To provide an image processing apparatus and an image processing method for performing image processing using units suitable for image processes of different kinds respectively, performing image processing with a high efficiency sufficiently utilizing a resource, relieving a load of an image processing means, efficiently storing image data processed by an external device and received not through the image processing means of the main body to an image memory, and using the image memory in common and effectively using the image memory.

An image memory access control section 221 is provided with at least one memory image processing section 709 for applying prescribed image processing to image data stored in a memory module 222. The memory image processing section 709 controls data arrangement of the image data on the basis of a linear matrix at a pre-stage of a data compression section 706 for compressing the image data and storing the compressed image data to the memory module 222 so as to increase the compression rate.