A portable articulated arm coordinate measuring machine (AACMM) for measuring the coordinates of an object in space, comprising: a base ; a manually positionable arm portion coupled to the base and having an end opposite the base; a measurement device coupled to the end; an electronic circuit configured to determine a position of the measurement device relative to a frame of reference; a laser line probe operably coupled to the end, the laser line probe having a projector and a camera , the projector configured to project a line of light at one or more predetermined wavelengths, the camera having a lens assembly optically coupled to a sensor assembly , the sensor assembly having a photosensitive array and a filter disposed between the photosensitive array and the lens assembly, the filter having a plurality of red, green and blue pixels in a predetermined arrangement; and a controller operably coupled to the laser line probe, the controller configured to cause the camera to acquire a metrology image and a color image; wherein the controller is configured to change one or more color values in the color image based on a color compensation; wherein color compensation comprises a white balance compensation comprising: determining image scaling coefficients to provide substantially equal mean values for each of three color channels; and multiplying a raw sensor color value by the scaling coefficient; wherein the controller and the electronic circuit cooperate to determine the three-dimensional coordinates of points on a surface based at least in part on the metrology image and to assign a color to the points based at least in part on the color image, wherein the controller is further responsive to adjust the exposure time of the camera in acquiring the color image based on an Exposure To The Right color model, a Mid-gray color model, or a fixed exposure model. a base ; a manually positionable arm portion coupled to the base and having an end opposite the base; a measurement device coupled to the end; an electronic circuit configured to determine a position of the measurement device relative to a frame of reference; a laser line probe operably coupled to the end, the laser line probe having a projector and a camera , the projector configured to project a line of light at one or more predetermined wavelengths, the camera having a lens assembly optically coupled to a sensor assembly , the sensor assembly having a photosensitive array and a filter disposed between the photosensitive array and the lens assembly, the filter having a plurality of red, green and blue pixels in a predetermined arrangement; and a controller operably coupled to the laser line probe, the controller configured to cause the camera to acquire a metrology image and a color image; wherein the controller is configured to change one or more color values in the color image based on a color compensation; wherein color compensation comprises a white balance compensation comprising: determining image scaling coefficients to provide substantially equal mean values for each of three color channels; and multiplying a raw sensor color value by the scaling coefficient; determining image scaling coefficients to provide substantially equal mean values for each of three color channels; and multiplying a raw sensor color value by the scaling coefficient; wherein the controller and the electronic circuit cooperate to determine the three-dimensional coordinates of points on a surface based at least in part on the metrology image and to assign a color to the points based at least in part on the color image, wherein the controller is further responsive to adjust the exposure time of the camera in acquiring the color image based on an Exposure To The Right color model, a Mid-gray color model, or a fixed exposure model. <EOS>