Digital Oscilloscope Display Rendering Using Vertical Histograms
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Solution Overview
Problem
High-memory test instruments face slow data rendering due to excessive access to the display device, leading to increased visible noise and loss of internal signal structure, especially when dealing with large datasets exceeding the display's pixel capacity.
Innovation Solution
A compaction procedure using vertical histograms to represent data, allowing for reduced display access and enhanced rendering with varying intensity and color to highlight signal structure, while controlling saturation for optimal display quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If a line is drawn joining each pair of adjacent data points on the display device, then the complete waveform data is displayed, but the rendering time becomes extremely long when the number of data points increases to multiple millions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple adjacent data points into single display pixels by computing aggregate statistics (minimum, maximum, mean, standard deviation) for groups of data points mapping to the same pixel column. This consolidation reduces the number of draw operations from millions of individual lines to a single composite line per pixel column, dramatically reducing rendering time while preserving essential waveform characteristics through statistical representation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the waveform data into groups that map to individual pixel columns on the display device. By dividing the data stream into discrete segments corresponding to display pixels, the system can process and render each segment independently using statistical computations, enabling efficient parallel processing and reducing the overall rendering burden compared to drawing continuous lines through all data points.
2Ease of manufacture
If all data is drawn with the same intensity to maintain consistency, then the display is simple to generate, but the visible noise of the measured signal increases and internal structure is hidden
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by assigning different intensity levels to different portions of the waveform based on their statistical properties. Specifically, the mean value of data points in each pixel column determines the base intensity, while the standard deviation modulates the intensity to highlight regions of high variability. This allows the display to simultaneously maintain overall consistency while revealing local structural features and noise characteristics that would be invisible in uniform intensity displays.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and apparatus for displaying an acquired signal on an oscilloscope. The method comprises the steps of acquiring an analog signal, digitizing the analog signal and determining a plurality of samples generated by the digitizing that are to be represented by a same vertical pixel column on a display. Thereafter, a histogram of the values of the determined plurality of samples is generated, and a display characteristic of information displayed in the vertical pixel column is modified based upon the generated values of the histogram.