Patent ID: 7310448

Claim:
An image processing method comprising the steps of: calculating the degree of brightness of a photographed image based on an image signal obtained from an image-sensing device using light emitted from a flash; calculating contrast of the photographed image from a degree of brightness of the photographed image; and determining an amplification factor of the image signal based on the degree of brightness and a contrast of the photographed image and amplifying the image signal with the amplification factor, wherein the degree of brightness is obtained based on the degree of brightness of each of a plurality of blocks derived by dividing an entire photographed image into the plurality of blocks and adding multiplication values of all of the blocks, each multiplication value being calculated by multiplying an integrated value of the image signals of each block and a weighted factor Wi determined for each block in accordance with the position, and dividing a resulting addition value by a sum of the weighted factors, the weighted factor Wi for the respective blocks decreases with distance from a center of the photographed image.