OpenCV means Intel® Open Source Computer Vision Library. It is a collection of C functions and a few C++ classes that implement some popular Image Processing and Computer Vision algorithms. [for more info check http://www.intel.com/technology/computing/opencv/ ]
The key features : OpenCV has cross-platform middle-to-high level API that consists of a few hundreds (>300) C functions. It does not rely on external libraries, though it can use some when it is possible.OpenCV is free for both non-commercial and commercial use (see the license for details).
OpenCV provides transparent interface to Intel® Integrated Performance Primitives (IPP). That is, it loads automatically IPP libraries optimized for specific processor at runtime, if they are available. More information about IPP can be retrieved at http://www.intel.com/software/products/ipp/index.htm
For more information about OpenCV :
- Intel's pages : http://www.intel.com/technology/computing/opencv/
- Yahoo!Groups : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OpenCV/
- SourceForge : http://sourceforge.net/projects/opencvlibrary [u can download z lib here]