Waveform
The Waveform scope plots signal levels vertically against the horizontal position of each pixel in the frame. Use it to judge exposure, balance channels, and spot illegal levels at a glance.
Display Modes
Luma
Single luma trace — a weighted sum of the gamma-encoded 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). This is luma (Y'), not scene luminance (Y).
RGB
R, G, B overlaid on the same area. Individual channels can be toggled on/off.
RGB Parade
R, G, B side by side with configurable spacing
YRGB Parade
Y, R, G, B side by side
YCbCr Parade
Y, Cb, Cr side by side
Each mode can be colorized — in luma mode this applies HSV-based coloring, in parade modes each channel is tinted with its own color.
Luma vs. luminance. Luma (Y') is computed from the non-linear R'G'B' code values and is what broadcast waveform monitors have always shown. True luminance (Y) would require first linearizing the signal through its inverse EOTF. For QC against legal-range limits or relative exposure reads, luma is the correct quantity; for absolute nit measurements, use the PQ / HLG nit scale described below — which does decode through the inverse EOTF.
Sweep
Unreleased: 1 Field is implemented locally and is not yet available in a published release.
Sweep selection requires Pro. Other editions use 1 Line. Choose Sweep (Pro) → 1 Line or Sweep (Pro) → 1 Field from the waveform context menu, or use Sweep in Waveform Settings. Sweep is independent of the display mode, including Parade.
1 Line is the existing waveform: horizontal position follows image columns, with rows overlaid.
1 Field progresses through successive scanlines from left to right. Each scanline occupies a small horizontal interval, retaining pixel order within the line. This helps inspect how signal levels vary from the top to the bottom of the picture.
For interlaced input, select First field or Second field. First/second follows the input's field order, so the first field can be either top or bottom. For progressive input, both selections display the complete picture.
1 Field reads the original active source raster before crop, masks, deinterlacing, and working-view color transforms. It does not include SDI blanking or provide a calibrated broadcast timebase. A per-scope source override or snapshot reference is treated as a progressive picture. Per-scope LUT, colorization, scale, zoom, targets, and Smooth Trace remain available.
The mode uses sample points. Enhanced Render, the two low-pass filters, whole-frame peak markers/Peak Hold, trace-edge highlighting, and working-view color pins do not apply to the selected field. Their settings are preserved for returning to 1 Line.
Scale
IRE
0–100
Percentage
0–100 %
8-bit
0–255
10-bit
0–1023
PQ ST 2084
0–10 000 nits (logarithmic)
HLG
0–1 000 nits (logarithmic)
mV
50–700 mV
The scale follows the input source by default. Enable Scale override in the scope settings to choose a different scale per scope.
Legal range lines — when enabled for a full-range signal on the 8-bit or 10-bit scale, thin dashed lines mark the narrow-range (a.k.a. video-range / "legal") code values defined by Rec. 709 / Rec. 2020: 64 and 940 in 10-bit, 16 and 235 in 8-bit. They are not drawn separately for video-range sources, where those boundaries already align with the displayed video scale. Values below black level or above nominal peak (but still inside the 0–1023 / 0–255 container) are legal in the full-range sense but may be clipped or flagged by downstream broadcast gear. See Signal Range for full-range vs. narrow-range handling in the OFX integration.
HDR / PQ Scale
PQ and HLG scales are absolute: the code values are decoded through their inverse EOTF (SMPTE ST 2084 for PQ, ARIB STD-B67 for HLG) to a physical luminance in nits. A 10-bit PQ code value of 769 is 1 000 nits regardless of the display it is eventually shown on — this is what makes HDR absolute and SDR relative.
Adjust the Mastering Level slider to zoom into a specific nit range. Double-click to reset to the maximum value. Reference graticules at standard HDR levels (26, 203, 1 000 nits) help align HDR deliverables — 203 nits is the SMPTE ST 2084-A reference diffuse-white level, and 1 000 nits is the most common mastering-display peak.
Input Gain (unreleased)
Input Gain scales the trace from 10% to 500%, with 100% as the default. Set it in the context menu or under Source & Input in Waveform Settings. It works in both sweep modes and every display mode.
Luma and RGB scale around black; Cb and Cr scale around neutral. The graticule stays fixed. For example, a 25% signal displays at 50% with 200% Input Gain. Peak markers and their displayed values follow the gained trace. Source pixels, shared QC measurements, and QC violation thresholds are unchanged. Gain is applied to the plotted signal, so HDR nit readings follow the signal's transfer function rather than a direct multiplication of nits.
Double-click the Input Gain slider label or use Reset to 100% in the Input Gain menu to restore the original display. The existing Gain setting controls trace brightness separately.
Trace Presentation
Gain
Master trace brightness (1–100 %)
Enhance Edges
Lifts fine detail in the trace for better visibility
True RGB colors
Use pure red/green/blue instead of shaded trace colors
True Y
Show the raw Y' channel from the incoming YCbCr signal instead of re-deriving luma from the RGB conversion. Only active for YCbCr sources — RGB sources are unaffected. Peak-level overlays and alert scaling stay accurate when this option is enabled. Useful when verifying a broadcast Y'CbCr deliverable that has already been chroma-subsampled, because re-deriving Y' from chroma-upsampled R'G'B' can introduce small rounding differences.
Smooth Trace
Light temporal/post smoothing to reduce speckle noise
Enhanced Render
Use line-strip rendering instead of point rendering
Highlight Trace Edges
Render colored outlines at the outermost boundaries of the waveform trace — useful for quickly spotting signal extent and comparing shots.
Edge thickness
0.5–3 px
Edge color
Customizable (default: red)
Mark QC Luma Violations
When the Luminosity Limit QC check is enabled, turn on Mark QC luminosity violations to render luma trace samples in red wherever they exceed the configured min/max thresholds. This gives an immediate visual indication of out-of-range levels directly on the waveform.
Requires at least one min or max check to be active in the Luminosity Limit QC panel.
Peak Levels
Peak level indicators show the minimum and maximum signal values for each channel as numeric readouts with horizontal marker lines.
Show Peak Levels
Enable/disable the indicators
Trace-based Peak Levels
Derive peaks from the rendered trace shape instead of image statistics (Luminosity and RGB modes only)
Peak Levels color
Customizable line and text color
In parade modes, peak levels are shown per channel.
Peak Hold (unreleased)
Enable Peak Hold in the waveform's context menu or under Peak monitors in its settings to retain the lowest and highest measured levels. A HOLD label distinguishes these values from current-frame readings. The waveform trace continues to update live.
For a lightning effect or similar short event:
Select Luminosity mode and the IRE scale.
Enable Peak Hold, which also enables Show Peak Levels.
Choose Reset Held Peaks immediately before the take.
Read the retained maximum after the effect. Reset again before the next take.
Reset Held Peaks is available in both the context menu and settings. Disabling Peak Hold returns to current-frame readings. Held values are kept separately for each waveform and each parade channel; they are not saved in layouts. Changing the source or measurement domain starts a fresh hold.
Peak Hold uses signal statistics, so trace-based peak settings are temporarily inactive. It accumulates samples while the waveform is being processed, rather than analyzing frames that the input or analysis pipeline skips. Keep the waveform visible throughout the take.
For Video-range sources, the peak markers and numeric readouts follow the source's actual range definition, including SDI-style legal-range mapping and any preserved below-black / above-white excursions. If Scale the video/SDI range to the full range is enabled, the displayed trace is expanded for viewing, but the source-aware peak math still tracks the original range correctly.
Zoom & Pan
Zoom vertically into shadows or highlights for detailed inspection, then pan the zoomed scale to inspect a different level range.
Mouse wheel
Zoom in/out (0.5×–20×)
Space + Left-click drag
Pan the zoomed waveform vertically
Middle-click or Double-click
Reset zoom to 1×
Context-menu presets for quick zoom levels:
0–20 IRE (5×) · 0–15 IRE (7.5×) · 0–10 IRE (10×)
Toggle between zoom shadows (default) and zoom highlights to target the range of interest. In video range mode the view automatically centers on legal black or legal white.
Adaptive Scale
The waveform scale adapts its granularity to the current zoom level — the more you zoom in, the more intermediate scale values appear. This keeps the readout useful at every magnification without cluttering the view when zoomed out.
Custom Targets
Up to 4 per-scope reference lines at specific signal levels — useful for marking black points, white points, or exposure targets.
Value
Adapts to the current scale (IRE, 8-bit, 10-bit, nits, etc.)
Color
Customizable per target
Thickness
1–5 px
Targets can be dragged directly on the waveform for quick repositioning.
Global Target Sets
Global targets provide a shared set of luma reference lines that appear across all waveform and parade scopes. Toggle individual targets, adjust colors and thickness, and save/recall target sets for different projects or standards.
Filtering
Waveform Low-Pass filter
Horizontal box blur that softens the trace. Adjustable kernel size (0.5–20).
Signal Low-Pass filter (EBU R103)
Uses EBU R103 pre-filtered input. Requires the filter to be enabled globally in Preferences.
Broadcast Workflow Notes
Practical guidance from industry waveform/vectorscope practice:
Use waveform as the primary legal-range check: keep most luma in the narrow range (64–940 in 10-bit) and allow only controlled specular excursions per delivery spec (EBU R103, ARIB TR-B32, SMPTE RP 2077).
In digital workflows setup is not used; the legacy 7.5 IRE setup only applies to analog NTSC.
For balancing, pair RGB Parade with the Vectorscope: parade for channel-level alignment (neutral balance = aligned top/bottom of the three traces), vectorscope for hue/saturation verification.
For HDR deliverables, don't rely on luma alone — switch to the PQ or HLG nit scale to read absolute brightness. Diffuse white should sit near 203 nits, highlights ride above that, and only a small percentage of pixels should reach the 600–1 000 nit "sparkle" zone.
Layout & Spacing
Channel spacing
Gap between parade channels (0–30 px). Only active in parade modes.
Top & Bottom margin
Vertical margin (0–100 px)
Left margin
Space for the scale labels
16:9 ratio
Lock the scope aspect ratio to 16:9
Color Pins
When color pins are placed on the Source Signal viewer, they are reflected on the waveform:
Luma / RGB modes — circle at the pin's horizontal position and luma value
Parade modes — circles in each channel lane at the respective R, G, B values
Hovering a pin draws a horizontal line at its luma level
Keyboard Shortcuts
Mouse wheel
Mouse wheel
Zoom in/out
Space + Left-click drag
Space + Left-click drag
Pan zoomed waveform
Middle-click
Middle-click
Reset zoom
Alt (hold)
Alt (hold)
Morph between waveform and source image
Stream Deck / Action Editor
WaveformZoomBlacks
Cycle zoom presets for shadows (5×/7.5×/10×/1×). Also supports continuous dial control.
WaveformZoomWhites
Cycle zoom presets for highlights
WaveformTogglePeakLevels
Toggle peak level indicators
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