Neutral Scope
The Neutral Scope helps identify areas of your image that should be neutral (gray) but may have a color cast. It's particularly useful for white balance verification and color correction.
Overview
The Neutral Scope analyzes your video signal to highlight pixels that are close to neutral but exhibit a slight color bias. This makes it easy to:
Verify white balance accuracy
Identify subtle color casts in gray areas
Check that neutral objects (white walls, gray cards) are truly neutral
How It Works
The scope examines each pixel's RGB values and calculates how far they deviate from perfect neutrality (where R=G=B). Areas with minimal deviation are highlighted, allowing you to see if they lean toward any particular hue.
Settings
Access scope settings via the hamburger menu (☰) or right-click on the scope.
Luma Range
Limit analysis to a specific luma (Y') band
Full
Threshold
How close to neutral a pixel must be to be included
5 %
Display Mode
Overlay or isolated view
Overlay
Luma Range
Limit the analysis to shadows, midtones, or highlights:
Full: Analyse the entire tonal range
Shadows: Focus on dark areas — black-level neutrality is often where camera sensor noise introduces colour bias
Midtones: Focus on middle grey, where human perception is most sensitive to colour casts
Highlights: Focus on bright areas — white balance is traditionally anchored here (a white card or light source)
Use Cases
White Balance Verification
Point the scope at a gray card or neutral reference to verify your white balance is correct. Any color bias will be immediately visible.
Finding Color Casts
When color correcting footage, use the Neutral Scope to identify subtle casts that may not be obvious in the source viewer.
Checking Skin Tones
While skin tones are not neutral, areas like the whites of eyes or teeth should be close to neutral. The scope can help identify unwanted color contamination.
Tips
Use a gray card or color chart as a reference when possible
Combine with the Vectorscope for comprehensive color analysis
The threshold setting lets you adjust sensitivity to your needs
Related Scopes
Vectorscope - Overall chroma analysis
Skintone Scope - Skin tone line analysis
Waveform - RGB parade for balance checking
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