Patent ID: 8369573

Claim:
An image processing apparatus that detects a specific object from an image, the image processing apparatus comprising: a small-area image acquisition section configured to acquire, from an input image, small-area images each as an area from which the specific object is to be detected; a scanning position control section configured to control a position for acquiring each of the small-area images acquired by said small-area image acquisition section; a dictionary storage section configured to store a dictionary for use in determining the specific object; and a determination section configured to determine whether or not the specific object is present in each of the small-area images, using the dictionary, wherein said scanning position control section: sequentially designates a succeeding vertical position in the input image after a completion of scanning in a preceding horizontal line through a preceding vertical position; designates a horizontal position in a present horizontal line by sequentially moving from a starting position by a predetermined skip amount in the present horizontal line to sequentially acquire the small area images; and repeats the scanning process in the same horizontal line starting with a new starting position that is shifted from the previous starting position of the preceding scanning process of the same horizontal line, and sequentially moves from the new starting position by the predetermined skip amount, until all of the small-area images in the same horizontal line are acquired.