OpenCV (Open Source Computer Vision) is a library of programming functions for real time computer vision.
OpenCV is released under a BSD license, it is free for both academic and commercial use. It has C++, C, Python and soon Java interfaces running on Windows, Linux, Android and Mac. The library has >2500 optimized algorithms (see figure below). It is used around the world, has >2.5M downloads and >40K people in the user group. Uses range from interactive art, to mine inspection, stitching maps on the web on through advanced robotics.
This is a cookbook that shows results obtained on real images with detailed explanations and the relevant screenshots. The recipes contain code accompanied with suitable explanations that will facilitate your learning. If you are a novice C++ programmer who wants to learn how to use the OpenCV library to build computer vision applications, then this cookbook is appropriate for you. It is also suitable for professional software developers wishing to be introduced to the concepts of computer vision programming. It can be used as a companion book in university-level computer vision courses. It constitutes an excellent reference for graduate students and researchers in image processing and computer vision. The book provides a good combination of basic to advanced recipes. Basic knowledge of C++ is required.
