20. An apparatus for classifying the material type of an unknown material into a probability distribution of multiple predetermined material types by using a collection of plural predetermined material classifiers, wherein each material type of the multiple predetermined material types is associated with a corresponding best performing classifier from the collection of plural predetermined material classifiers by a predesignated stored association, the apparatus comprising: an application unit configured to apply the plural material classifiers to the unknown material to obtain a list of candidate material types; a look up unit configured to look up a list of potential best performing classifiers using the list of candidate material types as a reference into the predesignated stored association; and an assigning unit configured to assign a respective probability that the unknown material belongs to a material type based on the list of potential best performing classifiers, wherein the application unit is further configured to obtain one or more feature vectors for the unknown material and to input a corresponding one of the feature vectors into each of the plural material classifiers so as to obtain an output representative of material type from each of the plural material classifiers, and wherein each of the application unit, the look up unit and the assigning unit is implemented using a processor.
20. An apparatus for classifying the material type of an unknown material into a probability distribution of multiple predetermined material types by using a collection of plural predetermined material classifiers, wherein each material type of the multiple predetermined material types is associated with a corresponding best performing classifier from the collection of plural predetermined material classifiers by a predesignated stored association, the apparatus comprising: an application unit configured to apply the plural material classifiers to the unknown material to obtain a list of candidate material types; a look up unit configured to look up a list of potential best performing classifiers using the list of candidate material types as a reference into the predesignated stored association; and an assigning unit configured to assign a respective probability that the unknown material belongs to a material type based on the list of potential best performing classifiers, wherein the application unit is further configured to obtain one or more feature vectors for the unknown material and to input a corresponding one of the feature vectors into each of the plural material classifiers so as to obtain an output representative of material type from each of the plural material classifiers, and wherein each of the application unit, the look up unit and the assigning unit is implemented using a processor. 33. The apparatus according to claim 20 , wherein the predesignated stored association by which each material type is associated with a corresponding best performing classifier is stored in a look up table.