Configure Time Scope MATLAB Object
When you use the timescope object in MATLAB®, you can configure many settings and tools from the window. These sections
show you how to use the Time Scope interface and the available tools.
Signal Display
This figure highlights the important aspects of the Time Scope window in MATLAB.
Min X-Axis — Time scope sets the minimum x-axis limit using the value of the TimeDisplayOffset property. To change the Time Offset from the Time Scope window, click Settings (
) on the Scope tab. Under
Data and Axes, set the Time
Offset.Max X-Axis — Time scope sets the maximum x-axis limit by summing the value of the Time Offset property with the span of the x-axis values. If Time Span is set to
Auto, the span of x-axis is10/SampleRate.The values on the x-axis of the scope display remain the same throughout the simulation.
Status — Provides the current status of the plot. The status can be:
Processing— Occurs after you run thestepfunction and before you run thereleasefunction.Stopped— Occurs after you create the scope object and before you first call the object. This status also occurs after you callrelease.
Title, YLabel — You can customize the title and the y-axis label from Settings or by using the Title and YLabel properties.
Toolstrip — The Scope tab contains buttons and settings to customize and share the time scope. The Measurements tab contains buttons and settings to turn on different measurement tools. Use the pin button
to keep the toolstrip showing or the
arrow button 
to hide the toolstrip.
Multiple Signal Names and Colors
By default, if the input signal has multiple channels, the scope uses an index number
to identify each channel of that signal. For example, the legend for a two-channel
signal will display the default names Channel 1, Channel
2. To show the legend, on the Scope tab, click
Settings (). Under Display and Labels, select
Show Legend. If there are a total of seven input channels, the
legend displayed is:
By default, the scope has a black axes background and chooses line colors for each channel in a manner similar to the Simulink® Scope block. When the scope axes background is black, it assigns each channel of each input signal a line color in the order shown in the legend. If there are more than seven channels, then the scope repeats this order to assign line colors to the remaining channels. When the axes background is not black, the signals are colored in this order:
To choose line colors or background colors, on the Scope tab click Settings.Use the Axes color pallet to change the background of the plot. Click Line to choose a line to change, and the Color drop-down to change the line color of the selected line.
Configure Scope Settings
On the Scope tab, the Configuration section allows you to modify the scope.
The Legend button turns the legend on or off. When you show the legend, you can control which signals are shown. If you click a signal name in the legend, the signal is hidden from the plot and shown in grey on the legend. To redisplay the signal, click on the signal name again. This button corresponds to the ShowLegend property in the object.
The Settings button opens the settings window which allows you to customize the data, axes, display settings, labels, and color settings.
On the Scope tab, the Layout section allows you to modify the scope layout dimensions.
The Display Grid button enables you to select the display layout of the scope.
Use timescope Measurements
All measurements are made for a specified channel. By default, measurements are applied to the first channel. To change which channel is being measured, use the Select Channel drop-down on the Measurements tab.
Data Cursors
Use the Data Cursors button to display screen cursors. Each cursor tracks a vertical line along the signal. The difference between x- and y-values of the signal at the two cursors is displayed in the box between the cursors.
Signal Statistics
Use the Signal Statistics button to display various
statistics about the selected signal at the bottom of the time scope window. You can
hide or show the Statistics panel using the arrow button in the bottom right of the panel.
Max — Maximum value within the displayed portion of the input signal.
Min — Minimum value within the displayed portion of the input signal.
Peak to Peak — Difference between the maximum and minimum values within the displayed portion of the input signal.
Mean — Average or mean of all the values within the displayed portion of the input signal.
Median — Median value within the displayed portion of the input signal.
RMS — Root mean squared of the input signal.
To customize which statistics are shown and computed, use the Signal Statistics drop-down.
Peak Finder
Use the Peak Finder button to display peak values
for the selected signal. Peaks are defined as a local maximum where lower values are
present on both sides of a peak. End points are not considered peaks. For more
information on the algorithms used, see the findpeaks function.
When you turn on the peak finder measurements, an arrow appears on the plot at
each maxima and a Peaks panel appears at the bottom of the
timescope window showing the x and
y values at each peak.
You can customize several peak finder settings:
Num Peaks — The number of peaks to show. Must be a scalar integer from 1 through 99.
Min Height — The minimum height difference between a peak and its neighboring samples.
Min Distance — The minimum number of samples between adjacent peaks.
Threshold — The level above which peaks are detected.
Label Peaks — Show labels (P1, P2, …) above the arrows on the plot.
Share or Save the Time Scope
If you want to save the time scope for future use or share it with others, use the buttons in the Share section of the Scope tab.
Generate Script — Generate a script to re-create your time scope with the same settings. An editor window opens with the code required to re-create your
timescopeobject.
Copy Display — Copy the display to your clipboard. You can paste the image in another program to save or share it.
Print — Opens a print dialog box from which you can print out the plot image.
Scale Axes
To scale the plot axes, you can use the mouse to pan around the axes and the scroll button on your mouse to zoom in and out of the plot. Additionally, you can use the buttons that appear when you hover over the plot window.
— Maximize the axes, hiding all labels
and insetting the axes values.
— Zoom in on the plot.
— Pan the plot.
— Autoscale the axes to fit the shown
data.