As real measurement signals contain a certain level of noise, the derived 2D spectra are influenced and degraded with substantial higher amounts of noise. Hence, interpretation begins with studying the autocorrelation spectrum on the main diagonal of the 2D synchronous spectrum. In the 2D synchronous main diagonal signal on the right 4 peaks are visible at 10, 20, 30, and 40 (see also the 4 corresponding positive autopeaks in the 2D synchronous spectrum on the right). This indicates that in the original dataset 4 peaks of changing intensity are present. The intensity of peaks on the autocorrelation spectrum are directly proportional to the relative importance of the intensity change in the original spectra. Hence, if an intense band is present at position x, it is very likely that a true intensity change is occurring and the peak is not due to noise.
Additional techniques help to filter the peaks that can be seen in the 2D synchronous and asynchronous spectra.