Using a light color sensor to improve a representation of colors in captured image data

An image capturing device comprising:

• at least one camera sensor that captures image data of a current scene;
• at least one light color sensor that measures an amount of ambient color;
• and
• at least one processor that:
• calculates, based on a covariant matrix which represents all detected colors in the current scene, a determinant value that represents a magnitude of variance of colors in the current scene;
• and
• in response to determining that the determinant value is less than a determinant threshold that represents a trigger point for applying a white balance correction to the image data:
• measures, via the light color sensor, the amount of ambient color in the current scene;
• generates the white balance correction based at least in part on the amount of ambient color;
• and
• applies the white balance correction to the image data to generate a corrected image data having colors that more accurately represent colors in the current scene;
• wherein the determinant threshold is determined based on user selection of a particular camera setting from among multiple camera settings.

A computer program product comprising:

• a computer readable storage device;
• and
• program code on the computer readable storage device that, when executed by a processor associated with an image capturing device, enables the image capturing device to provide the functionality of:
• capturing, via a camera sensor, image data of a current scene;
• calculating, based on a covariant matrix which represents all detected colors in the current scene, a determinant value that represents a magnitude of variance of colors in the current scene;
• and
• in response to determining that the determinant value is less than a determinant threshold that represents a trigger point for applying a white balance correction to the image data:
• measuring, via a light color sensor of the image capturing device, an amount of ambient color in the current scene;
• generating the white balance correction based at least in part on the amount of ambient color;
• and
• applying the white balance correction to the image data to generate a corrected image data having colors that more accurately represent colors in the current scene;
• wherein the determinant threshold is determined based on a user selection of a particular camera setting from among multiple camera settings.