Shape of the comoving VEM vs. rest-frame wavelength for the redshift intervals z = 0.65–0.95 (red squares) and z = 0.95–1.25 (blue diamonds). The values shown are corrected for incompleteness, and the error bars are ±1σ computed using the jackknife method. In (a), we exclude the quasars with measured LLSs in their spectra before applying the τ < 1 correction to compute the final VEM. In (b), we use the full quasar sample and apply the full correction, including the opacity from the τ>1 systems, to compute the final VEM. The straight lines show broken power-law fits.