Video Camera White Balance

 White Balance 

White balance = colour balance. It gives a function which gives the camera a reference to "true white". It tells the camera what the colour white looks like, so the camera will record it correctly. Since white light is the sum of all other colours, the camera will then display all colours correctly. The camera performs it's own white balance without any input from the operator.

How to Perform a Manual White Balance

You will need a camera with a manual white-balance function. There should be a "white balance" button or switch on your camera.

1. If your camera has a filter wheel (or if you use add-on filters), make sure you are using the correct filter for the lighting conditions.
2. Point your camera to a pure white subject, so that most of what you're seeing in the viewfinder is white. Opinions vary on just how much white needs to be in the frame - but we've found that about 50-80% of the frame should be fine (Sony recommends 80% of frame width). The subject should be fairly matte, that is, non-reflective.
3. Set your exposure and focus.
4. Activate the white balance by pressing the button or throwing the switch. The camera may take a few seconds to complete the operation, after which you should get a message (or icon) in the viewfinder.
   Hopefully this will be telling you that the white balance has succeeded - in this case, the camera will retain it's current colour balance until another white balance is performed.
   If the viewfinder message is that the white balance has failed, then you need to find out why. A good camera will give you a clue such as "colour temperature too high" (in which case change filters). Also try opening or closing the iris a little.