Many types of mechanical waveforms, such as from position sensors, fall into this category. Low duty cycle waveforms occur in numerous applications. Timing, sonar, system control, and laser pulsing signals are a few examples. While the pulses occur repetitively, they are often difficult to see on an analog scope. The low repetition rate of a low duty cycle waveform doesn't provide the frequent CRT tracing needed to build and sustain a bright trace.
Fast transitions are perhaps the most common viewing problem.
When trace intensity and sweep time are set for normal time and frequency measurements on pulses or square waves, the fast rise and fall transitions of the waveform appear dim or fade from view. Turning up the trace intensity sometimes works but, in other cases, it floods the screen with trace blooming. Historically, the above problems have been overcome by using CRT photography and special types of analog screen storage. However, these approaches add cost and complexity while providing only partial solutions. Enter The Digital Storage Oscilloscope.