How do 'blacks & whites' differ from 'shadows & highlights'?

[mttplbkp]

I'm practicing some tutorials on colour correction & grading using the Lumetri Color effect.

I've noticed there are settings for blacks, whites, shadows and highlights.

I don't see how they are any different? are blacks and shadows not just the same thing?

[Mylenium · Accepted solution]

Blacks & Whites are absolute colors, Highlights & Shadows affect whole color ranges and honor things like Gamma, color profiles/ Luts or the overall available gamut of a given color space. Oftentimes the differences are minute, though, unless you work with specific color spaces or do very extreme corrections.

Mylenium