Chromatography Forum

I get confused while trying to understand the difference between Base peak chromatogram, TIC and selected ion current profile (mass chromatogram). And I cannot see what is, in practice, the difference in information provided by the different graph. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

The BPC shows only the signal from the most intense mass in any given mass spectrum, plotted versus time. The TIC shows the sum of the signals from all masses in any given spectrum, plotted versus time. Selected ion current or extracted ion chromatogram (EIC or XIC) shows the signal from a single mass selected by the user, whether or not that mass is the most intense at any given time.

The BPC will often look similar to the TIC, but less noisy. However, chromatographic peaks consisting of signal at many masses can be understated by the BPC.

If I remember correctly
TIC is Total Ion Current sum of all the ions detected.
Base Peak. Shows peaks by their strongest ion
SIR/SIM Selected Ion recording/monitoring You set the Ion and get a chromatogram showing only the ion or ions chosen

Thank you to all. It is clear now.