IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS

An image processing apparatus includes a controller configured to: (i) perform image recognition of the camera image to identify a signal region in which a traffic light exists in the camera image; (ii) divide the signal region into a plurality of sub-regions; (iii) calculate a first representative pixel value related to a color component for each of a predetermined number of the sub-regions; (iv) identify as same color regions each of the predetermined number of the sub-regions that have more than a predetermined number of pixels with pixel values within a predetermined range of the first representative pixel value; (v) calculate a second representative pixel value related to a color component in the same color regions; and (vi) exclude the pixels having the pixel values within a predetermined range of the second representative pixel value from the signal region for subsequent determination of the light color of the traffic light.