What is computer vision? How is it different from image processing?

🔍 What is Computer Vision?

Computer Vision is a field of artificial intelligence that enables computers to interpret and make decisions based on visual data (like images or videos), similar to how humans understand the visual world.

🎯 Goal:

To understand what is seen — i.e., extract meaning or semantics from images/videos.

🔧 Common Tasks:

• Object detection (e.g., finding cars or people in an image)
• Image classification (e.g., identifying if an image shows a cat or a dog)
• Face recognition
• Autonomous driving (detecting traffic signs, pedestrians, etc.)
• Augmented reality
• Medical imaging analysis

💡 Example:

In a self-driving car, computer vision helps detect pedestrians , traffic lights , and road lanes from camera input. It doesn’t just process pixels; it interprets them to make decisions like “stop” or “go.”

🖼️ What is Image Processing?

Image Processing involves applying mathematical operations or algorithms to manipulate or enhance images . The goal is to improve image quality or transform it into something more suitable for further analysis.

🎯 Goal:

To modify or enhance images for better visual representation or prepare them for other tasks.

🔧 Common Tasks:

• Noise reduction
• Image sharpening
• Histogram equalization
• Edge detection
• Thresholding
• Filtering

💡 Example:

If you apply a blur filter to reduce noise in a photo using Photoshop or a mobile app, that’s image processing. You’re not trying to understand the image content—just improving its appearance or structure.

✅ Key Differences Between Image Processing and Computer Vision

🔄 Relationship Between Them

These two fields often overlap . For instance:

• Before feeding an image into a computer vision system (like facial recognition), you might use image processing techniques to sharpen or normalize the image.
• So, image processing can be a preprocessing step for computer vision.

📸 Real-World Analogy

Think of a security surveillance system :

• Image Processing : Adjust brightness, remove graininess in video frames, find edges in the image.
• Computer Vision : Identify if there is an intruder, recognize their face, detect suspicious behavior.

Summary

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