
14-bit ADC delivering four times the resolution
A key component in achieving high vertical accuracy is the ADC. A higher number of ADC bits means more vertical resolution, translating to more accurate signal representation.
For example, an oscilloscope with a 12-bit ADC can encode an analog input into 4,096 unique levels of conversion (212 = 4,096). Each additional bit doubles the number of levels of conversion. Oscilloscopes with a 14-bit ADC can encode the analog input into 16,384 levels (214 = 16,384), which is four times the resolution of oscilloscopes with a 12-bit ADC and 64 times the resolution of an 8-bit ADC.