diff --git a/examples/gsplat_viewer.py b/examples/gsplat_viewer.py
index effaa3aef..e35749832 100644
--- a/examples/gsplat_viewer.py
+++ b/examples/gsplat_viewer.py
@@ -18,10 +18,10 @@ class GsplatRenderTabState(RenderTabState):
     eps2d: float = 0.3
     backgrounds: Tuple[float, float, float] = (0.0, 0.0, 0.0)
     render_mode: Literal[
-        "rgb", "depth(accumulated)", "depth(expected)", "alpha"
+        "rgb", "depth(accumulated)", "depth(expected)", "alpha", "diffuse", "specular"
     ] = "rgb"
     normalize_nearfar: bool = False
-    inverse: bool = True
+    inverse: bool = False
     colormap: Literal[
         "turbo", "viridis", "magma", "inferno", "cividis", "gray"
     ] = "turbo"
@@ -141,7 +141,14 @@ def _(_) -> None:
 
                 render_mode_dropdown = server.gui.add_dropdown(
                     "Render Mode",
-                    ("rgb", "depth(accumulated)", "depth(expected)", "alpha"),
+                    (
+                        "rgb",
+                        "depth(accumulated)",
+                        "depth(expected)",
+                        "alpha",
+                        "diffuse",
+                        "specular",
+                    ),
                     initial_value=self.render_tab_state.render_mode,
                     hint="Render mode to use.",
                 )
@@ -150,12 +157,10 @@ def _(_) -> None:
                 def _(_) -> None:
                     if "depth" in render_mode_dropdown.value:
                         normalize_nearfar_checkbox.disabled = False
+                        inverse_checkbox.disabled = False
                     else:
                         normalize_nearfar_checkbox.disabled = True
-                    if render_mode_dropdown.value == "rgb":
                         inverse_checkbox.disabled = True
-                    else:
-                        inverse_checkbox.disabled = False
                     self.render_tab_state.render_mode = render_mode_dropdown.value
                     self.rerender(_)
 
diff --git a/examples/simple_trainer.py b/examples/simple_trainer.py
index 53ffe7080..4def28718 100644
--- a/examples/simple_trainer.py
+++ b/examples/simple_trainer.py
@@ -1095,6 +1095,8 @@ def _viewer_render_fn(
             "depth(accumulated)": "D",
             "depth(expected)": "ED",
             "alpha": "RGB",
+            "diffuse": "Diffuse",
+            "specular": "Specular",
         }
 
         render_colors, render_alphas, info = self.rasterize_splats(
@@ -1116,11 +1118,7 @@ def _viewer_render_fn(
         render_tab_state.total_gs_count = len(self.splats["means"])
         render_tab_state.rendered_gs_count = (info["radii"] > 0).all(-1).sum().item()
 
-        if render_tab_state.render_mode == "rgb":
-            # colors represented with sh are not guranteed to be in [0, 1]
-            render_colors = render_colors[0, ..., 0:3].clamp(0, 1)
-            renders = render_colors.cpu().numpy()
-        elif render_tab_state.render_mode in ["depth(accumulated)", "depth(expected)"]:
+        if render_tab_state.render_mode in ["depth(accumulated)", "depth(expected)"]:
             # normalize depth to [0, 1]
             depth = render_colors[0, ..., 0:1]
             if render_tab_state.normalize_nearfar:
@@ -1145,6 +1143,10 @@ def _viewer_render_fn(
             renders = (
                 apply_float_colormap(alpha, render_tab_state.colormap).cpu().numpy()
             )
+        else:
+            # colors represented with sh are not guranteed to be in [0, 1]
+            render_colors = render_colors[0, ..., 0:3].clamp(0, 1)
+            renders = render_colors.cpu().numpy()
         return renders
 
 
diff --git a/examples/simple_viewer.py b/examples/simple_viewer.py
index 63597033a..84367fab3 100644
--- a/examples/simple_viewer.py
+++ b/examples/simple_viewer.py
@@ -140,6 +140,8 @@ def viewer_render_fn(camera_state: CameraState, render_tab_state: RenderTabState
             "depth(accumulated)": "D",
             "depth(expected)": "ED",
             "alpha": "RGB",
+            "diffuse": "Diffuse",
+            "specular": "Specular",
         }
 
         render_colors, render_alphas, info = rasterization(
@@ -173,11 +175,7 @@ def viewer_render_fn(camera_state: CameraState, render_tab_state: RenderTabState
         render_tab_state.total_gs_count = len(means)
         render_tab_state.rendered_gs_count = (info["radii"] > 0).all(-1).sum().item()
 
-        if render_tab_state.render_mode == "rgb":
-            # colors represented with sh are not guranteed to be in [0, 1]
-            render_colors = render_colors[0, ..., 0:3].clamp(0, 1)
-            renders = render_colors.cpu().numpy()
-        elif render_tab_state.render_mode in ["depth(accumulated)", "depth(expected)"]:
+        if render_tab_state.render_mode in ["depth(accumulated)", "depth(expected)"]:
             # normalize depth to [0, 1]
             depth = render_colors[0, ..., 0:1]
             if render_tab_state.normalize_nearfar:
@@ -197,11 +195,13 @@ def viewer_render_fn(camera_state: CameraState, render_tab_state: RenderTabState
             )
         elif render_tab_state.render_mode == "alpha":
             alpha = render_alphas[0, ..., 0:1]
-            if render_tab_state.inverse:
-                alpha = 1 - alpha
             renders = (
                 apply_float_colormap(alpha, render_tab_state.colormap).cpu().numpy()
             )
+        else:
+            # colors represented with sh are not guranteed to be in [0, 1]
+            render_colors = render_colors[0, ..., 0:3].clamp(0, 1)
+            renders = render_colors.cpu().numpy()
         return renders
 
     server = viser.ViserServer(port=args.port, verbose=False)
diff --git a/gsplat/rendering.py b/gsplat/rendering.py
index d9b4fd20f..a99d6b7e4 100644
--- a/gsplat/rendering.py
+++ b/gsplat/rendering.py
@@ -46,7 +46,9 @@ def rasterization(
     packed: bool = True,
     tile_size: int = 16,
     backgrounds: Optional[Tensor] = None,
-    render_mode: Literal["RGB", "D", "ED", "RGB+D", "RGB+ED"] = "RGB",
+    render_mode: Literal[
+        "RGB", "D", "ED", "RGB+D", "RGB+ED", "Diffuse", "Specular"
+    ] = "RGB",
     sparse_grad: bool = False,
     absgrad: bool = False,
     rasterize_mode: Literal["classic", "antialiased"] = "classic",
@@ -98,8 +100,10 @@ def rasterization(
 
     .. note::
         **Depth Rendering**: This function supports colors or/and depths via `render_mode`.
-        The supported modes are "RGB", "D", "ED", "RGB+D", and "RGB+ED". "RGB" renders the
-        colored image that respects the `colors` argument. "D" renders the accumulated z-depth
+        The supported modes are "RGB", "D", "ED", "RGB+D", "RGB+ED", "Diffuse", and "Specular".
+        "RGB" renders the colored image that respects the `colors` argument.
+        "Diffuse" renders view-independent RGB components while "Specular" renders view-dependent RGB components.
+        "D" renders the accumulated z-depth
         :math:`\\sum_i w_i z_i`. "ED" renders the expected z-depth
         :math:`\\frac{\\sum_i w_i z_i}{\\sum_i w_i}`. "RGB+D" and "RGB+ED" render both
         the colored image and the depth, in which the depth is the last channel of the output.
@@ -181,8 +185,10 @@ def rasterization(
         tile_size: The size of the tiles for rasterization. Default is 16.
             (Note: other values are not tested)
         backgrounds: The background colors. [..., C, D]. Default is None.
-        render_mode: The rendering mode. Supported modes are "RGB", "D", "ED", "RGB+D",
-            and "RGB+ED". "RGB" renders the colored image, "D" renders the accumulated depth, and
+        render_mode: The rendering mode.
+            Supported modes are "RGB", "D", "ED", "RGB+D", "RGB+ED", "Diffuse", and "Specular".
+            "RGB" renders the colored image, "Diffuse" renders view-independent RGB,
+            "Specular" renders view-dependent RGB, "D" renders the accumulated depth, and
             "ED" renders the expected depth. Default is "RGB".
         sparse_grad: If true, the gradients for {means, quats, scales} will be stored in
             a COO sparse layout. This can be helpful for saving memory. Default is False.
@@ -280,7 +286,15 @@ def rasterization(
     assert opacities.shape == batch_dims + (N,), opacities.shape
     assert viewmats.shape == batch_dims + (C, 4, 4), viewmats.shape
     assert Ks.shape == batch_dims + (C, 3, 3), Ks.shape
-    assert render_mode in ["RGB", "D", "ED", "RGB+D", "RGB+ED"], render_mode
+    assert render_mode in [
+        "RGB",
+        "D",
+        "ED",
+        "RGB+D",
+        "RGB+ED",
+        "Diffuse",
+        "Specular",
+    ], render_mode
 
     def reshape_view(C: int, world_view: torch.Tensor, N_world: list) -> torch.Tensor:
         view_list = list(
@@ -481,6 +495,11 @@ def reshape_view(C: int, world_view: torch.Tensor, N_world: list) -> torch.Tenso
                 pass
     else:
         # Colors are SH coefficients, with shape [..., N, K, 3] or [..., C, N, K, 3]
+        # SH = 0 is the view-independent diffuse component, SH >= 1 are view-dependent specular components.
+        if render_mode in ("Diffuse", "Specular"):
+            colors = colors.clone()
+            sel = slice(1, None) if render_mode == "Diffuse" else slice(0, 1)
+            colors[..., sel, :] = 0.0  # Zero out the unwanted SH components.
         campos = torch.inverse(viewmats)[..., :3, 3]  # [..., C, 3]
         if viewmats_rs is not None:
             campos_rs = torch.inverse(viewmats_rs)[..., :3, 3]
@@ -515,7 +534,9 @@ def reshape_view(C: int, world_view: torch.Tensor, N_world: list) -> torch.Tenso
                 sh_degree, dirs, shs, masks=masks
             )  # [..., C, N, 3]
         # make it apple-to-apple with Inria's CUDA Backend.
-        colors = torch.clamp_min(colors + 0.5, 0.0)
+        # view-dependent components are in [0, 1]. No need to add and clamp.
+        if render_mode != "Specular":
+            colors = torch.clamp_min(colors + 0.5, 0.0)
 
     # If in distributed mode, we need to scatter the GSs to the destination ranks, based
     # on which cameras they are visible to, which we already figured out in the projection