Getting Started with OpenCV

Get introduced to OpenCV, its benefits, and its applications.

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What is OpenCV?

Open Source Computer Vision Library (OpenCV) is an open-source library for computer vision, machine learning, and image processing. It’s available in Python, C++, Java, and several other programming languages. Computer vision is an application of deep knowledge that focuses on deriving insights from media files (images and videos).

Why OpenCV?

There are many benefits of learning OpenCV, including, but not limited to:

  • Large number of algorithms: OpenCV gives access to more than 2,500 algorithms to perform a wide variety of computer vision and machine learning tasks.

  • Extensively used around the world: There’s a vast community of OpenCV users worldwide, including companies like IBM, Meta (formerly known as Facebook), Google, Netflix, Microsoft, and many others.

  • Efficient solutions: OpenCV provides an open-source and optimized implementation of algorithms to solve many computer vision and machine learning problems.

Prerequisites of the course

We should have some knowledge of the following topics related to C++ before learning OpenCV with C++:

  • Variables
  • Functions
  • Data structures (such as arrays and linked lists)
  • Loops

Application of OpenCV

A few applications of OpenCV are listed as follows:

  • Background subtraction from noisy images

  • Interactive art installations

  • Handwriting recognition

  • Robot control

  • Industrial automation and driverless cars

  • Video or image search and retrieval

  • Medical image processing

  • Military applications

  • Agriculture equipment

  • Automated inspection and surveillance