In a method of video encoding, whether a sequence of pictures are monochrome or include three color components that are coded separately is determined. Responsive to the sequence of pictures being monochrome or including three color components that are coded separately, a value of a first syntax element is set to indicate that the sequence of pictures are monochrome or include three color components that are coded separately. The value of the first syntax element is encoded in a bitstream of a coded video. A value of a second syntax element is inferred to disable a coding tool that uses multiple color components of a picture as input or depends on a chroma component of the picture based on the first syntax element indicating that the sequence of pictures include three color components that are coded separately. The inferred value indicates active color transform (ACT) is disabled.