Character recognition method and apparatus

A character recognition method used for extracting a character area from a recognition target object in a motion picture and recognizing a character in said character area, said character recognition method comprising the steps of:

• extracting images having time difference with each other from the motion picture;
• extracting said character area from each image;
• recognizing at least one character in said character area by performing a matching process between said character area and dictionary images for each image, and determining a character recognition result for each image;
• and
• selecting a final character recognition result of which a matching degree is the highest from the character recognition results of said images.

A character recognition method used for extracting a character area from a recognition target object in a motion picture and recognizing a character in said character area, said character recognition method comprising the steps of:

• dividing an image in the motion picture into a plurality of regions including an upper region and a lower region;
• extracting said character area from each region;
• recognizing at least one character in said character area by performing a matching process between said character area and dictionary images for each region, and determining a character recognition result for each region;
• selecting a final character recognition result of which a matching degree is the highest from the character recognition results of said regions;
• and
• adjusting a focus of an image pickup apparatus to farther objects when said final character recognition is for said upper region, and adjusting said focus to nearer objects when said final character recognition is for said lower region.

A character recognition apparatus used for extracting a character area from a recognition target object in a motion picture and recognizing a character in said character area, said character recognition apparatus comprising:

• a part for picking up images in the motion picture by changing brightness for each image;
• a part for extracting said character area from each image;
• a part for recognizing at least one character in said character area by performing a matching process between said character area and dictionary images for each image, and determining a character recognition result for each image;
• and
• a part for selecting a final character recognition result of which a matching degree is the highest from the character recognition results of said images.

A character recognition apparatus used for extracting a character area from a recognition target object in a motion picture and recognizing a character in said character area, said character recognition apparatus comprising:

• a part for extracting images having time difference with each other from the motion picture;
• a part for extracting said character area from each image;
• a part for recognizing at least one character in said character area by performing a matching process between said character area and dictionary images for each image, and determining a character recognition result for each image;
• and
• a part for selecting a final character recognition result of which a matching degree is the highest from the character recognition results of said images.

A character recognition apparatus used for extracting a character area from a recognition target object in a motion picture and recognizing a character in said character area, said character recognition apparatus comprising:

• a part for dividing an image in the motion picture into a plurality of regions including an upper region and a lower region;
• a part for extracting said character area from each region;
• a part for recognizing at least one character in said character area by performing a matching process between said character area and dictionary images for each region, and determining a character recognition result for each region;
• a part for selecting a final character recognition result of which a matching degree is the highest from the character recognition results of said regions;
• and
• a part for adjusting a focus of an image pickup apparatus to farther objects when said final character recognition is for said upper region, and adjusting said focus to nearer objects when said final character recognition is for said lower region.