Automatic White Balance (AWB)
Key Camera Specification

Security cameras with Automatic White Balance (AWB) will automatically adjust color settings to achieve consistent quality in the white areas and other colors of the image.

AWB is the process of removing unrealistic color, so that objects which appear white in person are rendered white in the image. An incorrect AWB can create unsightly blue, orange, or even green color casts, which are very inaccurate.

Normally our eyes compensate for varying lighting conditions and makes corrections for white and color. A security camera needs to find a reference point which represents white. It will then make adjustments to all the other colors based on that white reference point. So if the camera knows a wall for instance is supposed to be white, it will then adjust all the other colors in the scene accordingly.

Most security cameras feature automatic white balance whereby the camera looks at the overall color of the image and calculates the best-fit white balance. Many security cameras are often wrong especially if the scene is dominated by one color or if there is no natural white present in the scene.

Better security cameras will use a feature referred to as ATW (Auto-tracking White Balance). Cameras with this feature have a fixed white balance reference built into the camera settings. So even if there is no white in the scene the camera will be able to display the correct colors. Cameras manufactured by GSP America with the Pixim Digital Image Sensor have this ability and produce consistent color images even in difficult lighting situations. They are often referred to as WDR or Wide Dynamic Range Cameras.