A white balance adjusting apparatus for automatically adjusting white balance in response to luminance information signal and color information signal obtained from image sensing device

Claim 2

A white balance adjusting apparatus for automatically adjusting white balance in response to a luminance information signal and a plurality of color information signals obtained from image sensing means having a lens (1) and an image sensing device (2), comprising: means (4, 5) for amplifying each of said color information signals with a corresponding variable gain, means (24, 25) for dividing an image sensed picture so as to set a plurality of regions on said image sensed picture, means (21, 22, 23, 26) for averaging said luminance information signal and respective ones of said plurality of color information signals to convert the same into a luminance evaluating value and color evaluating values, respectively, for each of said plurality of regions, means (28, 29, 30) for controlling the variable gain of said amplifying means according to each of said color evaluating values of each of said plurality of regions, and means (27) for reducing the contribution degree of each color evaluating value towards the control of said variable gain in regions where said luminance evaluating value is greater than a predetermined value.

Claim 3

The white balance adjusting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said reducing means comprises means (27) for reducing each color evaluating value by a predetermined amount in regions where said luminance evaluating value is greater than said predetermined value

Claim 4

The white balance adjusting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said reducing means further comprises means for weighting each color evaluating value in each of said plurality of regions with a weighting amount of the corresponding region, and means (95) for reducing the weighting amount in regions where said luminance evaluating value is greater than a predetermined value, in comparison with the weighting amounts of other regions.

Claim 5

A white balance adjusting apparatus for automatically adjusting white balance in response to a luminance information signal and a plurality of color information signals obtained from image sensing means having a lens (1) and an image sensing device (2) , comprising: means (4, 5) for amplifying each of said color information signals with a corresponding variable gain, means (24, 25) for dividing an image sensed picture so as to set a plurality of regions on said image sensed picture, means (21, 22, 23, 26) for averaginge each of said plurality of color information signals to convert the same into a color evaluating value for each of said plurality of regions, means (50, 97) for calculating a picture color evaluating value of the entire picture regarding each of said plurality of color information signals, by weighting each color evaluating value of each of said plurality of regions by a weighting amount for each region, means (29, 30) for controlling the variable gain of said amplifying means according to said picture color evaluating value, and means (50, 96) for determining the weighting amount of each region according to said luminance information signal for each of said plurality of regions.

Claim 6

A white balance adjusting apparatus for automatically adjusting white balance in response to a luminance information signal and a plurality of color information signals obtained from image sensing means having a lens (1) and an image sensing device (2) , comprising: means (4, 5) for amplifying each of said color information signals with a corresponding variable gain, means (24, 25) for dividing an image sensed picture so as to set a plurality of regions on said image sensed picture, means (21, 22, 23, 26) for averaginge each of said plurality of color information signals to convert the same into a color evaluating value for each of said plurality of regions, means (50, 97) for calculating a picture color evaluating value of the entire picture regarding each of said plurality of color information signals, by weighting each color evaluating value of each of said plurality of regions by a weighting amount for each region, means (29, 30) for controlling the variable gain of said amplifying means according to said picture color evaluating value, and means (50, 96) for determining the weighting amount of each region according to said luminance information signal for each of said plurality of regions.

Claim 7

The white balance adjusting apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising means (21, 22, 23, 26) for averaging said luminance information signal to convert the same into a luminance evaluating value for each of said plurality of regions, wherein said luminance evaluating value of each of said plurality of regions is used as the weighting amount of the corresponding region.

Claim 8

A white balance adjusting apparatus for automatically adjusting white balance in response to a luminance information signal and a plurality of color information signals obtained from image sensing means having a lens (1) and an image sensing device (2), comprising means (4, 5) for amplifying each of said color information signals with a corresponding variable gain, means (24, 25) for dividing an image sensed picture so as to set a plurality of regions on said image sensed picture, means (21, 22, 23, 26) for averaging said luminance information signal and respective ones of said plurality of color information signals to convert the same into a luminance evaluating value and color evaluating values, respectively, for each of said plurality of regions, means (28, 29, 30) for controlling the variable gain of said amplifying means according to each color evaluating value of each of said plurality of regions, and means (60) for reducing the contribution degree of each color evaluating value in specified regions towards control of said variable gain, when the luminance evaluating value and a specified color evaluating value in said specified regions on an image sensed picture are greater than respective predetermined values.

Claim 9

A white balance adjusting apparatus for automatically adjusting white balance in response to a luminance information signal and a plurality of color information signals obtained from image sensing means having a lens (1) and an image sensing device (2), comprising means (4, 5) for amplifying each of said color information signals with a corresponding variable gain, means (24, 25) for dividing an image sensed picture so as to set a plurality of regions on said image sensed picture, means (21, 22, 23, 26) for averaging said luminance information signal and respective ones of said plurality of color information signals to convert the same into a luminance evaluating value and color evaluating values, respectively, for each of said plurality of regions, means (28, 29, 30) for controlling the variable gain of said amplifying means according to each color evaluating value of each of said plurality of regions, and means (60) for reducing the contribution degree of each color evaluating value in specified regions towards control of said variable gain, when the luminance evaluating value and a specified color evaluating value in said specified regions on an image sensed picture are greater than respective predetermined values.

Claim 10

The white balance adjusting apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said reducing means comprises means (60) for reducing each color evaluating value by a predetermined amount in specified regions where said luminance evaluating value and said specified color evaluating value are respectively greater than predetermined values.

Claim 11

A white balance adjusting apparatus for automatically adjusting white balance in response to a luminance information signal and a plurality of color information signals obtained from image sensing means having a lens (1) and an image sensing device (2), comprising: means (4, 5) for amplifying each of said color information signal by a corresponding variable gain, means (24, 25) for dividing an image sensed picture so as to set a plurality of regions on said image sensed picture, means (21, 22, 23, 26) for averaging each of said plurality of color information signals to convert the same into a color evaluating value for each of said plurality of regions, means (31, 21, 22, 23) for calculating a contrast evaluating value indicating the contrast of an object for each of said plurality of regions according to said luminance information signal, means (28, 29, 30) for controlling the variable gain of said amplifying means according to each color evaluating value of each of said plurality of regions, and means (95) for reducing the contribution degree of each color evaluating value towards the control of said variable gain in regions where said contrast evaluating value is smaller than a predetermined value.

Claim 12

A white balance adjusting apparatus for automatically adjusting white balance in response to a luminance information signal and a plurality of color information signals obtained from image sensing means having a lens (1) and an image sensing device (2), comprising: means (4, 5) for amplifying each of said color information signal by a corresponding variable gain, means (24, 25) for dividing an image sensed picture so as to set a plurality of regions on said image sensed picture, means (21, 22, 23, 26) for averaging each of said plurality of color information signals to convert the same into a color evaluating value for each of said plurality of regions, means (31, 21, 22, 23) for calculating a contrast evaluating value indicating the contrast of an object for each of said plurality of regions according to said luminance information signal, means (28, 29, 30) for controlling the variable gain of said amplifying means according to each color evaluating value of each of said plurality of regions, and means (95) for reducing the contribution degree of each color evaluating value towards the control of said variable gain in regions where said contrast evaluating value is smaller than a predetermined value.

Claim 13

9 . The white balance adjusting apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said reducing means comprises means (95) for reducing each color evaluating value by a predetermined amount in regions where said contrast evaluating value is smaller than a predetermined value.

Claim 14

A white balance adjusting apparatus for automatically adjusting white balance in response to a luminance information signal and a plurality of color information signals obtained from image sensing means having a lens (1) and an image sensing device (2), comprising: means (4, 5) for amplifying each of said color information signals with a corresponding variable gain, means (17, 18) for averaging each of said plurality of color information signals, means (13, 14) for controlling the variable gain of said amplifying means according to said averaged color information signal, and means (19, 20, 51, 52) for limiting the control of said variable gain according to said luminance information signal.

Claim 15

A white balance adjusting apparatus for automatically adjusting white balance in response to a luminance information signal and a plurality of color information signals obtained from image sensing means having a lens (1) and an image sensing device (2), comprising: means (4, 5) for amplifying each of said color information signals with a corresponding variable gain, means (17, 18) for averaging each of said plurality of color information signals, means (13, 14) for controlling the variable gain of said amplifying means according to said averaged color information signal, and means (19, 20, 51, 52) for limiting the control of said variable gain according to said luminance information signal.

Claim 16

The white balance adjusting apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising means (19) for averaging said luminance information signal, and means (20) for setting the upper limit of the control amount of said variable gain according to said averaged luminance information signal.