ScreenToolsScreen.tools

Gray Screen

18% gray for color calibration and white balance.

Press F for fullscreen
Controls
Brightness100%
Temperatureneutral

Keys: F fullscreen · 1-9 quick colors · ± brightness

About Gray Screen

An 18% gray screen renders the industry-standard neutral gray used for color calibration and white balance reference. Photographers, videographers, and colorists use it as an on-screen gray card for setting custom white balance, verifying exposure, and calibrating monitor color accuracy. The brightness slider lets you match the gray density to your specific calibration workflow.

18% Gray for Camera White Balance

Middle gray at 18 percent reflectance is the universal reference for camera white balance and exposure metering. Display the gray screen fullscreen on a monitor or tablet, point your camera at it, and set a custom white balance using your camera's preset function. This technique is faster and more consistent than carrying a physical gray card, especially in changing lighting conditions. Photographers use it before every shoot to ensure accurate color rendering, and videographers use it at the start of every take for reliable post-production color grading. The fullscreen display provides a large, even reference surface.

Monitor Color Calibration Reference

Colorists and photo editors use the 18% gray screen to visually verify their monitor's color neutrality. A properly calibrated display renders the gray without any visible color cast — no green, magenta, or amber tint. If you detect a color shift in the gray, your monitor's white point needs adjustment. Use it alongside hardware calibration tools as a quick visual sanity check after profiling. Graphic designers and print professionals use the gray reference to evaluate whether their display accurately represents neutral tones before sending files to production.

Exposure Reference for Photography and Video

Camera exposure meters are calibrated to render 18% gray as the midpoint of the tonal range. Display the gray screen and use your camera's spot meter to verify that the meter reads the gray at the correct exposure value. This confirms that your camera's metering system is accurate and that your exposure settings will produce correctly exposed images. Cinematographers and camera assistants use this technique during pre-production camera tests. The consistent, even gray surface eliminates the variability of physical gray cards that can become faded or dirty over time.

How to use it

  1. 01

    Open and go fullscreen

    Press F. The page fills the display with 18% neutral gray.

  2. 02

    Use as a white balance target

    Point your camera at the screen and set custom white balance.

  3. 03

    Verify monitor neutrality

    Check for any color cast in the gray — it should appear perfectly neutral.

  4. 04

    Download the current view as a PNG

    Click the download icon in the top-right toolbar — it sits between the settings gear and the fullscreen button. We detect your display's physical pixel count (screen resolution x device pixel ratio) and rasterize the current configuration into a Retina-sharp PNG. The file lands in your browser's default downloads folder; to save straight to the Desktop, enable 'Ask where to save each file' in your browser settings. The filename includes the resolution so you can keep multiple variants side by side.

Frequently asked

The shortest path between you and the answer.

Why 18% gray and not 50% gray?

Camera light meters are calibrated to 18% reflectance, which corresponds to the perceptual middle gray in human vision. A 50% gray value in digital space is perceptually lighter than the calibration standard.

Is this tool free?

Yes. Every ScreenTools.co tool is free, with no account, no paywall, and no install.

Does it work on mobile?

Yes. Layouts adapt to phone and tablet screens. Mobile Safari restricts true fullscreen, but the page fills the viewport and you can add the page to your Home Screen for an app-like experience.

Does it work offline?

Once a tool's page has loaded once, the runtime is local. A few tools that fetch fonts or icons need the first hit online; after that, refresh works offline.

Does this collect my data?

No personal data leaves your browser. The site has lightweight, privacy-respecting analytics for aggregate counts (which tool was opened) and nothing else.

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