Patent ID: 7215827

Claim:
An object detecting method for detecting a moving object, comprising the steps of: detecting level changes between an input image from an image-pickup apparatus and a background image recorded in a recording apparatus; displaying an image including at least said detected level changes on a display apparatus; designating on the display apparatus, within said image including said level changes, an area of a predetermined level change as a masking region; registering, as a masking image, an image obtained by designating said masking region in said recording apparatus; and comparing an input image input from said image pickup-apparatus with said masking image to detect said moving object, wherein said step of designating comprises the steps of: displaying, on the display apparatus, areas that include said predetermined level changes as candidates for said masking region, and designating, within said candidates for said masking region, at least one of said candidates for masking region which have said predetermined level change as said masking region, and wherein said designating at least one of said candidates for masking region is performed by manipulating an operation marker on the display apparatus to select the at least one of said candidates for masking region which have said predetermined level change as said masking region.