Grid readability

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FlemmingRSL
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Grid readability

Post by FlemmingRSL »

Greetings,

"PicoScope displays a 10x10 grid." (from PSW044 v1.8 )

Yes, but as a seasoned high-end oscilloscope user, I would much prefer if gridlines followed the traditional oscilloscope 1,2,5 - per decade scaling. For a given zoomed view, this implies the number of gridlines would have to be automatically variable, instead of the V/div as time/div. Ideally, I could select as a preference how many gridlines I prefer (horizontally vs. vertically), before switching to the next grid spacing in a 1,2,5 scheme.

Why? For readability. Read the trigger position from the attached image. It's about 70% from -44.58 us towards 19.69ms, and 40% from 1.806V to 2.185V. This is where I miss 1,2,5 scaling.
I't actually not that useful to have a gridline indicate were 2.185V is on my screen.
Many digits, hard to read
Many digits, hard to read
So, did I miss a preference setting here, or maybe an existing forum post? If not, this is my #1 wish for improvement of an otherwise great product.

Regards
Flemming Nyboe
Rocket Science Lab, Denmark

Martyn
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Re: Grid readability

Post by Martyn »

I understand your suggestion, here are some alternative options
  • You can drag in the rulers to give exact vertical and horizontal values for any position on screen
  • You can left click and hold on the display to give the values at a given position (although not actually in the location of the trigger diamond as this will be treated as wanting to move the trigger position)
  • You can move the zoom region, or vertical scale, so the point of interest is on a grid crosspoint and then read off the values
Martyn
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FlemmingRSL
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Re: Grid readability

Post by FlemmingRSL »

Hi Martyn,

Thanks for your answer, and the given workarounds. Adding to your list, it is possible to manually set values in the Scale and Offset dialog, that produces sensible grid lines.

Still, I would argue that the value of sensible grid lines on a scope (or any 2D graph) is exactly to provide a coarse value readability without any interaction.
My personal favorite implementation would be something like what I described, since it would provide readable grids while still allowing a continuous zoom range.

As an easier (for you to implement) second best solution, I would enjoy an option to restrict rectangle zooming and ruler dragging to snap to 1,2,5 grids: When I release the mouse button after drawing a rectangle, instead of giving me that exact boundary, zoom to the smallest enclosing frame in a 1,2,5 scheme with 10x10 grid. This is essentially what hardware oscilloscopes do to maintain sensible grid lines, when you turn the V/div and time/div. Similarly, ruler dragging would have to snap to one grid line at the time, at the existing scale.

Happy Easter,
Flemming Nyboe
Rocket Science Lab

Martyn
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Re: Grid readability

Post by Martyn »

We are looking at the user interface, so I will feed your suggestions into the development team for consideration.
Martyn
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FlemmingRSL
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Re: Grid readability

Post by FlemmingRSL »

Thanks again, Martyn.

BR Flemming

Gustav
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Re: Grid readability

Post by Gustav »

I just want to chip in, now that somebody else is also commenting on a subject that I care about.

Grid lines like 1.427V, 1.806V and 2.185V are much slower to read than 1.4, 1.8 and 2.2 Volt

It is 100 times easier to calculate the middle point between 1.8 and 2.2 Volt, than it is between 1.806 and 2.185 Volt. ...Which is 1,996 Volt. :roll:

This is high on my wish list for new features.

Mark_O
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Re: Grid readability

Post by Mark_O »

Gustav commented:
Grid lines like 1.427V, 1.806V and 2.185V are much slower to read than 1.4, 1.8 and 2.2 Volt

It is 100 times easier to calculate the middle point between 1.8 and 2.2 Volt, than it is between 1.806 and 2.185 Volt. ...Which is 1,996 Volt. :roll:

This is high on my wish list for new features.
I wanted to 3rd this request. There's nothing wrong with being different than standalone scopes, when that is an improvement. However, there is no intrinsic value or meaning to a marker at, e.g. 1.806V. It just happened to be where a Min/Max range got subdivided.

And as both of the previous members pointed out, it makes it unnecessarily hard to get a quick impression, at a glance, without mental gymnastics.

Martyn
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Re: Grid readability

Post by Martyn »

This is on the list of updates for a future release
Martyn
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