The book I read to research this post was How to Use Oscilloscopes & Other Test Equipment by RA Penfold which is a very good book which I got from Maplins an electronics store chain in the UK.
Some oscilloscopes use an LCD screen but most use a CRT screen interestingly maplins have one that plugs into your pc & displays on your monitor & which works out cheaper than buying a stand alone oscilloscope you can also buy an upgrade box that turns it into a tone generator that works in the same way as the oscilloscope. An oscilloscope has 2 inputs time & voltage & 1 output. The screen displays the characteristics of the component so you need to know that. A tone generator works in the same way except you can vary the tone which you need to do with some components. A logic probe is like a simplified version of an oscilloscope and is more portable & cheaper it tests the logic of a circuit.
scratbagroberts 