Abstract: Process and apparatus for the white balancing of the opto-electrical converters of the scanning elements in reproducers for the point-by-point and line-by-line scanning of black and white documents and color documents. The light from the illuminant of the documents being scanned is converted in the opto-electrical converters into video signal levels or color signal levels, and the sensitivity or amplification of the opto-electric converters is so set that the video signal levels or color signal levels correspond to preset reference signal levels. The inconvenient process of scanning the illuminant of the document to be scanned, in order to obtain the light required for white balance, is replaced by a process by which the light from the scanning light source may be dimmed by means of a regulable iris diaphragm, thus corresponding to the scanning light from the illuminant of the document to be scanned.