Patent ID: 8040391
Filing Date: 2011-10-18
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
1. A white balance adjustment device, comprising: a mixture ratio calculation portion operable to calculate a mixture ratio of an external light component and a flashed light component that are present in a second image signal, the mixture ratio being calculated based on a first image signal that is obtained without irradiating a flashed light on an object to be captured, and the second image signal that is obtained by illuminating the flashed light on the object to be captured; an external light WB coefficient determination portion operable to determine an external light WB coefficient, which is a white balance coefficient for the external light, the external light WB coefficient being determined from the first image signal; a flashed light WB coefficient setting portion operable to set a flashed light WB coefficient, which is a white balance coefficient of the flashed light; and a WB processing portion operable to continuously perform white balance adjustment of the second image signal between the external light WB coefficient and the flashed light WB coefficient by using the calculated mixture ratio as an interpolation ratio, wherein the WB processing portion obtains a third image signal by performing white balance correction on the second image signal based on the external light WB coefficient, wherein the WB processing portion obtains a fourth image signal by performing white balance correction on the second image signal based on the flashed light WB coefficient, and wherein the WB processing portion obtains a final image signal, which takes on a continuous value, by interpolating a signal value of the third image signal and a signal value of the fourth image signal based on the calculated mixture ratio.