Content-based image retrieval (CBIR), also known as query by image content (QBIC) and content-based visual information retrieval (CBVIR) is the application of computer vision

Computer vision

Computer vision is a field that includes methods for acquiring, processing, analysing, and understanding images and, in general, high-dimensional data from the real world in order to produce numerical or symbolic information, e.g., in the forms of decisions...

 techniques to the image retrieval

Image retrieval

An image retrieval system is a computer system for browsing, searching and retrieving images from a large database of digital images. Most traditional and common methods of image retrieval utilize some method of adding metadata such as captioning, keywords, or descriptions to the images so that...

 problem, that is, the problem of searching for digital image

Digital image

A digital image is a numeric representation of a two-dimensional image. Depending on whether or not the image resolution is fixed, it may be of vector or raster type...

s in large database

Database

A database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...

s. (see this survey for a recent scientific overview of the CBIR field). Content based image retrieval is opposed to concept based approaches (see concept based image indexing

Concept based image indexing

Concept-based image indexing, also variably named as “description-based” or “text-based” image indexing/retrieval, refers to retrieval from text-based indexing of images that may employ keywords, subject headings, captions, or natural language text...

).

"Content-based" means that the search will analyze the actual contents of the image rather than the metadata such as keywords, tags, and/or descriptions associated with the image.