Patent ID: 8139852

Claim:
A color classification method comprising: determining a plurality of predetermined process target regions from a plurality of pickup images taken by an imaging device; calculating a plurality of color distributions of pixels contained in the respective determined process target regions; and forming a plurality of clusters by executing a clustering process based on the calculated color distributions for the pickup images, the method being for classifying a plurality of colors with respect to the respective formed clusters, the calculating step including: classifying the pixels contained in the process target region into predetermined classified colors; and calculating a plurality of rates of the respective classified colors, the forming step including: extracting predetermined number of the classified colors, whose calculated rates are highest in the calculated plurality of the rates, from among the predetermined classified colors, in the process target region of each pickup image; defining a plurality of color spaces, dimensions of each of which are selected from the predetermined number of the extracted classified colors, the dimensions having domains corresponding to the respective rates of the selected classified colors; specifying a plurality of sets of coordinates for each pickup image in respective color spaces based on the rates of the classified colors; and clustering the specified plurality sets of the coordinates in the respective color spaces into the predetermined number or more of the clusters.