Comparison of efficiency of color balance facilities from camera and raw-converter software

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Dubnevych M. M., Holubnyk T. S., Zanko N. V. № 2 (80) 47-60 Image Image

The article is devoted to the analysis of the quality of color reproduction and color balancing of digital photographic images processed by the camera software immediately after exposure in the process of data digitization and white balance in CamerRaw RAW-converter from Adobe. Color balancing in photographic images was assessed by reproducing achromatic shades with colors of additive synthesis.

Color balancers are available in a variety of software: in cameras, graphics editors and RAW converters. Their purpose is to correct the shortcomings of color reproduction, which arise due to the spectral composition of the radiation of most artificial and natural light sources. There are several algorithms for implementing the white balance process and they can be used both when digitizing data from the camera matrix in its software environment or when processing digital photos in specialized RAW-converters.

It has been determined that when balancing colors with the camera software, the best result is formed by the manual white balance. This process algorithm requires the use of a test object - a sample of neutral color, which is pre-photographed in the same lighting conditions as the main scene. However, this is quite difficult to implement, especially in dynamic shooting conditions, such as reportage photography. Because there are simpler ways to achieve color balance of a photo image at the post-photographic processing stage, a comparative analysis of the effectiveness of color balance tools from the camera software and RAW converter has been performed.

The custom white balance option (based on the achromatic color) in Adobe’s CamerRaw RAW converter has been found to provide good results. The result of the white balance performed in the RAW converter does not depend on the conditions under which the white balance is taken, but only on the selection of the neutral part of the photo image as a sample for color balance.

Keywords: digital photo images, white balance, graphic editor, RAW-converter, tone reproduction, spectral composition of radiation, color coordinates.

doi: 10.32403/0554-4866-2020-2-80-47-60


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