Oscilloscope Explorer

R2026b

Connect to and communicate with oscilloscopes

Since R2026b

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Description

The Oscilloscope Explorer app provides a user interface to connect to and communicate with instruments.

You must have the Instrument Control Toolbox™ Support Package for IVI® and VXIplug&play Drivers. For more information, see Install Instrument Control Toolbox Support Package for IVI and VXIplug&play Drivers.

Note

If you have NI™ instrument software installed but are not using NI oscilloscopes, you can speed up app startup by disabling the NI device scan. To disable the scan, enter oscilloscopeExplorer.preferences.detectNIDevices("off") at the command line before opening the app. This setting persists across sessions.

To force a fresh NI device scan, use oscilloscopeExplorer.preferences.clearNIPreference.

Oscilloscope Explorer app

Open the Oscilloscope Explorer App

  • MATLAB® Toolstrip: On the Apps tab, under Test and Measurement, click the app icon.

  • MATLAB command prompt: Enter oscilloscopeExplorer.

Examples

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This example shows how to connect to a Tektronix® TBS1072C oscilloscope, adjust the time and voltage scales to visualize a waveform, and export the acquired data to the MATLAB workspace.

  1. Open the app and see the recognized devices connected to your system. The device card might indicate Configuration Needed.

    Oscilloscope Explorer home showing a TBS1072C device card with Configuration Needed status

  2. Click the device card to open the Configure tab. The toolstrip displays the configuration sections for your device. Verify the Resource, Model, and Vendor parameters auto-populated in the Device Information section. To check whether the required driver is installed, click Verify Driver. If the required driver is available in your system, the app populates the Driver parameter. To connect and begin the session, click Confirm Parameters.

    If the driver is not installed, you can install the driver using the Install Driver option. For more information, see the Install Section in Configure Driver in Oscilloscope Explorer.

    Configure tab with Install, Test, and Confirm Parameters sections on the toolstrip

  3. After a successful connection, the app switches to the Explorer tab and displays the live waveform with default settings. The waveform plot shows data for enabled channels.

    Explorer tab showing live waveform with default settings of Time/Div 300 microseconds and Volts/Div 125 millivolts

  4. To display more signal cycles, change Time/Div to 10ms in the Horizontal section of the toolstrip.

    Explorer tab with Time/Div changed to 10 milliseconds showing more waveform cycles

  5. To zoom in on the signal amplitude, change Volts/Div to 20mV in the CH1 panel.

    Explorer tab with CH1 Volts/Div changed to 20 millivolts showing zoomed-in waveform

  6. To export the acquired waveform data to the workspace, click Export and select Export Waveform Data .

    Export dropdown menu showing Export Waveform Data, Export Measurement Data, and Export MATLAB Code Log options

  7. The exported data appears in the workspace as a timetable with columns for Time, CH1, and CH2.

    Exported timetable variable in the workspace showing Time, CH1, and CH2 columns with 2000 rows of data

Parameters

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Configure Tab

Configure tab of oscilloscope explorer

The sections of the Configure tab provide the means to install a driver for your oscilloscope and to make a connection to the device. For instructions on installing and testing a driver, and confirming a connection, see Configure Driver in Oscilloscope Explorer.

Explorer Tab

The Explorer tab provides controls for the oscilloscope settings, operations, functions, and results. This includes time and amplitude scaling, measurement results, and code logs. Not all functionality is available in all supported models.

Acquisition Settings Section

Click Auto Scale to automatically adjust the time and voltage scales for all enabled channels to fit the signal on the waveform plot.

Click Run/Stop to toggle continuous waveform acquisition. When running, the oscilloscope continuously acquires and displays waveform data.

Click Single to perform a single waveform acquisition and then stop.

This parameter is read-only.

Specify the total time duration of the waveform acquisition in seconds.

This parameter is read-only.

Specify the number of data points in the acquired waveform.

This parameter is read-only.

Specify the delay in seconds before the acquisition begins.

Horizontal Section

Specify the time per division for the horizontal axis of the waveform display. Decreasing this value zooms in on a shorter time window; increasing it shows more signal cycles.

Specify the horizontal position offset in seconds to shift the waveform display left or right.

Trigger Section

Select the trigger mode for waveform acquisition. In Auto mode, the oscilloscope triggers automatically if no trigger event occurs. In Normal mode, the oscilloscope waits for a valid trigger event before acquiring data.

Select the channel to use as the trigger source.

Select the edge slope for the trigger event.

Specify the voltage level at which the trigger event occurs.

Select this check box to display the trigger level as a horizontal line on the waveform plot.

Export Section

Edit the name of the workspace variable to which you want to export data. The export options save data to the workspace using this variable name.

Choose one of the following options for exporting data from this app:

  • Export Waveform Data — Save the waveform data as a timetable to the workspace. This pauses live updates during export.

  • Export Measurement Data — Save the Measurements table as a table to the workspace.

  • Export MATLAB Code Log — Generate a MATLAB live script from the Code Log content.

Session Section

Click Live Updates to toggle live waveform acquisition and display. When enabled, the waveform plot updates continuously with new data from the oscilloscope.

Click Close Session to disconnect from the oscilloscope and return to the app home page.

Channel Panels (CH1, CH2)

Toggle the channel display on or off. When enabled, the channel waveform data is acquired and displayed on the plot.

Select or specify the probe attenuation ratio for the channel. You can choose from the predefined values or enter a positive scalar. The value corresponds to the attenuation factor of the probe connected to the oscilloscope.

Specify the vertical offset in volts to shift the channel waveform up or down on the display.

Select the input coupling mode for the channel. DC coupling passes both AC and DC components of the signal. AC coupling blocks the DC component and passes only the AC component.

Select or specify the voltage per division for the vertical axis of the channel. You can choose from the predefined values or enter a positive scalar. Decreasing this value zooms in on the signal amplitude; increasing it shows a wider voltage range.

Measurements Panel

Click Add Measurement to add a measurement to the Measurements table. Measurements display computed values such as frequency, amplitude, and RMS for the selected channel.

Click Clear All to remove all measurements from the Measurements table.

Version History

Introduced in R2026b

See Also

Apps