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3-Way Master Wheel Adjustments
The Master Wheels located below the Color Balance controls let you precisely modify image contrast by YRGB adjustments, which individually alter the black point, the white point, and distribution of midtones that fall in-between.
— Lift: Lets you adjust the perceived shadow density of the image by altering the black point of the image. Dragging the Lift master wheel to the left makes the darkest values in the image darker, increasing the distance between the black and white points of the image, and stretching all the midtone values in-between. Dragging the Lift master wheel to the right makes the darkest values in the image lighter, reducing contrast and squeezing all the midtone values between the black and white points.
— Gamma: Lets you adjust the overall perceived lightness of the image by altering the distribution of midtones that fall between the Lift and Gain master wheel settings. Dragging the Gamma master wheel to the left darkens the overall image, while dragging it to the right brightens it. Most Gamma contrast adjustments have a minimal effect on the black and white point of the image, but large adjustments may push either boundary of image lightness farther out. This interaction is described in more detail below.
— Gain: Lets you adjust the lightness of the highlights by altering the white point of the image. Dragging the Gain master wheel to the left makes the lightest values of the image darker, squeezing the midtones between the white and black points of the image. Dragging Gain to the right makes the lightest values even lighter, eventually clipping at maximum white.
Waveform display shows the clips contrast range
These contrast adjustments are not limited by one another. For example, raising or lowering the Gamma master wheel by a large amount may push the highlights of the image higher or the shadows of the image lower, regardless of the current Lift or Gain contrast setting.
As a result, these controls are somewhat interactive, and you may find yourself going back and forth between controls as you make your final contrast adjustments. This is one of the reasons a control panel is valuable, as it allows you to adjust all three settings simultaneously.