Displaying Continuous and Discrete Time Series Data

I have an existing analysis tool which compares two datasets:

  • An Input message log
  • An output message log

The tool compares the differences between the two sets by looking at:

  • The number of each type of message
  • The time each message came in
  • The payload of each message ( could be discrete or continuous data, often several fields per message such as time-stamp, temperature etc)

There could be close to a million records in each dataset. I want to generate a visualization that focusses on what time a message from one set came in and if the corresponding message in the other set has a matching payload

Currently I display ticks on a timeline for each message type but cannot work out how to compare payloads in the same view. I know I could separate these visualizations, but I already have several others and don't want to clutter my dashboard more than is necessary. I want to give a human analyst as much useful data on screen as possible.

I would like to know if there is a standard accepted way to show this quantity of a mixture of discrete and continuous time series events?