X-Rite ® ColorChecker White Balance

ColorChecker® White Balance target delivers consistent, accurate color balance for both photo and video, even under changing lighting conditions.

Get to great white balance fast for less color shift

The ColorChecker White Balance target, the industry standard for professional custom white balance, is a scientifically engineered, absolute neutral reference that prevents color shifts and provides a precise, uniform surface that is spectrally neutral – in any lighting condition. As lighting conditions change, your camera shifts the way it reproduces color, resulting in color shifts in your photos or video footage. While most white balance targets aren’t neutral and could cause colors to shift under different lighting conditions, the ColorChecker White Balance target is essential in helping capture the image or footage as close to real life as possible.

ColorChecker White Balance also gives you a way to adjust your digital camera’s color sensitivity to exactly match the ambient lighting conditions; in effect, change what the camera sees. The perceived color of white changes based on ambient conditions—outdoors it is perceived to be cooler, indoors it is perceived to be warmer, and under fluorescent light, greener. Even in a controlled studio environment, this can be a problem.

Benefits:

• Guarantees a uniform, neutral white from the start, whether on location or in your studio, with an accurate in-camera custom white balance before each photo or video shoot.
• Eliminates inaccurate white balance that results in color casts and lack of consistency between lighting conditions.
• Count on a neutral reference point across the mixed lighting conditions that you encounter during a photo or video shoot. Since the target reflects light equally across the visible spectrum, creating an in-camera custom white balance can properly compensate for varying lighting.
• Produced as a light gray target, the ColorChecker White Balance target creates a more spectrally neutral sample.
• The light gray reference allows a lower light reflectance level to prevent over-saturating the camera sensor.

Why can’t I use just any white object?

White balancing on a piece of paper or other gray element in the scene may seem like a simple workaround, but most objects are not actually neutral under all lighting conditions; and they’re certainly not consistent. An inaccurate white balance will result in color casts and a lack of consistency between lighting conditions. That’s why the ColorChecker White Balance target will deliver a better experience for both professional and hobbyist filmmakers and photographers.