Understanding the White Balance feature in a Canon camcorder

What is White Balance?

The human eye captures white as white, red as red and blue as blue, regardless of whether you are outside under the sun or inside under incandescent lighting. Although this is something that we take for granted, the human eye actually adapts to correct the changes in color under different light sources.

In reality, when light sources vary, colors caught as the reflection of those light sources also vary. For instance, films for cameras that use film are designed to capture the most appropriate coloring outside under the sun. Thus when you take pictures under incandescent or fluorescent lighting without using a flash, the colors in the resulting picture may seem strange.

Digital camera and digital camcorders are equipped with a handy feature called "White Balance" that corrects the changes in color under different light sources, just like the human eye. One of the white balance settings, "Auto White Balance" (AWB) automatically adjusts to correct the changes in color under different light sources.

White Balance and Coloring

The White Balance feature on Canon digital cameras and camcorders is set to "Auto White Balance" at the time of purchase. If you prefer different coloring, if you want to adjust the coloring more in detail, or if you want to change the coloring on purpose, we recommend that you change the white balance setting.

Please refer to the Camera User Guide for further information on setting the white balance for your camera.