Acquiring and Displaying Waveforms
3–38 TDS 684A, TDS 744A, & TDS 784A User Manual
When zooming horizontally or vertically, Zoom expands or contracts the
waveform by the zoom factor in 1X, 2X, and 5X steps.
To help you use Zoom effectively, consider how it is affected by interpolation.
When you zoom on a waveform, you expand a portion of it. If the expansion
requires the oscilloscope to show more points for that portion than it has
acquired, it interpolates.
The method the oscilloscope uses to interpolate, linear or sin(x)/x, can affect the
way Zoom displays your waveform. If you selected sin(x)/x (the default), it may
introduce some overshoot or undershoot to the waveform edges. If such is the
case, change the interpolation method to linear, following the instructions on
page 3–40.
To read about the two interpolation methods, see Interpolation on page 3–18. To
differentiate between the real and interpolated samples, set the display style to
Intensified Samples. (See Select the Display Style on page 3–28.)
To quickly determine the zoom factor of a zoomed waveform, select it and check
the Zoom readout. It shows the selected waveform by number, along with the
horizontal and vertical expansion factors.
The Zoom readout appears at the top of the display when zoom is on. (See
Figure 3–23 on page 3–39.) The TDS 700A models do not display the Zoom
readout when in dual-window (preview) mode.
To use Zoom, select a waveform, turn Zoom on, and magnify that waveform
using the vertical and horizontal scale knobs:
1. Press any of waveform selection buttons CH 1 through CH 4 on the right
side of the display. Or press MORE and select a math or reference waveform
from the More menu.
2. Press ZOOM.
3. TDS 684A only: Press ON (side) in the Zoom menu. The ZOOM front-panel
button should light up.
TDS 700A models only: Press ZOOM ➞ Mode (main) ➞ ON (side). The
ZOOM front-panel button should light up. Toggle Dual Zoom to OFF in the
side menu.
4. Adjust the vertical zoom factor for the selected waveform using the vertical
SCALE knob. Adjust the vertical position of the zoomed waveform using
the vertical POSITION knob.
Interpolation and ZoomChecking the Zoom FactorZoom a Waveform