Question: What does the horizontal bar indicate and how to use it in my measurement?

![photo of DMM display](https://i.stack.imgur.com/B9YFy.jpg)

Answer: 
From the Fluke 87V [datasheet](https://dam-assets.fluke.com/s3fs-public/80v_____umeng0200.pdf?tKDGTic.KN0dP9_UJVtSyLsuYWEUp3SY) page 11 point 18 :

> 
> The number of segments is relative
>  to the full-scale value of the
>  selected range. In normal operation
>  0 (zero) is on the left. The polarity
>  indicator at the left of the graph
>  indicates the polarity of the input.
>  The graph does not operate with
>  the capacitance, frequency counter
>  functions, temperature, or peak min
>  max. For more information, see
>  “Bar Graph”. The bar graph also
>  has a zoom function, as described
>  under "Zoom Mode". 
> 
> 
>
Digital multimeters have measurement ranges like 0-200 mV, 0-2V, 0-20V, 0-400V etc. 

Bar graph shows how near you are to the end of one range.