Image reading apparatus that acquires of appropriate white reference data, image reading method, and image forming apparatus

Abstract

An image reading apparatus includes a reading circuit, a white reference member, a control circuit, a memory circuit, and a processing circuit. The control circuit controls the reading circuit to: cause a light source to irradiate the white reference member with lights of a plurality of colors and cause a light receiving unit to receive the reflected lights. The processing circuit performs a process to identify abnormal data included in white reference data stored in the memory circuit. The processing circuit identifies information on the abnormal data in a light of an abnormal-data detected color among the plurality of colors. The processing circuit identifies the abnormal data in lights of other colors excluding the abnormal-data detected color among the plurality of colors based on the information on the abnormal data. The information is identified for the light of the abnormal-data detected color.