Both matrices are scaled in 1/2-bits. For the small part of the matrices shown here, the VTML20 matrix produces an average 2.80 half-bit identity score, and an average −0.59 non-identical score (weighted by amino-acid abundance). In contrast, BLOSUM62 produces 1.86 for identities but only −0.06 for non-identities. Thus, VTML20 targets shorter, higher-identity alignments, because it penalizes non-identities much more strongly.