By default, the Swaption Volatility Surface opens with the volatility surface for the current currency, trade date and the market data cut-off time set in the pricing page from which it was opened. The other settings, for example, whether the expiration date or the swap length is fixed, the increment between each strike on the top axis, etc., come from the customize settings (for more information see Customizing the Volatility Surface); the actual market data depends on the source selected in the customize settings (for more information see Changing the Market Data Source)
Once the page is open you can then control what data is displayed in the page and how as follows:
You can control for which trade date the volatility surface is displayed.
By default this is taken from the pricing page from which this page was opened, but you can change it using the Trade Date field.
You can control for which currency the volatility surface is displayed.
By default this is taken from the pricing page from which this page was opened, but you can change it using the Currency dropdown list.
For which market data cut-off time the volatility surface is displayed.
By default this is taken from the pricing page from which this page was opened, but you can change it using the Cut Off dropdown list. For more information on this feature see Changing the Market Data Cut-off Time.
Which dimension of the volatility surface is fixed (swaption expiry date or swap length).
By default this is set by the customize settings for this page, but you can edit it manually in the page using the Constant <> Variable buttons next to the Expiration and Swap Duration dropdown list.
Which expiries and swap lengths are displayed.
By default which expiry and swap length is to be used for the fixed dimension of the volatility surface is set by the customize settings for this page, but you can edit it manually in the page using the Expiration dropdown list and the Swap Duration dropdown list. In addition, the default expiries and swap length for the non-fixed dimension are also set by the customize settings for this page, but you also edit them manually using the Expiration and Swap Duration dropdown lists.
You can control whether the scale used for the strikes is displayed in:
Delta
This shows the percentage of delta for a payer swaption. So for example, the 90 delta column shows the strike and volatilities for a 90% delta payer swaption; the 50 delta column shows the strike and volatilities for a 50% delta payer swaption.
Basis points
Percent
Strikes
Factors
This means that the strikes shown are calculated as a factor of the ATM strike.
By default this is set by the customize settings for this page (accessed by clicking the Settings button), but you can edit it manually in the page using the Strike Scale dropdown list.
You can control the size of each strike increment.
By default this is set by the customize settings for this page, but you can edit it manually in the page using the Strike Increments dropdown list.
You can control the number of scenarios on either side of the ATM volatility.
By default this is set by the customize settings for this page (accessed by clicking the Settings button), but you can edit it manually in the page using the Scenarios dropdown list.