5-13
Making Measurements
To use the XY horizontal mode
To use the XY horizontal mode 
The XY horizontal mode converts the oscilloscope from a volts-versus-time 
display to a volts-versus-volts display using two input channels.  Channel 1 is 
the X-axis input, channel 2 is the Y-axis input.  You can use various transducers 
so  th e d is pl ay  cou ld  sh ow  st ra in  ve rs us d is place me nt , f lo w v er su s p re ss ur e,  volts  
versus current, or voltage versus frequency.  This exercise shows a common use 
of the XY display mode by measuring the phase difference between two signals 
of the same frequency with the Lissajous method.
1 Connect a sine wave signal to channel 1, and a sine wave signal of the 
same frequency but out of phase to channel 2.
2Press the 
Autoscale key, press the Main/Delayed key, then press the XY 
softkey.
3 Center the signal on the display with the channel 1 and 2 position ( ) 
knobs.  Use the channel 1 and 2 volts/div knobs and the channel 1 and 2 
Vernier softkeys to expand the signal for convenient viewing.
The phase difference angle (θ) can be calculated using the following formula 
(assuming the amplitude is the same on both channels):
Example of centering a signal on the display 
θsin
A
B
---
 or 
C
D
----
=
A
B
D
C
Signal must 
be centered 
in “X”