Data Display Options
The options available for the graphical display of the experimental data are listed below. These are contained in the Graph-Display menu, and some are also available in the pop-up menu.
Zoom
Smooth Data
Change Display Type
Grid
Show Data Points
Copy to Clipboard
Text Info (Right Column)
Select Colors and Fonts
Zoom
When data is displayed in an experimental window (either at the end of an experiment or after loading), the axis limits are defined by the data points, as shown in Fig1.
Figure 1. Default experimental window.
Three zoom options are available - Zoom Out, Manual Zoom, and mouse zoom. Zoom Out will increase the y axis to the values defined by Full Scale in the Change Parameters dialog box (Fig2).
Figure 2. Zoom Out.
Mouse zoom allows the user to define an area of the window using the mouse - click the mouse with the cursor at one corner and drag the cursor to the opposite corner while holding down the mouse button (Fig3).
Figure 3. Mouse zoom.
Manual Zoom allows the user to specify the minimum and maximum x and y values of the section of the plot of interest (Fig4).
Figure 4. Manual Zoom dialog box.
The default axis settings can be restored by Auto Zoom (this function is also available in the pop-up menu).
Smooth Data
Digital smoothing routines are used to remove unwanted noise from the electrochemical signal after the experimental run, thereby improving the signal-to-noise ratio. However, as with analog filtering, care must be taken to avoid biasing the electrochemical signal.
The default smoothing routine on the epsilon is the moving average smooth. In this routine, data are examined in 5 point blocks (5 pts. MPA). Within each block, the first, second, fourth, and fifth points are summed and divided by 4. This number (i.e., an averaged current value) replaces the third point in the block. The routine moves up one point, and repeats the averaging sequence, until it has been repeated for all data points, other than the first two and last two, which are set equal to the third point, and the third from last point, respectively. A 9 point moving point average (9 pts. MPA) is also available.
The default condition is that the experimental data is smoothed automatically at the end of the experiment.
Change Display Type
Two axes conventions are available:
- IUPAC - Positive x = positive potentials; positive y = oxidative currents (Fig1).
- POLAROGRAPHIC
- Positive x = negative potentials; positive y = reduction currents (Fig5).
Figure 5. POLAROGRAPHIC axis convention.
Grid
The grid can be removed (No Grid), or a partial grid showing only the zero axes can be displayed (Zero Line) (Fig6). The full grid can be restored using Full Grid. All new and loaded data files will be displayed with the same grid selection as the last active data displayed. This selection is saved when the epsilon program is closed.
Figure 6. Grid - Zero Line
Show Data Points
This option will generate a graphic in which all the experimental data points are displayed (Fig7).
Figure 7. Graphic showing all experimental data points.
Copy to Clipboard
This command transfers the data from the active experiment window (without the frame) to the clipboard, from which it can be transferred to other Windows programs.
Text Info (Right Column)
Selected experimental information is listed in the column to the right of the plotted data (as shown in all the above figures). Clicking Text Info (Right Column) will remove this column (Fig8) (this option is also available in the pop-up menu).
Figure 8. Experimental window without the text column.
Select Colors and Fonts
The dialog box for this option (Fig9) allows the user to define the colors and fonts for the components of the experimental window. The selections available for the fonts and the colors can be accessed by clicking the Change Font or Change Colors button, respectively. Once the desired changes have been entered, these must be registered by clicking the Apply button before exiting the dialog box. Note that the colors available may be limited by the PC. If printing to a black and white printer, All Black will give the best prints.
Figure 9. Select Colors and Fonts dialog box.
