Patent Document ID: 8542245
Application ID: 12412973
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. An image processing apparatus comprising: an amount-of-feature detection section configured to determine an amount of features of a first image and an amount of features of a second image, the first image and the second image containing the same subject and one of the first image and the second image corresponding to a first scene and the other of the first image and the second image corresponding to a second scene within a smaller area of the first scene; a memory configured to store the first image and the second image containing the same subject; an elimination-area detection section configured to eliminate, from the second image, an area in which the amount of features extracted by the amount-of-feature detection section is larger than a predetermined threshold and to provide the second image in which the eliminated area is transparent; and an image combination section configured to superimpose the second image, in which the eliminated area is transparent, on the first image, wherein the amount-of-feature detection section detects, as the amount of features, color gamuts contained in the first image and the second image and represented by a predetermined color coordinate system; determines a frequently detected color gamut that is common to the first image and the second image; and extracts, as feature portions in the first image and the second image, color gamuts in which values obtained by accumulating, for the respective color gamuts of the first image and the second image, color-gamut chromaticities detected for respective pixels included in the first image and the second image are larger than corresponding predetermined thresholds; and the elimination-area detection section eliminates, in the second image, an area corresponding to the color gamut that is common to the feature portions of the first image and the second image.