What's the difference between ValueCharts and ValueBars?

ValueCharts®, designed to work on a subpanel, plots the current bar's ValueCharts® value on a scale centered at 0, relative to ValueCharts®' values, which can range from -20 to +20, and even above/below those values at times.

ValueBars calculates the ValueCharts® values for each bar, but instead of plotting it as the raw ValueCharts® value, it determines the color layout that would appear on the ValueCharts® plot, and maps that onto the price bar. So if ValueCharts® shows a plot where it's 2/3 yellow and 1/3 red at the top., ValueBars will color the price bar similarly, 2/3 yellow and 1/3 red at the top.

ValueCharts® allows you to more easily see the "levels" at which it switches between colors, because those level values remain fixed on the subpanel. That is, a ValueCharts® value of 8 is always plotted at the same point in ValueCharts®. In ValueBars, the ValueCharts® values get mapped to whatever the price bar does.

The two indicators both have their uses. The advantage of using the ValueCharts® indicator is that allows you to easily see where the values cross between yellow and red. That is, it allows us to know ValueCharts® relative to the ValueCharts® -20 to +20 scale. The advantage of ValueBars is that it allows you to know when a bar is getting into the yellow or red zone without requiring the screen real estate to display the chart. Many traders find both types of charts useful, and use both in their charts, and sometimes on the same chart - though most likely use just one or the other at any one time.

In TradeStation, you CAN move ValueBars to its own subpanel, but it will not display as ValueCharts® does, as it will still be drawn using the same price-based color mapping. If you're wondering why you'd want to do this, you may have another indicator that colors the bars that you'd like to have on the same chart, and by placing the ValueBars indicator on its own subgraph, we can let the other bar-coloring indicator operate on the price bar.

To put ValueBars on a subpanel, open the indicator's properties, and in the scaling tab, set the indicator to display on an unused subgraph (subpanel). One easy way to do this is to add just ValueBars to the price chart. Then click on the price chart bars to select the ValueBars indicator, then click on it once again and drag it to a subpanel. But again, don't expect it to appear as the standalone ValueCharts® indicator appears - ValueBars will always plot its results, mapping the ValueCharts® bar coloring onto the varying-sized price bars rather than at the same ValueCharts® level across all bars.

Take a look at the image below. It shows ValueBars on the price chart, and ValueBars on the subgraph in the middle, and ValueCharts® on the bottom subgraph. Notice how ValueCharts® allows you to more easily identify the extreme standouts of value, though it does take up precious screen space to do so.  All three show the same information.  That is, ValueCharts® and ValueBars show the same information, they just show it in a slightly different way.