Iconic method of showing progress toward an oscilloscope's target number of waveform averages

Disclosed is a system that uses two character positions (706) on a display area (702) of an oscilloscope to indicate the progress being made toward a achieving a target number of waveform acquisitions. The system displays the percentage of waveform acquisitions taken within this two character percentage display area (706) by first displaying two symbols as white dots on a dark background (802). As the percentage of waveform acquisitions taken increases, the dots within the symbols are inverted starting at the bottom of the display area and progressing toward the top. When the target number of waveform acquisitions have been taken, all the dots within the symbols are inverted to display dark on white. As the percentage increases, the dots forming the first character of the display are inverted prior to the dots forming the second character (Fig. 8B). Therefore, higher resolution of the display is obtained.