Patent ID: 7492819

Claim:
A video coding apparatus for coding a video signal based on a coding parameter for setting a coding bit amount, comprising: important area detecting means for detecting, as an important area, a specific area in a displayed image by the video signal for which a preset high visibility is required; and coding parameter calculating means for calculating a coding parameter of the area detected by the important area detecting means; wherein the important area detecting means calculates a reliability indicative of precision in a detection result of the specific area, the calculated reliability comprising a value of the reliability that represents a degree of the detected area coincidence of the important area, and wherein the coding parameter calculating means calculates the coding parameter of the detected area depending on the value of the reliability which is calculated by the important area detecting means, and further wherein the coding parameter calculating means calculates the coding parameter of the detected area as a function of the value of the reliability using an equation that includes the value of the reliability.