False Color
False Color maps luma, chroma, saturation, or hue values to a color overlay, making it easy to judge exposure and color relationships at a glance. Every color band and its threshold can be fully customized.
Display Modes
Luma
Maps luma (Y') to false color (default). Luma is the weighted sum of the non-linear R'G'B' channels; the weights follow the active color space (Rec. 709: 0.2126 / 0.7152 / 0.0722; Rec. 2020: 0.2627 / 0.6780 / 0.0593).
HDR
HDR-aware mode with dedicated, spec-aligned presets for PQ (SMPTE ST 2084) and HLG (ITU-R BT.2100 / BT.2408) signals. Scale labels are shown in display-referred nits. See HDR Mode below.
Saturation (HSL)
Maps HSL saturation to false color
Saturation (HSV)
Maps HSV saturation to false color
Chroma
Maps channel spread (max(R,G,B) - min(R,G,B)) to false color. Useful when you want a DCTL-style saturation heat map based on chroma rather than HSL/HSV saturation.
Hue
Maps hue angle to false color
Built-in Presets
OmniScope ships with 21 built-in false color presets covering common camera and monitor workflows:
R3D
Smooth — RED cameras (default)
R3D Legacy (v2.x)
Gradient — older RED workflow
Flanders
Gradient — professional reference
SmallHD (50x, 70x)
Gradient
SmallHD (DPx)
Gradient
ARRI
Sharp
Atomos
Sharp
Atomos 2
Sharp
BlackMagic Video Assist
Smooth
Zacuto
Sharp
VideoDevices PIX-E4
Smooth
VideoDevices PIX-E12
Smooth
Skintones
Smooth — skin tone reference
Highlights
Smooth — highlight range focus
Shadows
Smooth — shadow range focus
Saturation
Gradient — saturation mapping
Sony Log
Sharp — S-Log3 style
Canon Log
Sharp — C-Log3 style
RED Log
Sharp — IPP2 style
ARRI LogC4
Sharp — LogC4 curve
Universal Cine Log
Sharp — universal log standard
Each preset defines up to 15 color stops with configurable transition sharpness — Smooth (continuous gradient), Sharp (hard color cuts), or Gradient (mixed).
Preset Manager
The Preset Manager lets you browse, import, and organize false color presets. It lists both built-in presets and user presets stored in the application support folder. You can load presets from .tfc4 / .fc4 files on disk, save custom presets, rename, or delete user presets.
User presets are stored in ~/Library/Application Support/NobeOmniScope/presets/ on macOS.
Scale
A color ruler displays the active preset's mapping alongside the image. The scale type determines the unit labels:
IRE
Standard broadcast units
8-bit
0–255 levels
10-bit
0–1023 levels
mV
Millivolts (analog)
ST 2084 (PQ)
HDR nit levels
HLG
HLG nit levels
Side Scale
Move the scale outside the picture area so it doesn't cover the image. Toggle Scale on side in the scope settings.
HDR Mode
Selecting Mode → HDR switches False Color to a pair of spec-aligned presets for HDR signals. Use the Scale selector to pick between PQ (SMPTE ST 2084) and HLG (ITU-R BT.2100 / BT.2408).
In HDR mode the scale labels are display-referred nits: PQ labels are absolute (PQ is absolute-nit encoded); HLG labels are computed through the BT.2100 system gamma (γ = 1.2 at reference Lw = 1000 nits), so they match BT.2408 operational practice (75 % HLG → 203 nits, 38 % HLG → 26 nits, 100 % HLG → 1000 nits).
HLG Preset (BT.2408)
The HLG preset anchors the three BT.2100 structural points — 0 % black, 75 % HLG diffuse / graphics white (203 nits), and 100 % peak display (1000 nits) — as locked indicators, and surrounds them with BT.2408-aligned reference bands: a cyan marker at the 18 % gray card (38 % HLG ≈ 26 nits), a pink band across the Fitzpatrick skin-tone range (45 – 60 % HLG ≈ 39 – 85 nits), and a specular-highlight warning ramp above diffuse white. Cyan is chosen over green for the 18 % gray marker so it's visually distinct from the green reference-white anchor.
HLG signal %
Display nits @ Lw 1000
Color
Purpose
BT.2408
0
0
black (locked)
Floor
—
0 → 17
0 → 3.8
black → dark gray ramp
Shadow noise floor
—
17 → 36
3.8 → 23
mid-gray ramp
Shadow
—
36 → 40
23 → 30
cyan band (sharp edges)
18 % gray marker
38 % = 26 nits
40 → 45
30 → 39
gray
Lower mid
—
45 → 60
39 → 85
pink band (sharp edges)
Skin-tone zone
Fitz 1–6 range (Table 2)
60 → 75
85 → 203
gray ramp
Upper mid → ref white
—
75
203
green (locked)
HLG Reference / Graphics White
75 % = 203 nits
75 → 82
203 → 314
green
Lower specular
—
82 → 88
314 → 459
green → yellow gradient
Highlight warning
—
88
459
yellow (sharp)
Highlight alert
—
88 → 95
459 → 722
yellow → orange
Near peak
—
95 → 100
722 → 1000
orange → red
Approaching peak
—
100
1000
red (locked)
Peak Display
100 % = Lw
Because HLG is display-adaptive, the color anchors are expressed in signal %, not absolute nits — they stay fixed regardless of the mastering display peak. Only the nit labels on the ruler rescale if you change the reference Lw.
The Mastering level and SDR white level controls are disabled when the scale is set to HLG — BT.2100 locks HLG reference white and peak at 75 % and 100 % signal regardless of display peak.
PQ Preset (BT.2408)
The PQ preset shares the HLG preset's visual grammar — the same BT.2408 reference bands (18 % gray and skin-tone), the same green-locked HDR reference-white anchor at 203 nits, and a specular warning ramp that rescales with the user's mastering level. Because PQ is absolute-nit encoded, all thresholds below 203 nits are expressed in absolute nits (they don't move with the mastering slider); the specular ramp above 203 nits tracks the mastering level so a 4000-nit Dolby Vision master puts the warnings in the right place automatically.
The table below assumes the default mastering level = 1000 nits. The two "mastering-relative" rows (highlight warn and near peak) move proportionally when the slider changes — e.g. on a 4000-nit master, highlight warn lands at 2000 nits and near peak at 3600 nits.
0
0.0
black (locked)
Floor
—
0 → 4
0 → 23
black → dark gray ramp
Shadow noise floor
—
4 → 23
23 → 37
mid-gray ramp
Shadow
—
23 → 30
37 → 39
cyan band (sharp edges)
18 % gray marker
26 nits ≈ 38 % signal
30 → 40
39 → 42
gray
Lower mid
—
40 → 85
42 → 49
pink band (sharp edges)
Skin-tone zone
Fitz 1–6 range (Table 2)
85 → 203
49 → 57.5
gray ramp
Upper mid → ref white
—
203
57.5
green (locked)
HDR Reference / Graphics White
203 nits = 58 % signal
500 (0.5 × mastering)
≈ 67
yellow (sharp)
Highlight warn (tracks mastering)
—
900 (0.9 × mastering)
≈ 74
orange
Near peak (tracks mastering)
—
1000 (mastering)
74.7
red (locked)
Mastering level (user-configurable)
—
10000
100.0
red (locked)
ST 2084 ceiling
—
The Mastering level slider (1000 – 10000 nits) lets a colorist change their grade target on the fly — the red anchor, the yellow highlight warn, and the orange near-peak indicator all shift together, keeping the warnings proportional to the deliverable. The SDR white level combo (100 / 203 / 300 nits) moves the green locked anchor, which is useful when conforming to non-BT.2408 ingest styles (e.g. 100-nit SDR-pass-through material).
Unlike HLG, PQ absolute nits differ from PQ signal-%: the PQ curve allocates more of the scale to shadows (10 nits = 38 % signal; 100 nits = 51 % signal). That's why the 18 % gray and skin-tone bands end up proportionally narrower on the PQ scale than on HLG — both are BT.2408-correct in nits; they just land differently on the signal axis.
Opacity & Blur
Opacity (0–100 %) — blend the false color overlay with the original image for a semi-transparent view.
Blur — soften the false color output to reduce noise in the mapping.
Custom Range
Enable Custom Range to override the full preset with a simple two-color gradient between a minimum and maximum level. Set the min/max percentages and pick the start and end colors.
Ranges
The Ranges tab in False Color settings provides numerical editing for every range point in the active preset. Each range boundary is displayed as a slider with its current IRE value. Cmd-click (macOS) or Ctrl-click (Windows) a slider to turn it into an edit box and type an exact value.
The Minimum and Maximum range points are locked to 0 and 100 IRE respectively. All other range boundaries can be adjusted freely within their allowed range (constrained by neighbouring points).
This is the same set of range points you can drag directly on the false color scale — the Ranges tab simply gives you precise numerical control.
Color Picker
Hold Alt and click on the image to sample a color and create a color pin. Pins display the sampled value in your chosen format:
RGB 8-bit
R:255 G:128 B:64
HEX
#FF8040
RGB Float
1.0, 0.5, 0.25
Zoom & Pan
Scroll to zoom in (up to 15×), then hold Space and left-click drag to pan across the image. A zoom preview thumbnail appears in the corner showing the full frame with a yellow rectangle indicating the current viewport. The preview can be toggled off in settings.
LUT Export
Export the current false color mapping as a standard 3D LUT (.cube) or VLT format for use in external applications or on-set monitors.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Assign shortcuts via the Action Editor to any of the actions below.
Stream Deck Actions
Toggle Solo
Fullscreen the False Color scope
Pause
Freeze the scope at the current frame
Last updated