Tektronix Oscilloscopes offer high bandwidth, rapid response, accuracy, and deep memory. Known for intuitive interfaces and robust design, they support complex measurements with automated features and multi-channel functionalities.
| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| Tektronix Oscilloscopes | 16.9% |
| Siglent | 17.9% |
| Keysight Oscilloscopes | 14.9% |
| Other | 50.300000000000004% |
| Title | Rating | Mindshare | Recommending | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Siglent | 0.0 | 17.9% | 0% | 0 interviewsAdd to research |
| RIGOL Oscilloscopes | 4.0 | 13.7% | 100% | 1 interviewAdd to research |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 2 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 1 |
| Large Enterprise | 15 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 151 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 49 |
| Large Enterprise | 221 |
Tektronix Oscilloscopes facilitate a range of tasks from basic waveform checks to advanced applications using full bandwidth. They provide valuable serial protocol analysis, isolated probes, and mixed domain functionality. Users appreciate transfer functions, bandwidth filtering, phase sensitivity, and handling of high-frequency signals. A trusted industry presence enhances their reliability. There is a need for improved processing power, memory, more intuitive interfaces, and increased bandwidth. Users seek integrated machine learning capabilities, advanced CAN bus decoding, WiFi support, simplified package options, and lower costs. Enhancements such as larger screens, reduced noise floor, and increased hardware ruggedness are desired for better performance.
What are the key features of Tektronix Oscilloscopes?Tektronix Oscilloscopes are essential in electronics design validation, high-speed systems, 5G, IoT, and optoelectronics. They are utilized for debugging, testing, and measurements, handling signals including data buses, digital signals, RF, WiFi, video, and PCB measurements across educational settings and optical product development.
Tektronix Oscilloscopes was previously known as TBS Series, TDS Series, MDO Series, MSO Series.
| Author info | Rating | Review Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Sr Engineer at a tech company with 5,001-10,000 employees | 3.5 | We have used this product for over five years for embedded systems testing. B-scan is its most valuable feature, significantly increasing our productivity. We need support for the newest Intel chipset, but overall, it's a good, budget-friendly solution with a quick learning curve. |
| Lead Design Engineer at Cadence | 3.5 | I find this solution easy to use with a nice UI for test compliance, having used it for over five years. However, its high cost and inability to probe microservices are significant drawbacks for my needs. |
| Post Doctoral Researcher at a university with 5,001-10,000 employees | 4.5 | I use this product for its easy, accurate, and stable time domain measurements, making me trust it. Yet, for time domain work, I strongly recommend a different vendor. |
| Computer Engineer at Sandia National Laboratories | 3.5 | I use this solution for vehicle device testing, valuing its high data confidence, reliability, and simple UI with fair pricing. However, I know more capable alternatives exist with similar quality tech support. |
| Radio Frequency Engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees | 4.5 | I use this solution for 5G and WiFi signal measurement and IoT development. I find its intuitive UI and transferring function valuable, but I wish it had wider bandwidth. The field upgradability is a plus, and setup costs are acceptable. |
| SI Consultant at a energy/utilities company with 5,001-10,000 employees | 4.0 | I value this real-time scope for its ease of use, PAM-4 capabilities, and high bandwidth, essential for optical product development. While it's a great player, I'd like higher resolution and lower noise, plus improved AWG bandwidth from Tektronix. |
| Sr Electrical Engineer at TVH | 4.0 | I use this scope for detailed troubleshooting, appreciating its excellent trigger sensitivity and reliability. While it serves my HF and power-supply needs well, I jokingly wish for a single "what I mean" button for simpler operation. |
| Teacher (emeritus) at San Jose State University | 4.5 | I use this oscilloscope for teaching, valuing its five subdivisions per division. My main desire is disabling automatic measurements so students manually interpret waveforms. Despite past hardware issues, I recommend it for educational use due to its helpful traditional interface. |
| Product Line Manager at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees | 4.5 | I find this software great for data measurement, with an easy-to-use interface like an iPhone, and it's quick to learn. While it's a high-end product, I wish it had WiFi capabilities for easier upgrades. |
| R&D at LTK | 4.5 | I use this good product for testing, appreciating its user interface. Though expensive, I'm satisfied, rating it 9/10 due to good service and training. I only wish for an app to help with test fixtures. |
We are using it for testing.
The application space that this solution targets is embedded systems, i.e., security and data storage.
We use it a lot. We have multiple systems for manufacturing tests, and it's critical for our support. The support increases our productivity.
B-scan is its most valuable feature.
The user interface is very good.
We are looking for an Intel platform with the newest chipset.
They have to support the new industry standard.
We are utilizing the full bandwidth of the product.
The product is field upgradable, and we plan to utilize this going forward.
We call the technical support all the time.
We got a demo before purchasing. It helps us to have a high-level of understanding for what they do.
The pricing is okay. It was within our budget.
Our second choice would have been Keysight.
Try it if it is within your budget. It is a good product.
The learning curve is very quick. It takes about one or two days.
While we have plans to use this product to support connect devices, we are not currently doing so.
We are currently measuring signals from 3.0 and 4.0, and looking for 5.0.
It's a different bandwidth, so I use it for test compliance.
It is easy to handle, so everyone likes to use it.
The user interface is nice. There is also some pre-evaluation software that you can try.
I use microservices, but you cannot really probe it, since the technology is not really there.
I use the full bandwidth of the product.
It costs a quarter of a million. This technology is not cheap.
We have pretty good scopes.
The console is pretty standard. It is easy to use, without too many knobs around the scope.
When learning how to use the scope, the technical terms are mostly the same. You can also Google Tektronix, as they have their own documents, which are good to read and informative.
We mainly use it for TDR measurement. Sometimes, we convert them into a frequency domain. I'm working on a standard. They have a frequency requirements and time domain requirements. Sometimes, we will mix our equipment, but it's easier to do everything at the same time, so we measure in the time domain and convert it to the frequency domain.
I'm measuring high speed differential lines.
It is easy to use, which is why I'm mainly using it. I found with its measurement and simulations with its results are very similar. There is value in its accuracy.
When you use same model with the same test point fixtures and do a comparison with other measurements, it seems to provide the most stable results in the time domain state. Therefore, I trust it.
Time domain measurement is very accurate compared to other devices.
We demoed the product before purchasing it.
The functionality between devices is almost the same.
If you are dealing with time domain measurement, I strongly recommend using a vendor other than this company.
The application space that we are using the solution to target is high-speed serial, like USB or HDMI.
We used to connect this product to supported devices, but anymore because we don't need to, though we should.
Our primary use case is usually for testing analysis and diagnostics, or characterization.
We are using various models, power supplies, and scopes.
We are measuring all classes of signal families: Power, high-speed digital, RF, and analog.
This solution provides high confidence in the data being presented in the measurement to inform a design decision going forward. If I see that I've botched a design and believe in the measurement, then I'll fix it. If I don't have any confidence in the instrument and the measurement presented to me, I would struggle with using that instrument or knowing how to move forward and solving my problem.
There are other devices out there which are more capable, offering more features, with as good quality tech support.
We are using the full bandwidth of the product.
The product is usually field upgradable.
Tecktronix pricing tends to be pretty fair and reasonable with current market trends. They don't usually bump up the price too much.
The user interface is simple and straightforward.
The application space that we are using the solution to target is vehicle devices.
We are not using this product to support connected devices, e.g., IoT development, nor are we planning to going forward.
The application space that we are using the solution to target is 5G and WiFi. We are using this solution to measure WiFi signals.
We are using this product to support connected devices for IoT development.
Its transferring function: I can check transfers and responses for checking if a signal is back up and posting a response.
The learning curve is fast. It takes about a day.
The user interface is good, not very complicated. It is very intuitive.
I want the system to have a wider bandwidth because high-speed continues to move faster, so there is more bandwidth to cover.
The solution is field upgradable, which will be cost-effective for us in the future.
We have contacted them about demos and new features.
The cost has room for improvement. Though compared to other companies, it's okay.
I'm currently using the 200 gigasample per second real-time scope and have a 70000 Series.
The primary use case is optical product development for 56 gig PAM-4 with the ability to acquire and display at those rates. We need the 70 gigahertz bandwidth and 200 gigasample per second.
It is a real-time scope. Because it does a smart software trigger in the PAM-4 GUI, it's very easy to hook up. All I have to do is connect the signal, then I don't have to hook up any trigger source and worry about that dimension. So, it's a very smart, well-designed software.
The most valuable features are its ease of use, user interface, and PAM-4. The user interface is good and easy to use.
Tektronix has the acquisition side done very well.
In the signal integrity business at these data rates, we are always looking for higher bandwidth and a lower noise floor. Because this product is an 8-bit real-time scope, I would like a lower noise floor and have it go to a 9-bit or 10-bit resolution. That would be beneficial.
On the source side, their AWGs don't have enough bandwidth. They need to increase the bandwidth of their AWGs, meaning they have to have a faster sample rate. Though, they generally have plenty of resolution. A 100 gigasample per second AWG would be excellent.
We are using the full bandwidth of the product. 70 gigahertz bandwidth for real-time scope is important. To get the step response, we need that excess bandwidth. If I wanted to get a 33 gigahertz bandwidth with a good step function, I would need that excess bandwidth so I can apply appropriate vessel filters.
They do have optical front-ends which are optional. We are taking advantage of that. In certain, very specific ways, it's field upgradable. I would imagine when they have the next product that it goes to a higher sample rate, and that'll be a whole new product.
We're very lucky to have very close Tektronix support since the company is local.
In the 100 gigabit Ethernet and 400 gigabit Ethernet category, everything is in the multi-hundred thousand dollar range, so it was fair pricing because everything is expensive.
At the time that we were considering, we considered all the big players: Teledyne LeCroy, Keysight, and Tektronix. Tektronix had the best bandwidth and sample rate. The field keeps changing regarding who has the best product. It keeps bouncing back and forth. Tektronix was the best product at that time and is still a great player now.
We have seen the products at shows.
It is a very capable instrument. It really does the job. It's in a fairly compact form factor at a reasonable power level. There's some other products right now that are huge and take an enormous amount of power, so I would still say it's a key player in the market.
The learning curve was pretty quick. We needed some hand-holding on a few items, but it went pretty fast.
We're measuring electrical signals to ICs that are in the optical modular space and out of the ICs from the ICs in the same space. The application space that we are using the solution to target is 100 gigabit Ethernet and 400 gigabit Ethernet. We are using this product to support optical links.
Real-time scopes offer abilities to see all of the signal. The alternative is equivalent time scopes. You can get an equivalent time scope with the same high bandwidth, but equivalent time scopes sample at such a low rate that we miss errors in diagnostic information. Real-time scopes sees everything. To get a real-time scope above 50 gigahertz bandwidth requires the very best.
We use it for detailed troubleshooting, mainly in the time domain. It has very slow ports. We use the measuring functions of the scope, tracking peak-to-peak, average, and min-max. For us the application space it's targeting is mainly the HF arena. We do get into 2.4 gig on a regular basis, but not usually much higher. We predominantly measure analog signals and signals that are power-supply related. With the switching of power supplies the way it happens now, the more information the better.
The sensitivity of the trigger and the reliability are the most valuable features. I see a lot of phase shift take place on a trigger but Tektronix always has the best.
It needs one button and every time you push it, you get whatever you need. Label it W.I.M.(what I mean) and advertise it as a wimp interface. Naturally the GPIB has only one command and does whatever you mean it to do.
Technical support is very good at Tektronix. We get to the right person most of the time.
I was at KU for 18 years, where I was director of the electronics labs there. Yes, every semester there was a new learning curve but they did catch on fairly quickly. The scopes were extremely reliable.
I'm using it for teaching students, familiarizing them with the oscilloscope. I want them to spend some time looking at waveforms.
The main signals that we measure are pretty simple sine waves. The interesting waveforms are the succession of waveforms in a simple power supply, where you have the rectified AC and then the filtered AC, so you have to measure the DC and then you have to know how to use AC coupling to show the ripple clearly.
We don't utilize the full bandwidth. We get up to a couple of megahertz.
The waveform that was particularity badly rendered by some early digital oscilloscopes which we had in the laboratory was a one megahertz carrier, modulated at 500 hertz. To show the envelope requires a fairly substantial sampling rate and this scope has a nice, high sampling rate.
For this introductory electrical engineering lab, it's pretty well-suited to my needs. A lot of students will copy the waveforms onto a memory stick and put them into their reports. That interface exists.
One of the features that I look for is five subdivisions per division, because I want students to count divisions on the scope. I don't want them to just read numbers off the screen, I want them to get a feeling for what the waveforms are doing. When I was looking for a scope for that lab, that five subdivisions per division was important.
It's also important to me that we can turn off the automatic setting feature of the oscilloscope.
I wish we could turn off the automatic measurement feature of the oscilloscope, for teaching purposes.
This probably sounds weird, but I think it important that students get familiar with the waveforms and actually count divisions. This gives a feel for how many digits are really significant, that noise can be part of signals, that it helps to increase the sensitivity to fill as much of the screen as possible and maybe notice artifacts. e.g. Students might be asked to measure frequency response of a circuit with a uA 741 op amp. If the signal level chosen is too high and students don't actually watch the waveform they may not realize the numbers come from the slew-rate limit and not the frequency response. I actually recognized the problem of the seductiveness of digital displays in another lab where students used a lock-in amplifier with both a digital display and a d'Arsonval meter. The voltage went through large changes in value, and students were happily writing down the numbers when the instrument was on a totally inappropriate range. So for the first electrical-engineering lab I think forcing the students to rely on measuring the waveform themselves and not relying on the scope to do it for them gets them started well.
We've had mostly good technical support. The first time I called Tektronix about the difficulty turning off the automatic measurements, I got a "read the manual" response. They had sent the wrong manual, so that didn't work so well.
Another problem we had was instability that developed in the position controls - we're talking about a dozen oscilloscopes in the laboratory - and they were all developing this problem. They ended up having to replace the front panel which contains the circuitry on all of those scopes. That was a little disappointing.
On the whole, I expect Tektronix equipment to be highly reliable and, indeed, there has been virtually no other maintenance that they've required.
They have academic pricing which is helpful. We were very fortunate to have a head of the department who recognized the importance of having high-quality equipment in the lab.
I have been using Tektronix scopes since about 1962. I would recommend the product to a colleague.
The user interface is fine. It has knobs. There was a phase where the oscilloscope designers - and this may have been Hewlett Packard, Agilent, Keysight - tended to have one big knob and then you had to push various buttons and you had to have the buttons pushed the right way for the knob to do whatever you wanted it to do. These scopes are a reversion to the old scopes where you have an individual knob or button for each function, and that has helped.
In terms of being upgradable, there are modules one can get. We do have a power module for some people who sometimes share the oscilloscopes.
Our primary use case is measuring data.
It is a great software. It's quite good. I like the hardware. I like the user interface. We use Tektronix just like Apple.
We are effectively able to manipulate the data and get analytics from it.
I would like to see some WiFi capabilities. I would like to upgrade equipment, and if I was in the U.S., I could do that with WiFi capabilities.
We use the full bandwidth for the 1Gb and 10Gbs.
It is pretty upgradable.
I have always used this solution.
Pricing could be lower. I would want to buy it for an extremely, low price, but Tektronix is a high-end product.
It is a great price for a great product.
The application space that we are using the solution to target is 5G.
We are measure the following high-speed signals: 1Gb, 2Gbs, 5Gbs, and 10Gbs.
We are not using this product to support connected devices, e.g., IoT development, nor are we planning to going forward.
We use it for testing. Usually, for testing equipment, we define the test frequency in the range of 50 gigahertz.
The user interface is good.
I would like to see an app from this company for test fixtures. It's very difficult for us to find test fixtures, so it would be helpful if they were to develop them.
If we need technical help we contact technical support from the company. It's very easy. They have good service.
We needed a new generation product for testing equipment.
The pricing is very expensive.
We looked at HP, but Tektronix is famous in the area of products for equipment testing.
It's a good product. I would recommend it to colleagues at other companies.
Regarding a learning curve for the equipment, when we purchase this testing equipment from the company, they provide training for us, so if we have any issues we can contact them with the details and they help us to resolve the problem.
I would rate the product at nine out of ten. I'm satisfied with it.
