Studies · Volatility
Relative Volatility Index (RVI)
relativeVolatilityIndex · Dorsey's RSI form applied to σ instead of price
Drawn in its own panelReads one column (close here)
Hover the chart to read values · practice data: a seeded random walk with no overnight gaps
What it measures
The RSI formula applied to volatility instead of price changes. It splits recent standard deviation into the part that happened on up days and the part on down days, and reports the up share as 0 to 100.
How traders use it
- Designed as a confirmation tool: buy signals from other studies are trusted when RVI is above 50, sell signals when it is below 50.
- A breakout that RSI likes but RVI does not is happening on falling volatility, which is a warning.
Parameters
| Name | Value | Default | Allowed | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| period | 14 | ≥ 1 usual 5–30 | Smoothing length for the up and down parts (Wilder’s method, as in RSI). Dorsey used 14. | |
| stdevPeriod | 10 | ≥ 1 usual 5–30 | Window for the standard deviation measured on each bar. Dorsey used 10. |
Good to know
Not the same as the Relative Vigor Index, which is also abbreviated RVI.