Charting Tips
Candles, Heikin Ashi, Renko: Choosing a TradingView Chart Type
The first dropdown in the top toolbar is the chart type. No type is better or worse — it's a trade-off between information density and smoothing: the smoother it looks, the more it throws away.
Five common types at a glance
| Type | Character | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Candles | Open/high/low/close all kept, most information | Default; price-action analysis |
| Bars (OHLC) | Same info as candles, visually thinner | When you cram many bars on screen |
| Heikin Ashi | Averages open/close, trends look "cleaner" | Filtering chop, holding trend trades |
| Renko | Bricks by price move only, no time axis | Spotting key support/resistance zones |
| Line | Connects closes only | Macro view, multi-symbol comparison |
Two distortions you must know
- Heikin Ashi's "close" is not a real traded price — it's a computed average. Use HA to read trend, but confirm order prices back on candles; placing orders at HA prices puts you at the wrong level;
- Renko has no concept of time: a half-day of chop may print zero bricks, which makes fill assumptions in Renko backtests wildly optimistic.
A practical combo
A common setup is a two-chart layout: candles on the left for execution, Heikin Ashi or line on the right for trend confirmation. On desktop, link the two to the same symbol so switching instruments changes both — see the multi-timeframe guide.
Tip: switching type doesn't affect drawn support/resistance — drawings anchor to price and time, not to chart type.