A method of data acquisition for a digital instrument having a bandwidth. The method includes receiving a signal and associated trigger. Using that trigger, a plurality of signal values is sampled at multiple time intervals to create an acquisition record representing a continuous fractional segment of the signal. The plurality of samples meets the Nyquist requirement for the bandwidth but is in error according to at least one known error mechanism. The acquisition record is then processed with DSP techniques to produce a compensated acquisition record corrected for the at least one known error mechanism. Each associated compensated acquisition record is incorporated into a result acquisition record as a segment thereof corresponding to a continuous fractional segment of the signal whose signal values were sampled in an associated instance. An additional signal and additional associated trigger are received. The above steps are then repeated for the additional signal and additional associated trigger.