HARDNESS TEST APPARATUS AND HARDNESS TESTING METHOD

The present invention includes: an image capturer capturing an image of the sample to be measured; an image acquirer acquiring image data of the sample captured by the image capturer; a pattern searcher performing, on the image data of the sample acquired by the image acquirer, pattern searching process using a pattern image selected based on the sample and identifying a position in the image matching the pattern image; a profile extractor extracting a profile of the sample based on the position in the image identified by the pattern searcher; a calculator calculating a hardness measurement position of the sample based on the profile extracted by the profile extractor; and a measurer executing hardness testing on the sample based on the hardness measurement position calculated by the calculator and measuring the hardness of the sample.