Patent ID: 7880783
Filing Date: 2011-02-01
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
1. An image pickup apparatus, having an image pickup device including an active pixel area with pixels for image pickup of an image to produce image data, and a black pixel area, disposed outside said active pixel area, having black pixels shielded from light, for producing black pixel data, said image pickup apparatus comprising: an amplifier for adjusting white balance of said image data; a smear detection unit for detecting a smeared portion of a smear phenomenon in said image according to said black pixel data; a tone correction unit for reducing chroma in a predetermined hue area according to a smear level of said smear phenomenon determined from said smear detection unit, by carrying out color correction of said smeared portion for said image data after adjusting said white balance, wherein said predetermined hue area has a size determined according to said smear level, and further comprising: a memory for storing information of a first threshold for comparison with said smear level, wherein said tone correction unit, if said smear level is higher than said first threshold, carries out said color correction.