BOUNDARY LINE DETECTING METHOD AND APPARATUS, IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD AND APPARATUS, NON-BOUNDARY LINE DETECTING METHOD AND APPARATUS

To detect a boundary line between different objects in contact which appear to be the same object as their structural consistencies are identical or substantially identical, there are provided a motion vector detecting unit which calculates motion vectors in plural parts from plural images obtained at different times, a boundary block extracting unit which extracts a boundary block from the difference of motion vectors, and a boundary line estimating unit which estimates a boundary line based on the extracted boundary block.