Quad Display

Displays the following waveform and vectorscope information in a single monitor (clockwise from the top left corner):

For information on each display, see its individual entry in this table.

RGB Histogram

Displays a graph showing which RGB values in the image appear most frequently. The darkest values of red, green, and blue in the image appear as peaks on the left of the graph, and the brightest values appear as peaks on the right. The height of a peak indicates the number of pixels of that value. The width of a peak indicates how many pixels in the image have similar values.

For example, if the blue histogram has many tall peaks at the left side, it shows that the image has many pixels with low blue values. However, those same pixels might appear in the image as many different colors, since they might have any red and green values.

For information on using the RGB Histogram display, see Using the Waveform and Vectorscope Information.

RGB Parade

Displays waveforms of the RGB (red, green, and blue) components side by side. Since video cameras capture in RGB, this display helps to show camera problems. It is also used for general reference to the three primary colors.

RGB signals are used together to create all other colors. A white area in the image appears as peaks in all three waveforms at the same relative location. A high red level does not mean a red image, unless the green and blue levels are low.

RGB Parade incorporates any safe color limits you have set. The system displays RGB values in white when the values fall outside the RGB Gamut limits. For more information on color limits, see Safe Color Limits with Waveform and Vectorscope Information.

For information on using the RGB Parade display, see Using the Waveform and Vectorscope Information.

Vectorscope

Displays chroma information without luma information as a circular graph where the center represents no chroma and chroma increases as the trace moves away from the center.

All white, black, and gray parts of the image appear at the center. Areas with more saturation appear further out from the center. Images with an overall color cast produce a vectorscope trace that is generally off-center. Colors created by various positive and negative combinations of Cb and Cr appear around the circle.

Small squares mark the location of standard color bar vectors. Inner squares represent the proper values for 75% color bars, and outer squares represent 100% color bars.

For information on using the Vectorscope display, see Using the Waveform and Vectorscope Information.

Y Waveform

Displays a Waveform monitor with luma information. Luma is the brightness of an image without regard to color.

The scale on the left is a digital level scale using a 256-step (eight-bit) range; 16 is the level for black, and 235 is the level for white.

The scale on the right shows the amount of white in the image as a percentage; 0% represents black, and 100% represents white.

Parts of an image can have values outside the 0% to 100% range. The digital video standard allows for headroom and footroom so you can correct a mistake in level in the postproduction process. The minimum is digital 0 or –8%, and the maximum is digital 255 or 108%.

Y Waveform incorporates any safe color limits you have set. The system displays Luma values in white when the values fall outside the Luminance limits. For more information on color limits, see Safe Color Limits with Waveform and Vectorscope Information.

For information on using the Y Waveform display, see Using the Waveform and Vectorscope Information.

YC Waveform

Displays composite video information. Composite video has the C (chroma) waveform, which is derived from Cb and Cr components, riding on the Y (luma) waveform. The Y trace is green and the C waveform is a cyan (blue-green) envelope around the green trace. Because the C signal of composite video has equal positive and negative energy, the cyan bands are at an equal distance above (Y+C) and below (Y-C) the green waveform.

The left side of the YC Waveform shows a scale marked either for NTSC or PAL, depending on your project.

NTSC black is 7.5 IRE (except in Japan), and NTSC white is 100 IRE.

PAL black is 0 millivolts (mV), and PAL white is 700 mV.

The scale on the right shows the amount of white in the image as a percentage; 0% represents black, and 100% represents white.

Composite video values above or below these limits are indicated by a red edge on the display. In addition, YC Waveform incorporates any safe color limits you have set. The system displays Composite values in yellow and Luma values in white when the values fall outside the safe color limits. For more information on color limits, see Safe Color Limits with Waveform and Vectorscope Information.

For information on using the YC Waveform display, see Using the Waveform and Vectorscope Information.

YCbCr Histogram

Displays a graph showing which YCbCr values in the image appear most frequently. The height of a peak indicates the number of pixels of that value. The width of a peak indicates how many pixels in the image have similar values.

The upper bar of the histogram represents Y values. The darkest values are on the left and the brightest values on the right. An image with good contrast will show a good spread of values from darkest to lightest.

An image with a great variety of colors appears as a wide spread in the Cb and Cr histograms. If they extend too far from the center, there is too much saturation.

For information on using the YCbCr Histogram display, see Using the Waveform and Vectorscope Information.

YCbCr Parade

Displays waveforms of Y, Cb, and Cr side by side. The Y in YCbCr is the same luma shown in the Y Waveform. In this display, the Y waveform is shown in white on the left side.

Cb and Cr are color difference signals that represent just the color information of a signal with the luma removed. Cb and Cr values can be negative or positive. For images that are black and white, Cb and Cr are zero. You would see a flat white line halfway up the two right bands. As they increase, Cb and Cr are shown in the colors representing those vectors. The more the values increase, the more saturated the colors used to display them. Positive Cb is represented by blue hues, and negative Cb is represented by yellow hues. Positive Cr is represented by red hues, and negative Cr is represented by cyan hues.

If the Cb or Cr waveforms are not centered, the cause might be a color cast to the image.

For information on using the YCbCr Parade display, see Using the Waveform and Vectorscope Information.