Source Signal
The Source Signal scope displays a live preview of the input video. It doubles as the primary inspection tool — zoom into pixels, read color values, reveal faint neutral casts with Chroma Boost, overlay zebras and focus peaking, isolate channels, and compare snapshots.
Signal Information
Enable Show signal information under Overlays to place a large, bold input-status readout over the image. For a connected signal, it shows the input and source name, resolution, progressive/interlaced format, frame rate, pixel format, signal range, primaries, and transfer function. It also reports connection states such as Connecting, Not connected, or No signal.
Use Signal information text size to adjust the overlay. The setting and text size are saved with the layout. Signal information is not shown when the scope is displaying a snapshot override.
Zoom & Pan
Zoom up to 15× and pan freely across the image — the same controls used in professional image editors.
Mouse wheel
Zoom in/out (centered on cursor)
Space + Left-click drag
Pan the zoomed view
Middle-click
Reset zoom to 1× and center
A mini-preview thumbnail appears in the top-right corner while zoomed, showing a yellow rectangle for the current viewport. Toggle it with the Show zoom preview setting.
Zoom & Pan is also available in the False Color and Skintone Scope.
Channel Isolation
Solo individual color channels for quick inspection of noise, spill, or exposure per channel.
RGB
Full color (default)
Red / Green / Blue
Single channel displayed as grayscale
Luma
Luminosity (Rec. 709 weighted)
When a mask is active, the Draw masks in RGB option forces the mask overlay to display in full color even when a single channel is soloed.
Color Picker
Hold Alt to activate the color picker, or enable Always show in settings. Click to place persistent color pins (up to 30) anywhere on the image.
Alt (hold)
Show color picker
Click (with picker)
Place a color pin
Shift + Click
Copy HEX value to clipboard
Ctrl + Click
Add value as a global target
Middle-click or Double-click on pin
Remove pin
Picker formats
RGB 8-bit · RGB 10-bit · RGBY · RGB float · HEX · CMYK · HSV · Nits · CIE xy (input)
CIE xy (input) reports input-referred CIE 1931 chromaticity through the active input color-space transform. It averages XYZ across the selected sampling area before calculating xy, shows four decimal places, and reports unavailable values for black or invalid samples. Pins and clipboard copying use the same xy result.
On desktop, RGB, RGB 10-bit, and RGB float use a compact readout that shows the channel values without repeating the selected range. The Picker readout range setting still determines how those values are mapped.
Picker options
Source
Input Source, Rescaled Source, or Working Signal
Sampling area
1×1, 3×3, 5×5, 7×7, or 9×9 pixels
Picker readout range
For RGB formats, choose Source values, Decoded RGB, Video range, or Full range
Monochromatic
Render picker overlay in grayscale
Show on hover only
Hide the readout until the pointer moves
The readout-range setting changes displayed numbers only; it does not change source decoding or scope processing. With Input Source, Source values preserve the reconstructed native RGB or YCbCr domain. Video range maps black and white to 16/235 at 8-bit or 64/940 at 10-bit while preserving below-black and above-white excursions.
Data Analyser
A 17×11 pixel grid that shows individual code values around a chosen position. Drag to reposition the analyser area on the image.
Format
8-bit, 10-bit, 12-bit, 32-bit float, Nits, Nits per channel
Source
Input Source, Rescaled Source, or Working Signal
Analyser readout range
Source values, Decoded RGB, Video range, or Full range for non-Nits formats
Font size
Small or large
The status bar at the bottom shows the video data type (RGB/YCbCr), format, line number, and sample number.
As with the picker, the analyser readout range only changes how sampled values are displayed. Source values are reconstructed from the decoded signal; they are not bit-exact packed or subsampled capture values.
See also: Data Analyser (QC)
Focus Peaking
Edge-detail overlay that highlights in-focus areas. Requires Live Pack.
Mode
Regular — colored edges over the image · Edges — enhanced white edges on black · Enhanced Edges — binary white edges on black
Threshold
Edge sensitivity (0–100 %)
Peak color
Color used for the Regular mode highlight (default: red)
See also: Focus Peaking (Live Pack)
Chroma Boost
Available in version 1.11.33+.
Chroma Boost is a preview-only inspection aid that amplifies subtle color differences in low-saturation areas. Use it to spot faint green, magenta, or blue contamination in whites, grays, walls, fabrics, skin-adjacent neutrals, and other nearly neutral surfaces.
Unlike a global saturation control, Chroma Boost is strongest near neutral colors and tapers off as saturation increases, so already colorful parts of the image stay more stable.
Chroma Boost
Enable or disable the inspection mode. Also available from the Source Signal right-click menu.
Amount
Controls how strongly low-saturation colors are amplified. Start low for subtle checks and increase only when needed.
What it affects
Source Signal preview only
Does not modify the source signal
Does not affect scopes, QC measurements, outputs, or recordings
When enabled, the Source Signal tab shows a Chroma Boost status badge so it is easy to see that the viewer is in a temporary inspection mode.
Zebra Overlays
Diagonal stripe patterns warn about overexposure or illegal saturation levels.
Luma zebra
IRE threshold
0 %–110 % (default 100 %). Regions above the threshold show black stripes; sub-black regions show blue stripes.
Saturation zebra
Enable alongside luma zebra for additional saturation warnings:
Saturation above 70 % → yellow stripes
Saturation above 99 % → orange stripes
Safe Area Guides
Built-in overlay guides accessible from the scope settings or right-click menu.
Title Safe / Action Safe
Two concentric rectangles. Default: Title 90 %, Action 95 %. Configurable color and percentages.
Thirds
Rule-of-thirds grid with configurable color
Crosshair
Center crosshair with configurable color
Custom Overlays
Load PNG images with alpha transparency on top of the Source Signal — safe-area guides, framing references, branding, or composition grids. Select the active overlay in the scope settings or from the Overlays window.
See Overlays for full details on managing overlays.
HSL Range Mask
Isolate a hue/saturation/luminance range on the preview. Pixels outside the range are rendered as black.
Hue
Start/end (0–360°)
Saturation
Start/end (0–100 %)
Luminance
Start/end (0–100 %)
Use Load from mask / Save as mask to sync with the global mask.
Mask Drawing
Click and drag to draw a mask shape directly on the preview.
Ellipse
Draw an elliptical region
Rectangle
Draw a rectangular region
Draw modes: Draw, Paint In, Paint Out. A single line mode isolates a single scan line.
Keep a selection mask on iPad
On iPad, a selection mask normally clears when you lift your finger. To keep it active, open the advanced input settings and enable Keep Selection Mask After Drag. Drag again to replace the mask.
Snapshot Compare
When a snapshot is loaded, compare it against the live signal:
Horizontal wipe
Vertical divider — W + drag to adjust position
Vertical wipe
Horizontal divider — W + drag to adjust position
Opacity blend
W + drag to adjust blend amount
Blanking Alarm
When Blanking Detection is enabled globally, the Source Signal draws colored bars over detected blanking regions on all four edges, with optional blinking alert (1-second cycle).
Display & Color Management
Brightness
Override global brightness per scope (10–100 %)
Monitor ICC profile
Apply system or custom ICC profile
OCIO color space
Select input and display color spaces (requires OCIO config in Preferences)
Rotate
Rotate the frame 90° CW or CCW
Flip / Mirror
Flip or mirror the preview
macOS Quick Presets
Match Resolve Viewer
Rec. 709 preview with tone-mapping
Match NDI Monitor
Unmanaged, no ICC, no tone-mapping
Raw, SDR, and HDR preview
The following controls are included in 1.11.55 (unreleased).
For a PQ or HLG source, the viewer shows a Raw | SDR | HDR switch in its header beside the zoom indicator and menu button. The same control is available in Preview Settings > HDR when the header is hidden or too narrow, and the selection is saved with the viewer.
Raw shows the encoded signal without viewer color conversion, monitor ICC correction, or HDR display mapping, giving PQ and HLG footage its flat signal appearance. Input processing still applies; this is not camera RAW decoding.
SDR (default) adapts HDR highlights and wide-gamut colors for a standard display.
HDR uses the current display's available extended brightness range on the macOS Metal renderer. If HDR rendering is disabled, OmniScope asks to enable its 16-bit framebuffer; restart OmniScope after confirming. Selecting HDR also selects sRGB under Preview Colorspace; that window color-management setting is shared by the viewers.
SDR fallback appears if HDR rendering has not been activated, the display currently has no extra brightness range, or Preview Colorspace has been changed away from sRGB. The HDR selection is retained, so moving back to an HDR-capable display restores HDR preview automatically when headroom is available.
Raw is also available on Windows. HDR display preview requires macOS with Metal; HDR is disabled on unsupported systems.
In the automatic SDR/HDR preview on macOS with Metal, PQ and HLG are decoded according to their transfer functions. Preview brightness is relative to a 203-nit HDR reference white, with highlights adapted to the available range. This is a display-adapted preview, not a fixed-nit reference-monitor mode. Keep the input and working color spaces set correctly: preview controls cannot recover highlights already clipped by an upstream transform.
For these HDR previews, the viewer uses automatic display mapping and macOS display color management. The separate Use Monitor ICC profile and Use Tone-mapping for display options are bypassed. SDR-source previews retain their existing settings. Custom OCIO configurations must provide the Rec.2100-PQ - Display color space to use this automatic HDR preview; otherwise their normal display transform is used.
The switch affects only the viewer. It does not change scope measurements, HDR statistics, QC, recording, or video outputs.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Mouse wheel
Mouse wheel
Zoom in/out
Space + drag
Space + drag
Pan
Middle-click
Middle-click
Reset zoom
Alt (hold)
Alt (hold)
Show color picker
Shift + Click
Shift + Click
Copy HEX to clipboard
Ctrl + Click
Ctrl + Click
Add as global target
Stream Deck / Action Editor
SourceTogglePeaking
Toggle Focus Peaking
SourceTogglePeakingLuma
Toggle Focus Peaking + switch to Luma
ClearAllPins
Remove all color pins
ToggleLoupe
Toggle loupe magnifier
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