A test and measurement instrument includes an input configured to receive a signal for testing, an acquisition processor configured to generate an acquisition from the received signal and store the acquisition in an acquisition memory, and copy the acquisition to a data store, and an acquisition evaluator configured to compare the selected acquisition in the data store against one or more criteria, and identify whether the acquisition meets the one or more criteria. When the acquisition meets the one or more criteria, the acquisition may be stored in a secondary memory of the instrument as a curated or selected history of measurements, on which measurements or other analysis may be made.