Instrument with maximum display update rate and maximized display bandwidth given the display update rate

A signal acquisition and display system that always provides the maximum possible display bandwidth that can be provided by the system without causing the display update rate to be reduced below the maximum determined by the acquisition time window. The optimization does not require analysis of a separate acquisition and does not require a repetitive waveform. The acquisition system alternates between two sections of memory, so that the minimum display update time is the longer of the acquisition time window or the display plot time. The display record length is variable. The display record length is controlled to make the display plot time always equal to or slightly less than the acquisition time window. Therefore, display bandwidth is always at the maximum possible given the acquisition time window and the maximum display update rate determined by the acquisition time window. Display record lengths may be very long compared to typical previous instruments.