Volume profile resolution (row size)
Volume profile resolution is the price height of each row of the histogram: one tick per row, or several ticks grouped together. Grouping makes a profile readable on instruments with small ticks or wide ranges, but it changes the numbers: the point of control, the value area and the high and low volume nodes are all computed on the rows actually drawn.
Senzoukria · Glossary · Updated September 2026
Why resolution changes the answer
A profile's features are defined on its rows. With one tick per row, the point of control is the single price with the most volume. With four ticks per row, it is the four-tick band with the most volume, which can lie elsewhere if volume was spread across neighboring prices. The value area expands from the point of control row by row, so its edges move with the rows too, and nodes that were separate at one tick can merge into one at a coarser setting.
A worked example
| Price | Volume | Two-tick row | Row volume |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5,000.75 | 270 | 5,000.50 – 5,000.75 | 560 |
| 5,000.50 | 290 | 5,000.50 – 5,000.75 | 560 |
| 5,000.25 | 120 | 5,000.00 – 5,000.25 | 420 |
| 5,000.00 | 300 | 5,000.00 – 5,000.25 | 420 |
| 4,999.75 | 260 | 4,999.50 – 4,999.75 | 510 |
| 4,999.50 | 250 | 4,999.50 – 4,999.75 | 510 |
Reading the example
At one tick per row, the point of control is 5,000.00, with 300 contracts. At two ticks per row, the band 5,000.50 to 5,000.75 holds 560 contracts and becomes the point of control, while the band containing 5,000.00 falls to 420 because its neighbor at 5,000.25 was light. The volume did not change; the question did.
In Senzoukria
The Volume Profile overlay has 'Resolution', in ticks per row, where 0 follows the zoom, and 'Rows', a fixed number of rows over the profile's range, where 0 defers to Resolution; a row is never finer than one tick. Grouping happens before the metric is projected, so the point of control and the value area describe exactly the rows that are drawn. The Market Profile (TPO) overlay has 'Row height' in ticks, 0 for automatic, and 'Auto row height (smart)', which keeps about 48 rows whatever the zoom. The Profile drawing tool's 'Rows' setting offers Auto, fixed ticks per row or a fixed number of rows. On crypto charts, the footprint's price step is chosen automatically per pair.
Common mistakes
- Comparing points of control from profiles built with different row sizes.
- Leaving resolution on automatic when recording levels: the rows, and the point of control, can change with the zoom.
- Using one tick per row on a small-tick instrument, where most rows are nearly empty and nodes become noise.
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Frequently asked questions
- What row size should I use?
- One that keeps the profile readable while preserving the structure you care about, and the same one every time you compare. On large-tick futures such as ES, one tick per row is common for session profiles; on small-tick instruments or long windows, grouping several ticks is usually necessary.
- Why do two platforms show different POCs for the same session?
- Row size is one of the usual reasons, together with the session definition, the tie rule when two rows have equal volume, and differences in the underlying data. Check the resolution before concluding that the data disagree.