The boundaries of development fields are blurring. Taking automobiles as an example, more channels than the four universally supported by oscilloscopes are required for applications ranging from motor control and inverter design to electronics, power supplies, and power conversion analysis. Consequently, there is a growing demand for integrated testing. Tektronix has presented a measuring instrument that meets these demands from engineers.

Tektronix held a press conference at the Grand Intercontinental on Wednesday, the 7th, and announced the new 5 Series MSO mixed-signal oscilloscope. A teaser video featuring an engineer experiencing the MSO 5 Series was released. Reactions included “The screen is large and thin,” “The colors are pretty,” and “It is convenient with the touch screen.”

Key features include 4, 6, or 8 Flex Channels for reconfiguring oscilloscope inputs, a 15.6-inch HD display, an intuitive UI platform and touch display, a 12-bit ADC and 16-bit vertical resolution, and an optional Windows OS.
The main core ASIC for the instrument was developed. The 4, 6, and 8 Flex Channels are TeKVPI+ connectors that support TeKVPI analog probes, but connecting the new TLP058 logic probe converts them into 8 digital channels, allowing up to 64 logic units to be added. Kwanho Kim, Manager of Technical Marketing at Tektronix, stated, “A single port can be used for multiple purposes within a single pass. We increased the number of channels to eight while maintaining the accuracy of all channels.”

One aspect where we paid close attention to customer feedback during the 10-year development process was the display screen. It features a 15.6-inch screen with a new UI platform and touch display, allowing for intuitive use. The menu step was omitted because zooming in, zooming out, and clearing can be done from the channel location.

It features a 12-bit ADC to improve the Effective Number of Bits (ENOB) and integrates a front-end amplifier that reduces noise by 4.5 dB compared to the previous generation. It offers 4 to 8 times improved precision compared to existing oscilloscopes.
The Scope's OS allows switching between Windows and Linux by adding or removing an SSD. Since the user interface is identical, users can utilize each OS by complementing its strengths and weaknesses. The price is 10% lower than comparable models.

“Since last year, we have been emphasizing that we are an application-oriented company rather than a product-oriented one, and we wanted to prove this. We plan to continuously update the 5 Series MSO, which is currently in its initial stages, so that it can ultimately support automotive semiconductors and 5G communication,” said Director Kim Kyung-rok of Tektronix.