Methods and systems are provided for detecting and measuring a peak value of a light pulse. One example method involves (i) receiving an analog signal comprising a pulse, (ii) differentiating the analog signal, using a differentiator, to provide a differentiated signal, (iii) detecting, using a comparator, a zero-crossing in the differentiated signal, (iv) delaying the analog signal by a delay amount, using a signal buffer, to provide a time-delayed analog signal, (v) in response to detecting the zero-crossing, causing a measurement of the time-delayed analog signal to be obtained, (vi) determining a measurement time associated with the measurement, and (vii) outputting the measurement and the measurement time. The methods and systems may be implemented for light detection and ranging (LIDAR) applications. In such applications, the measurement and measurement time may correspond to an object and a distance of the object, respectively, in an environment of a LIDAR device.