicoScope software dedicates almost all of the display area to the waveform. This ensures that the maximum amount of data is seen at once. The viewing area is much bigger and of a higher resolution than with a traditional benchtop scope. With a large display area available, you can also create a customizable split-screen display, and view multiple channels or different views of the same signal at the same time. As the example opposite shows, the software can even show both oscilloscope and spectrum analyzer traces at once. Additionally, each waveform shown works with individual zoom, pan, and filter settings for ultimate flexibility.

The PicoScope software can be controlled by mouse, touchscreen or keyboard shortcuts.

On many oscilloscopes waveform math just means simple calculations such as A + B. With a PicoScope it means much, much more.

With PicoScope 6 you can select simple functions such as addition and inversion, or open the equation editor to create complex functions involving filters (low pass, high pass, band pass and band stop filters), trigonometry, exponentials, logarithms, statistics, integrals and derivatives.

Waveform math also allows you to plot live signals alongside historic peak, averaged or filtered waveforms. You can also use math for example to graph the changing duty cycle or frequency of your signal.

With PicoScope math channels you can display up to eight real or calculated channels in each scope view. If you run out of space, just open another scope view and add more.

The custom probes feature allows you to correct for gain, attenuation, offsets and nonlinearities in probes, sensors or transducers that you connect to the oscilloscope.

A simple use would be to linearly scale the output of a current probe so that it correctly displays amperes. A more advanced use would be to scale the output of a nonlinear temperature sensor using the table lookup function.

Definitions for standard Pico-supplied oscilloscope probes and current clamps are included. User-created probes may be saved for later use.

PicoScope can be programmed to execute actions when certain events occur.

The events that can trigger an alarm include mask limit fails, trigger events and buffers full.

The actions that PicoScope can execute include saving a file, playing a sound, executing a program or triggering the signal generator / AWG.

Alarms, coupled with mask limit testing, help to quickly validate signal quality in electronic system designs.

The software development kit (SDK) allows you to write your own software and includes drivers for Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac (OS X) and Linux (including Raspberry Pi and BeagleBone).

Example code shows how to interface to third-party software packages such as Microsoft Excel, National Instruments LabVIEW and MathWorks MATLAB.

The drivers support USB data streaming, a mode which captures gap-free continuous data over USB direct to the PC’s RAM or hard disk at rates of up to 10 MS/s. Capture size is limited only by available PC storage. Sampling rates in streaming mode are subject to PC specifications and application loading.

Your PicoScope is provided with many powerful tools to help you acquire and analyze waveforms. While these tools can be used on their own, the real power of PicoScope lies in the way they have been designed to work together.

As an example, the rapid trigger mode allows you to collect 10,000 waveforms in a few milliseconds with minimal dead time between them. Manually searching through these waveforms would be time consuming, so just pick a waveform you are happy with and let the mask tools scan through for you. When done, the measurements will tell you how many have failed and the buffer navigator allows you to hide the good waveforms and just display the problem ones. This video shows you how.

Perhaps instead you want to plot changing duty cycle as a graph? How about outputting a waveform from the AWG and also automatically saving the waveform to disk when a trigger condition is met? With the power of PicoScope the possibilities are almost endless.