Previous: 1. Introduction Up: A new visualization tool to operate high energy physics
detectors Next:
3. The Hcal monitoring display
2. A new approach to detector monitoring
In order to avoid the necessity to go through a relevant number of
histograms and displays to get an understanding of the detector behaviour,
we have tried to condensate all the relevant information in a single color
screen which we call "monitoring display".
In this way we take advantage of the capacity of our brain to quickly process huge
amounts of information when put in graphical form.
We also benefit from the fact that the number of pixels in a typical workstation screen
is of the same order as the number of sensors to monitor ( 250 000),therefore
there is no problem in representing on a single display the information coming
from each single channel.
In addition, the correlation between different histograms, has been
transformed in geometrical correlation between nearby picture elements .
The operator is therefore able to understand at once,by looking at the
"monitoring display", what is going on in the detector.
The "monitoring display" presents in pictorial form all the information
necessary to control the apparatus.
Together with the monitoring display tools are provided in order to
investigate deeply all the malfunctions.
