The document summarizes the basic principles of signal display on an oscilloscope. It explains that the oscilloscope uses a sawtooth waveform applied to the horizontal deflection plates to convert the horizontal deflection into a time axis, while the voltage signal is applied to the vertical plates for vertical deflection proportional to the signal magnitude. This allows the signal to be displayed as a function of time on the oscilloscope screen. It further discusses how different ratios of sweep and signal frequencies affect the displayed waveform, and how synchronization of the sweep is important for the trace to appear stationary.