What is meant by "white balance" in video production?

White balance in video production refers to the process of adjusting the colors in a scene so that the white areas appear neutral, thus accurately representing the colors as they would appear in natural light. This adjustment ensures that colors in the video are rendered correctly and consistently, regardless of the color temperature of the light sources illuminating the scene.

When a camera captures an image, different lighting conditions can cause colors to appear warmer (more yellow or red) or cooler (more blue). By setting the white balance appropriately, producers can compensate for these variations, ensuring that white objects appear white in the final video. This is crucial for maintaining color fidelity and providing a more realistic and visually pleasing image to the viewer.

Other options, while related to the characteristics of video production, do not accurately define white balance. Brightness level pertains to how light or dark the image is, contrast ratio refers to the difference between the brightest and darkest parts of a video, and frame rate relates to how many frames per second are captured or displayed, affecting motion portrayal but not color accuracy.