In graphics, color balance is the term for the dynamic range of the colors in an image. In artworks in general, the color palette can be selected by the artist to convey a mood or an impression .

In image processing, color balance refers to the mapping of the distribution of colors in each pixel of the image to lie within the 8-bit range of human perception (256 colors in any given image). Although the visual system of a human being can distinguish many more colors than a camera or a photograph, the subtleties can be satisfactorily simulated by artful color balance of the palette in any given image.

Some implementations of color balance use histogram equalization .

Color balance is frequently a hardware or software feature of cameras and also of image manipulation programs like The Gimp.

A similar compression, not in color space, but in the perception of acoustic information can be seen in psychoacoustics.

See also

Gamma correction in television cameras

External References

• Using Illumination Information in Color Balance Adjustments
• Television Production Color Balancing Cameras
• How do I adjust color balance in Photoshop?
• PhotoNotes.org Dictionary - Colour/color balance
• The Gimp: Open source program for Color Balance