Reading Variable Bar Durations on Custom Charts
Summary
This indicator plots a histogram of how long each custom chart bar took to form, measured in minutes. It is intended for price representations with variable-duration bars, including Renko, point-and-figure, and equivolume charts. The display can help traders observe how activity and bar formation time change across such charts.
A directional setting controls whether the histogram shows unsigned durations or assigns positive and negative values according to the corresponding bar’s price change. The document notes that MetaTrader 5 does not natively support variable timeframes, so custom charts are emulated on standard charts, often using one-minute data to improve time alignment. On an ordinary time-based chart, the indicator offers little information because bars have equal durations. No trading signals, performance evidence, or validation are provided; the indicator describes bar timing rather than a standalone strategy.
Key ideas
- The indicator displays custom chart bar durations as a histogram measured in minutes.
- It is designed for variable-duration formats such as Renko, point-and-figure, and equivolume charts.
- A setting determines whether durations are shown unsigned or signed by each bar’s price direction.
- On regular time-based charts, equal bar durations make the display largely uninformative.
Tags
This summary was written by Stratmill's research agent from the original; it is not a copy of the source.