Snapshot compressive imaging (SCI) systems have gained significant attention in recent years. While previous theoretical studies have primarily focused on the performance analysis of Gaussian masks, practical SCI systems often employ binary-valued masks. Furthermore, recent research has demonstrated that optimized binary masks can significantly enhance system performance. In this paper, we present a comprehensive theoretical characterization of binary masks and their impact on SCI system performance. Initially, we investigate the scenario where the masks are binary and independently identically distributed (iid), revealing a noteworthy finding that aligns with prior numerical results. Specifically, we show that the optimal probability of non-zero elements in the masks is smaller than 0.5. This result provides valuable insights into the design and optimization of binary masks for SCI systems, facilitating further advancements in the field. Additionally, we extend our analysis to characterize the performance of SCI systems where the mask entries are not independent but are generated based on a stationary first-order Markov process. Overall, our theoretical framework offers a comprehensive understanding of the performance implications associated with binary masks in SCI systems.