Can someone please explain to me the advantage of this over just having normal external digital connectors?
I can see the reasoning from the architecture POV - basically muxing the ADC output with the digital inputs ( though I'd love to see the PCB routing around that connector).
The only major benefit I can see is for users that really need >16 digital channels ( and have deep pockets).
For users that absolutely need a ton of channels, this scope is very attractive, but I do wonder how many potential users with that requirement, combined with the budget, there are.
What would have been much more innovative is if they had made the input stage modular, so you could upgrade the number of channels with plug-in modules, or swap modules between scopes.
I can see plenty of downsides - lots of small, potentially fragile contacts, expensive & bulky probe.
There would have been plenty of room on the back for digital probe connectors.