OpenCV, or Open Source Computer Vision Library, is a powerful cross-platform library designed for real-time computer vision applications. It primarily focuses on image processing, video capture, and analysis, including tasks such as face detection and object recognition. Originally developed by Intel in 1999, OpenCV has since gained support from various organizations, including Willow Garage, and is widely used in both academic and commercial settings.

The library supports multiple programming languages, including C++, Python, and Java, and is compatible with various operating systems such as Windows, Linux, and macOS. OpenCV Python serves as a wrapper for the original C++ library, allowing seamless integration with NumPy, which is beneficial for numerical computations and data manipulation.

To get started with OpenCV, you can install it using package managers like pip for Python, and explore its extensive functionalities, including image operations, geometric transformations, and image filtering techniques ¹³⁵.