An oscilloscope is an electronic device that helps to measure voltage against time. It represents one or more electric potential differences in a two-dimensional graph, with the horizontal axis representing time and the vertical axis showing voltage. An oscilloscope is conventionally used to locate defects in other electronic instruments or to test the circuitry in a new electronic device.

An oscilloscope converts the electric signals it receives in the waveforms into a signal that is displayed on the screen in the form of a dot. This dot moves from the left side of the screen to the right continuously, almost looking like a single line. When there are any deflections, the dot moves up or down, resulting in a wave that is interpreted and analyzed to know fluctuations in the voltage. Some oscilloscopes can show even two or more waveforms. These are used for phase comparison and timing measurements.

Some oscilloscopes are converted to a PC that not only provides the display but also supplies control interface, networking, disc storage and even the electric power. There are known as PC oscilloscopes or PC based oscilloscopes. They are becoming very popular because of the increasing use of PCs and also the low cost involved.

There are several advantages of a PC oscilloscope: lower cost; easy exporting of data to spread sheets or word processors and other PC software; customized PC programs for easy operation of the oscilloscope; the PC's disc storage and networking functions can be used for the oscilloscope as well, instead of investing in exclusive oscilloscope software; and more portability when used with laptops.

There are also certain limitations of using a PC oscilloscope: requires special oscilloscope software; the oscilloscope has to depend on the PC, which may be much slower than the oscilloscope; difficult to transport when used with a desktop PC and there could be difficulty in using the PC's screen for the oscilloscope's display.

Information about PC oscilloscopes, along with their prices and product facts can be sourced from the internet. There are hundreds of sites that give information about PC oscilloscopes.