Quote from cnms2:
If I may ... Price waveform has a fractal nature, and exists out there, whether you open your charting program or not. To look at that waveform you choose a time frame, a resolution, for your chart. Your 1, 5 or 15 min bars represent that resolution, that gives you the possibility to see a subset of those price fractals. It's like you measure an object's dimensions using a ruler. Your ruler may be marked in whatever units (inches, centimeters, whatever), independent of that object's shape. Obviously, you need to appropriately choose a ruler that allows you to measure whatever you want to.