1100 Series DAD and MWD User Manual 93
How to optimize the Detector 5
Peak width (response time)
Response time describes how fast the detector signal follows a sudden change 
of absorbance in the flow cell. The detector uses digital filters to adapt 
response time to the width of the peaks in your chromatogram. These filters 
do not affect peak area nor peak symmetry. When set correctly, such filters 
reduce baseline noise significantly (see Figure 53), but reduce peak height 
only slightly. In addition, these filters reduce the data rate to allow optimum 
integration and display of your peaks and to minimize disk space required to 
store chromatograms and spectra.
Figure 19 lists the filter choices of the detector. To get optimum results, set 
peak width as close as possible to a narrow peak of interest in your 
chromatogram. Response time will the be approximately 1/3 of the peak 
width, resulting in less than 5 % peak-height reduction and less than 5 % 
additional peak dispersion. Decreasing the peak width setting in the detector 
will result in less than 5 % gain in peak height but baseline noise will increase 
by a factor of 1.4 for a factor of 2 response-time reduction. Increasing peak 
width (response time) by factor of two from the recommended setting 
(over-filtering) will reduce peak height by about 20 % and reduce baseline 
noise by a factor of 1.4. This gives you the best possible signal-to-noise ratio, 
but may affect peak resolution.
Figure 53 Influence of Response Time on Signal and Noise
Unfiltered
Response time 0.05 min
Response time 0.1 min