Patent ID: 8013913

Claim:
An image recording method for sequentially obtaining consecutive images, and recording one image from among the images, comprising: an initialization step comprising: a step of setting a specified region and a tracking range surrounding the specified region within an image, a step of storing a characteristic value of the specified region within the image, and a step of generating a predetermined number of search points in the specified region of the image, a filtering step comprising: a step of updating coordinates of a plurality of search points by using random numbers, a step of comparing the characteristic value of the specified region with a characteristic value of each of the search points in an image after the updating, and assigning weights determined so as to increase in proportion to a degree of similarity between the characteristic value of the specified region and the characteristic value of the search point, a step of screening the search points according to the weights, a step of calculating a variance of the coordinates of the screened search points, and a step of calculating a weighted average of the coordinates of the screened search points, and an image recording determination step of determining, based on the variance of the coordinates of the screened search points, the weighted average of the coordinates of the screened search points, and the tracking range, whether or not to record an image, and recording the image if it is determined to be recorded.