Image monitoring system

1. An image monitoring system comprising:

an image data acquisition unit for taking in video signals from a camera to acquire image data; and

an image recognition unit for carrying out image recognition processing using an inputted image obtained from the image data acquisition unit,

wherein the image recognition unit includes:

a reference image registration unit for registering a reference image selected from among the inputted images;

an image blur detection unit for detecting a difference in image blur between the reference image and the inputted image;

a similarity computation unit for computing a similarity between the reference image and the inputted image; and

a camera anomaly detection unit for detecting any anomaly in the camera from the difference in image blur and the similarity.

2. The image monitoring system according to claim 1 ,

wherein the image blur detection unit detects a difference in the image blur by comparison of the reference image with the inputted image for edge strength or by a frequency analysis.

3. The image monitoring system according to claim 1 ,

wherein the similarity computation unit computes the similarity from a difference in brightness value or a correlation value.

4. An image monitoring system comprising:

an image data acquisition unit for taking in video signals from a camera to acquire image data; and

an image recognition unit for carrying out recognition processing using an inputted image obtained from the image data acquisition unit,

wherein the image recognition unit includes:

a reference image registration unit for registering a reference image selected from among the inputted images;

a motion detection unit for acquiring motion detection information from the inputted image;

an image blur detection unit for detecting a difference in image blur between the reference image and the inputted image;

a similarity computation unit for computing a similarity between the reference image and the inputted image; and

a camera anomaly detection unit for determining any anomaly in the camera from the motion detection information, the difference in image blur, and the similarity.

5. The image monitoring system according to claim 4 ,

wherein the motion detection unit automatically generates a background image from the inputted image, and

wherein the motion detection unit acquires the motion detection information by comparison of the background image with the inputted image.

6. The image monitoring system according to claim 4 ,

wherein the image blur detection unit detects a difference in image blur by comparison of the reference image with the inputted image for edge strength or a frequency analysis.

7. The image monitoring system according to claim 4 ,

wherein the similarity computation unit computes the similarity by a difference in brightness value or a correlation value.

8. An image monitoring system comprising:

two or more cameras including a first camera and second camera;

two or more image data acquisition units for taking in video signals from the cameras to acquire two or more image data; and

an image recognition unit for carrying out image recognition processing using inputted images obtained from the image data acquisition units,

wherein the image recognition unit includes:

a reference image registration unit for registering a reference image from among first inputted images from the first camera;

an image blur detection unit for detecting an image blur in the first inputted image and the reference image;

a similarity computation unit for computing a similarity between the first inputted image and the reference image; and

a camera anomaly detection unit for determining any anomaly in the first camera from a second inputted image from the second camera, the image blur, and the similarity.

9. The image monitoring system according to claim 8 ,

wherein the image blur detection unit detects the image blur by comparison of the reference image with the inputted image for edge strength or by a frequency analysis.

10. The image monitoring system according to claim 8 ,

wherein the similarity computation unit computes the similarity by a difference in brightness value or a correlation value.

11. The image monitoring system according to claim 8 ,

wherein the image recognition unit includes:

a motion detection unit for acquiring motion detection information from the inputted image, and

wherein the camera anomaly detection unit uses the motion detection information in camera anomaly determination.

12. The image monitoring system according to claim 11 ,

wherein the motion detection unit automatically generates a background image from the first inputted image, and

wherein the motion detection unit acquires the motion detection information by comparison of the first inputted image with the background image.

13. The image monitoring system according to claim 8 ,

wherein when one and the same object exists in the image pickup ranges of the first camera and the second camera, the camera anomaly detection unit uses the object being embraced both in the first inputted image and in the second inputted image in camera anomaly determination.

14. The image monitoring system according to claim 8 ,

wherein when the camera anomaly detection unit detects any anomaly in a camera, the monitored area of each camera other than the first camera is shifted to the direction in which the monitored area of the first camera is complemented.

15. The image monitoring system according to claim 8 ,

wherein when the camera anomaly detection unit detects any anomaly in a camera, recording of an inputted image from each camera other than the first camera is started.