8 channel oscilloscope default trace colour schemes - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: Scratch.HTF
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2020, 12:44:19 pm
content: Currently, I am building an 8 channel variable power supply and I wish to follow a colour scheme for each channel - so far, I have noted the default channel colour codings for 4 channel oscilloscopes (a number of Chinese manufacturers followed the Tektronix scheme of Yellow/Cyan/Magenta/Green which I prefer to adopt), but I am wondering what default trace colours are used for Channels 5-8 on 8 channel Tektronix and other oscilloscopes - for Channels 5-8, Pico uses Purple/Grey/Cyan/Magenta.

author: ve7xen
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2020, 12:12:51 am
content: Keysight is Yellow, Green, Blue, Red, Cyan, Magenta, Purple OrangeTek is Yellow, Cyan, Red, Green, Orange, Blue, Magenta, TealI don't think any other major brands, even Chinese ones, are making 8-channel scopes right now. It's easy enough to find pictures of these scopes online. There doesn't seem to be a standard, sadly.Oh Yokogawa apparently has one, it is Yellow, Green, Magenta, Cyan, Red, Orange, Blue, Purple. Different again!

author: 0xdeadbeef
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2020, 12:19:54 am
content: Quote from: ve7xen on November 13, 2020, 12:12:51 amReally?

author: ve7xen
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2020, 12:21:20 am
content: Quote from: 0xdeadbeef on November 13, 2020, 12:19:54 amSigh I figured I'd get shown up for that statement. I always forget about Lecroy. Probably others too.They have their own colour scheme too! Definitely can't have our scope's traces looking like another brand's in screenshots!

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2020, 12:39:46 am
content: Quote from: ve7xen on November 13, 2020, 12:21:20 amBut you can.Many scopes have a full color pallette available to set traces to whatever you want.If I was the OP I'd set my own standard by starting at one end of the color spectrum and using the shades available.OR you could use passive device color coding or would that be too easy ?

author: YetAnotherTechie
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2020, 12:56:52 am
content: In the ancient times of HP calculators, colors were picked that color-blind users could distinguish...I'm not color blind, but would be interested to know if those schemes are good/bad for them.

author: Scratch.HTF
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 14, 2020, 12:33:15 am
content: Thank you for the info, but by manufacturer, what colour correspond to each of Channels 5/6/7/8 respectively?For Pico, Channels 5/6/7/8 use Purple/Grey/Cyan/Magenta respectively.

author: JPortici
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 14, 2020, 06:04:41 am
content: What i would do: check the color palette available for banana cables and connectors.Hopefully it will have at least 8 colours, then choose from those, forget about what scopes do.

author: 0xdeadbeef
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 14, 2020, 10:59:01 am
content: Typically the colors of additive and subtractive color mixing are used: blue, green, red, cyan, yellow and magenta. So you have six base colors plus black and white for background and text.-> If you need 8 colors, you need to either mix colors or modify brightness (which is problematic though if brightness is also used for other things like marking zoom area or so).IMHO using gray and orange for the remaining two traces would be the obvious choice.

author: sb42
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 14, 2020, 11:25:34 am
content: To give some examples, I like the following for plotting graphs:https://www.color-hex.com/color/e41a1chttps://www.color-hex.com/color/377eb8https://www.color-hex.com/color/4daf4ahttps://www.color-hex.com/color/984ea3https://www.color-hex.com/color/ff7f00https://www.color-hex.com/color/a0a0a0https://www.color-hex.com/color/a65628https://www.color-hex.com/color/f781bfhttps://www.color-hex.com/color/00ddddThey seem similar to the trace colours used on the usual TE suspects, and to what other posters have suggested.

author: porker1972
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2020, 12:41:39 am
content: If you're doing it yourself, why not just use the resistor colour code for simplicity?One thing I do is use the yellow channel on whatever scope I have as it's easiest to see on the screen, but I switch to the red channel to print out as yellow is invisible on paper.There is a new Keysight scope with 8-channels, the EXR. It is:1 yellow2 green3 blue4 red5 cyan6 magenta7 purple8 orange

author: ResistorRob
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2020, 06:30:58 am
content: A major scope manufacturer contacted me for input on a future oscilloscope design.One thing I suggested is offer adjustable color palettes on lower end scopes. Seems like an easy feature to add and would be amazing to have in something besides $10k+ equipment. Would love to see this in something along the lines of a Siglent SDS2000, R&S RTB2004, or Rigol MSO 5000. I would even love to see this in something like a Siglent 1104x-e but I do understand if they make the entry level scopes too good then it will cannibalize mid-range scopes.Maybe I can get my hacking skills good enough to customize the trace colors on hobbyist and small company scopes

author: 0xdeadbeef
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2020, 06:44:32 am
content: Hm, at least the newer Siglent scopes (SDS2000X+, SDS5000X) allow changing the trace colors with the last firmware update.

author: Berni
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2020, 06:48:58 am
content: Part of the issue with custom trace colors is that often the front panel has some sort of color markings next to the BNCs or the channels controls or color LEDs in the buttons and such.I don't think any of the modern Keysight scopes have adjustable colors. Maybe there are on the Windows based Infiniium scopes. But the older HP instruments that still run on the 68000 and have color CRTs do tend to have customizable colors. They use a video controller chip that runs in 256 palleted color mode, then each trace and UI element uses a different pallete index. So they simply added a color setting menu that lets you select the palette index and then set the RGB value for it. This means that you can not only change the trace colors but also every single thing in the UI can be tweaked, such as the background, buttons, menus, text colors etc...

author: Keysight DanielBogdanoff
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 19, 2020, 06:56:46 am
content: Quote from: ResistorRob on November 19, 2020, 06:30:58 amI *think* you can change trace colors on the Keysight Infiniium scopes. I also saw someone somewhere on this forum swap the color channels to their scope display to mix up the trace colors.

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2020, 07:16:43 am
content: Quote from: 0xdeadbeef on November 19, 2020, 06:44:32 amYes, like so:

author: Berni
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2020, 07:18:21 am
content: I can check on my MSO9000 when i get home from work.Now that i think about it, it would be an awesome prank on my coworokers if i could swap the yellow and blue channels on the X3000 scope at work. I already managed to prank them before on accident by leaving the scope set up with weird triggering and channel settings.

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2020, 07:21:34 am
content: Quote from: Berni on November 19, 2020, 07:18:21 amBetter still, if you can also get into the scopes Default menu and mess with their fav default setup.

author: ResistorRob
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2020, 08:31:41 pm
content: Quote from: tautech on November 19, 2020, 07:16:43 amTautech, is this possible on the SDS2000X+I did a google search and found no mention of it. So only available on the SDS5000XIf so that really sucks, because I can't afford that.

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2020, 08:48:27 pm
content: Quote from: ResistorRob on November 20, 2020, 08:31:41 pmYep, just been added in the recent FW update.