Patent ID: 7362922

Claim:
An image database apparatus comprising: an extraction device for extracting representative image data, which represents representative images of a plurality of frames, from an image database in which image data of a number of frames has been stored; a first display control device for controlling a display device in such a manner that the representative images of the plurality of frames represented by the representative image data extracted by said extraction device are displayed in a two-dimensional coordinate area in a form in which they are distributed in accordance with characteristics of each of the representative images; a designating device for designating a desired image from among the images of the plurality of frames distributed in the two-dimensional coordinate area based upon display control performed by said first display control device; a search device for searching the image database for images having characteristics that resemble the characteristics of the image designated by said designating device; and a second display control device for controlling the display device in such a manner that retrieved images, which result from the search performed by said search device, are displayed in the two-dimensional coordinate area whose coordinates axes are more detailed than coordinate axes in the two-dimensional coordinate area in which images are displayed in a form in which they are distributed based upon display control by said first display control device, in conformity with the characteristics thereof, wherein the second display control device is configured to control the display device to display in the two-dimensional coordinate area, whose coordinates axes are more detailed than coordinate axes in the two-dimensional coordinate area under control of the first display control device, a number of retrieved images that result from the search performed by the search device that is equal to the number of the plurality of frames displayed in the two-dimensional coordinate area under control of the first display control device.