Patent ID: 8401288

Claim:
A method of performing a color balancing operation, the method comprising: using a processing circuit to perform the acts of: calculating gray world statistics for input image pixel data having values of a plurality of color channels; and using said grey world statistics in a color balancing operation, wherein calculating said gray world statistics comprises comparing the values of the plurality of color channels in a pixel to a respective first criteria and excluding the pixel from the gray world statistics if any one of the plurality of color channels in the pixel comprises a value which exceeds the respective first criteria for inclusion, wherein calculating said gray world statistics further comprises comparing the values of the plurality of color channels in a pixel to a respective second criteria and excluding the pixel from the gray world statistics if two of the color channels in the pixel comprise values that both exceed the respective second criteria for inclusion, and wherein calculating said gray world statistics further comprises not excluding the pixel from the gray world statistics if fewer than two of the color channels in the pixel comprise respective values that exceed the respective second criteria for inclusion and if none of the plurality of color channels in the pixel comprise a respective value which exceeds the respective first criteria for inclusion, wherein the respective first criteria are different than the respective second criteria.