Pattern recognition apparatus, pattern recogntion method, image processing apparatus, and image processing method

An image processing method comprising:

• an image input process of continuously inputting an image;
• an image temporary storage process of temporarily storing the image input in the image input process;
• a character extraction process of extracting a character from the image stored in the image temporary storage process;
• a character recognition process of recognizing the character extracted in the character extraction process to thereby obtain as a recognition result one or more of candidate characters for the recognized character and each evaluation value;
• a recognition result storage process of storing the recognition result obtained in the character recognition process;
• and
• a recognition result evaluation process of determining whether to output the image, which is stored in the image temporary storage process, on the basis of the recognition result stored in the recognition result storage process;
• in the recognition result evaluation process, the recognition results of the characters of a plurality of images stored in the image temporary storage process are checked and the image with the best evaluation value for the recognition result is selected when an identical character string is included in the recognition results of the plurality of images.

A non-transitory storage medium for recording an image processing program causing a computer to execute:

• an image input step of continuously inputting an image;
• an image temporary storage step of temporarily storing the image input in the image input step;
• a character extraction step of extracting a character from the image stored in the image temporary storage step;
• a character recognition step of recognizing the character extracted in the character extraction step to thereby obtain as a recognition result one or more of candidate characters for the recognized character and each evaluation value;
• a recognition result storage step of storing the recognition result obtained in the character recognition step;
• and
• a recognition result evaluation step of determining whether to output the image, which is stored in the image temporary storage step, on the basis of the recognition result stored in the recognition result storage step;
• in the recognition result evaluation step, the recognition results of the characters of a plurality of images stored in the image temporary storage step are checked and the image with the best evaluation value for the recognition result is selected when an identical character string is included in the recognition results of the plurality of images.