Dishwasher with wash load detection

A method of operating a dishwasher having a tub at least partially defining a treating chamber for receiving utensils to form a wash load, a spraying system capable of spraying liquid in the treating chamber independent of the motion or non-motion of a spray arm, and a drive mechanism for selective, incremental, and discrete rotation of at least one rotatable spray arm around the centerline of the rotation of the rotatable spray arm and controlled according to a cycle of operation, the method comprising:

• incrementally rotating the rotatable spray arm of the spraying system around a rotational shaft about the centerline of rotation of the rotatable spray arm through multiple portions of the treating chamber;
• selectively spraying liquid in the multiple portions of the treating chamber during the incremental rotation;
• receiving a load input for at least some of the multiple portions from at least one sensor in response to the selectively spraying;
• determining a load condition for at least those multiple portions having a load input to define a set of load conditions for the wash load;
• and
• setting at least one parameter of the cycle of operation based on the set of load conditions.