Patent ID: 8126219

Claim:
An image processing apparatus comprising: image acquiring means for acquiring an image; search-window-size setting means for setting a size of a search window; search-range setting means for setting a search range as an area of the image for scanning with the search window, in relation to the set size of the search window; scanning means for moving the search window having the set size in the set search range to scan the set search range in its entirety without changing the set size of the search window; face-area determination means for determining whether the image in the set size of the search window at each scanning position in the set search range is a face area; and face-information output means for outputting information of the face area obtained from a determination result of the face-area determination means, wherein the search-range setting means compares the set size of the search window with a predetermined threshold value of a size of a search window, and if the set size of the search window is any size less than or equal to the predetermined threshold value, the search-range setting means limits the set search range as the area of the image for scanning with the set size of the search window to a search range smaller than the entire area of the image.