For some reason the code bellow is not working. I have two 640*480 images which are very similar but not the same (at least few hundred/thousand pixels should be different).

This is how I am comparing them and counting different pixels:

unsigned char* row;
unsigned char* row2;
int count = 0;

// this happens in a loop
// fIplImageHeader is current image
// lastFIplImageHeader is image from previous iteration
if ( NULL != lastFIplImageHeader->imageData ) {
for( int y = 0; y < fIplImageHeader->height; y++ )
{
    row = &CV_IMAGE_ELEM( fIplImageHeader, unsigned char, y, 0 );
    row2 = &CV_IMAGE_ELEM( lastFIplImageHeader, unsigned char, y, 0 );
    for( int x = 0; x < fIplImageHeader->width*fIplImageHeader->nChannels; x += fIplImageHeader->nChannels )
    {
        if (row[x] == row2[x])      // the pixel in the first channel (usually G)
        {
            count++;
        }
        if (row[x+1] == row2[x+1])  // ... second channel (usually B)
        {
            count++;
        }
        if (row[x+2] == row2[x+2])  // ... third channel (usually R)
        {
            count++;
        }
    }
}
}

Now at the end I get number 3626 which would seem alright.

But, I tried opening one of the images in MS Paint and drawing thick red lines all over it which should increase the number of different pixels substantially. I got the same number again: 3626.

Obviously I am doing something wrong here.

I am comparing these images in a loop.

This line is before the loop:

IplImage* lastFIplImageHeader = cvCreateImageHeader(cvSize(640, 480), 8, 3);

Then inside the loop I load images like this:

IplImage* fIplImageHeader = cvLoadImage( filePath.c_str() );

// here I compare the pixels (the first code snippet)

lastFIplImageHeader->imageData = fIplImageHeader->imageData;

So lastFIplImageHeader is storing the image from the previous iteration and fIplImageHeader is storing the current image.