What is it used for?

It is used to get the colours in your images as accurate as possible.

What affect does it have?
It corrects the colours with in the photograph. The digital camera cant automatically
make adjustments, to correct the colours; so we have to show the camera how to treat
different light. So for a colder light you would have to adjust your camera to warm it up
and in warmer lights you would have to adjust it to cool it down.

Changing it?
Different digital cameras have different ways of adjusting the white balance, the
cameras manual can tell you. Many digital cameras have automatic and semi- automatic
modes to help make adjustments.

Preset white balance settings:
Auto
Tungsten
Fluorescent
Daylight/Sunny
Cloudy
Flash
Shade