Number of divisions in oscilloscope graticule

Thread Starter

RobertoCarabajal

Joined Apr 10, 2021
2
Hello !
I have heard that there is a reason why scopes grids usually have 8 vertical divisions and 10 horizontal divisions, but I have not been able to figure it out. Does anyone know the reason? Thanks a lot.
 

crutschow

Joined Mar 14, 2008
34,280
It's because the display is rectangular, so for even grid spacing, there would naturally be more horizontal divisions than vertical.
 

Delta Prime

Joined Nov 15, 2019
1,311
Hello there :) Welcome to AAC!
An oscilloscope allows you to control how many volts per division (or volts per square) and time per division (milliseconds to seconds) per square. The Y axis is the vertical display while the X axis is the horizontal display. The purpose of the oscilloscope is to tell what the peak volts are doing across a certain amount of time.
Now with that said, do you wish to know why it is 8x10 and not 4x5 or 7x3 or any other combination?
 

rsjsouza

Joined Apr 21, 2014
383
As @crutschow mentioned, it is highly dependent on the aspect ratio of the screen and the processing engine (display buffer).

Most of the old analog oscilloscopes were 10x8 (width X height) divisions, but things changed when they became digital.

While the early digital oscilloscopes like the Tektronix TDS1001/1002 had the same 10x8 on a 4:3 screen, my Rigol DS4014 has a 16:9 aspect and features a graticule of 14x8, while my old DS1102E had 12x8 divisions on a 4:3 screen. This makes the graticule still be square.

The R&S RTA4000 and the Keysight DSOX3000 series, for example, have 12x8 and 10x8 respectively but on a 16:9 screen, which makes the graticule be rectangular. I am not a big fan.
 

tautech

Joined Oct 8, 2019
383
I have heard that there is a reason why scopes grids usually have 8 vertical divisions and 10 horizontal divisions, but I have not been able to figure it out. Does anyone know the reason? Thanks a lot.
Earliest scopes had round CRT's and grids on these were perfectly square however later when it was clear that the horizontal axis provided for better accuracy than the vertical axis CRT's evolved to rectangular as it suited the more accurate timing measurements possible.
This has continued to today from a 4:3 ratio to 16:9 which allows for longer waveforms and/or additional room for vertical menus without crowding the display.
This has resulted in a pronounced rectangular grid which is not to the liking of some and especially those that have been used to taking waveform measurements from the graticules rather than engage OSD measurements from the wide array of measurement types that are common in the modern DSO.
 
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