PicoScope Advantages

Advanced display

One of the biggest differences between using a PicoScope and a benchtop scope is the display.  After a few minutes of viewing waveforms on a laptop or PC monitor you will not want to go back to the small, cluttered low-resolution display of a benchtop.

PicoScope software dedicates almost all of the display area to the waveform. This ensures that the maximum amount of data is seen at once.

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 shows, the software can even show multiple 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.

PC connectivity

Easy saving, printing and copying waveforms into reports are advantages that PicoScope users take for granted.

Waveforms can be saved and shared across the office or emailed across the world to anyone who has downloaded the PicoScope software.  

Further analysis of waveforms on the PC (for example in Microsoft Excel or MathWorks MATLAB) is made easy by the wide range of data export formats.

Easy to use

Just plug in the USB cable, load the software and you are up and running in minutes.

The main controls are all to hand with the less frequently used ones in menus so as not to clutter the display.  Basic operation is simple and intuitive.  There are also numerous videos and training documents to help you explore all the advanced features.

The same PicoScope software is supplied with all our real-time oscilloscopes so you can upgrade without having to learn a new interface.

Portable & personal

The PicoScope 2000 series oscilloscopes offer a small, light, modern alternative to bulky benchtop devices. You can now even fit an oscilloscope in your pocket!

On the bench a PicoScope saves valuable space and allows the scope to be placed right by the unit under test.

Laptop users benefit even more: with no power supply required you can now carry an oscilloscope with you all the time in your laptop bag. Perfect for the engineer on the move.

Many engineers buy a PicoScope with their own money. That way wherever they work in their careers they have their own personal oscilloscope without having to share or waste time learning different user interfaces.

Hardware acceleration ensures fast screen update rates even when collecting 10,000,000 samples per waveform

Powerful

To keep costs down most desktop oscilloscopes have a fraction of the processing power of the typical modern PC. Often controls become unresponsive when performing measurements or screen update rates slow when deep memory is enabled.

PicoScope oscilloscopes have the benefit of a powerful PC processor for tasks that demand a high level of processing power such as advanced math and FFT spectrum analysis.

PicoScope 2000B oscilloscopes also have dedicated hardware to avoid the PC CPU or USB interface being overloaded when deep memory is enabled.  The hardware acceleration engine effectively creates the waveform image to be displayed on the PC screen.  PicoScope oscilloscopes manage deep memory better than competing oscilloscopes, both PC-based and benchtop.

All-inclusive

Buying a PicoScope is not like making a purchase from other oscilloscope companies, where optional extras considerably increase the price.

With our scopes, high-end features such as serial decoding, mask limit testing, advanced math channels, segmented memory and a signal generator are all included in the price.

If a new project you are working on would benefit from a feature such as CAN bus decoding or mask limit testing, often it costs less to buy a new PicoScope than to pay to enable the option on a benchtop.

Signal integrity

Most oscilloscopes are built down to a price. PicoScopes are built up to a specification.

Careful front-end design and shielding reduces noise, crosstalk and harmonic distortion. Years of oscilloscope design experience can be seen in improved bandwidth flatness and low distortion.

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

PicoScope = PC oscilloscopes done properly.

The oscilloscope that keeps improving

To protect your investment, both the PC software and firmware inside the scope can be updated. Pico has a decades-long history of providing new features for free through software downloads. We deliver on our promises of future enhancements year after year.

Users of our products reward us by becoming lifelong customers and frequently recommending us to their colleagues.

Don't just take our word for it: read some of the reviews.