Open VideoScopes from the Window menu.
Go to Window > Video Scopes > Open Video Scopes. A dockable panel opens and capture starts automatically.
Capture can also be toggled through Window > Video Scopes > Toggle Capture.
Four scopes in a 2 × 2 grid.
Above the scope grid are collapsible Settings and Optimization sections plus the Pause / Resume control.
What each scope tells you
Histogram
Shows the overall luminance distribution of the viewport. The horizontal axis represents brightness from dark to bright, while the vertical axis represents the number of pixels at each brightness level.
- Useful for spotting underexposure or overexposure.
- A broader distribution can help evaluate whether the image is using the available tonal range.
Waveform
Displays luminance across the horizontal axis of the image. Each waveform column corresponds to the same image column in the viewport.
- Useful for uneven exposure across the frame.
- Helps reveal clipped highlights and crushed shadows.
Vectorscope
A circular chrominance plot for hue and saturation. Distance from the center represents saturation and angle represents hue.
- Useful for evaluating color balance and color casts.
- Neutral values cluster near the center.
RGB Parade
Displays Red, Green and Blue channels as three side-by-side waveforms.
- Useful for white balance by comparing channel alignment.
- Quickly reveals per-channel clipping or imbalance.
HDR and performance controls
HDR Options
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| HDR Mode | On | Displays the full floating-point HDR range. When disabled, values are clamped to 0–1. |
| Normalize HDR (Fit to View) | On | Auto-scales scopes to detected maximum luminance. Available when HDR Mode is enabled. |
Optimization
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Resolution | 512 | Capture texture resolution. Available options: 128, 256, 512 and 1024. Lower values are faster; higher values provide more detail. |
| Interval (ms) | 500 | Time between updates. A value of 0 updates every frame and has the highest performance cost. |
Freeze the scopes on a frame.
Press Pause to freeze the displayed data. The viewport continues rendering normally while only the scopes stop updating. Press Resume to continue live capture.
Practical starting points
- Start with Resolution 256 and Interval 500 ms for lower performance impact, then increase resolution when you need finer analysis.
- Use Histogram together with ColorMatch to inspect the tonal range of a grade.
- Use Vectorscope when checking white balance and neutral colors.
- Dock the panel next to the viewport for continuous monitoring while working.