diff --git a/samples/cpp/3calibration.cpp b/samples/cpp/3calibration.cpp
index cf37e65006..12f2c81fca 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/3calibration.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/3calibration.cpp
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 #include "opencv2/imgproc/imgproc.hpp"
 #include "opencv2/imgcodecs/imgcodecs.hpp"
 #include "opencv2/highgui/highgui.hpp"
+#include "opencv2/core/utility.hpp"
 
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <string.h>
@@ -20,12 +21,12 @@ static void help()
 {
         printf( "\nThis is a camera calibration sample that calibrates 3 horizontally placed cameras together.\n"
                "Usage: 3calibration\n"
-               "     -w <board_width>         # the number of inner corners per one of board dimension\n"
-               "     -h <board_height>        # the number of inner corners per another board dimension\n"
-               "     [-s <squareSize>]       # square size in some user-defined units (1 by default)\n"
-               "     [-o <out_camera_params>] # the output filename for intrinsic [and extrinsic] parameters\n"
+               "     -w=<board_width>         # the number of inner corners per one of board dimension\n"
+               "     -h=<board_height>        # the number of inner corners per another board dimension\n"
+               "     [-s=<squareSize>]       # square size in some user-defined units (1 by default)\n"
+               "     [-o=<out_camera_params>] # the output filename for intrinsic [and extrinsic] parameters\n"
                "     [-zt]                    # assume zero tangential distortion\n"
-               "     [-a <aspectRatio>]      # fix aspect ratio (fx/fy)\n"
+               "     [-a=<aspectRatio>]      # fix aspect ratio (fx/fy)\n"
                "     [-p]                     # fix the principal point at the center\n"
                "     [input_data]             # input data - text file with a list of the images of the board\n"
                "\n" );
@@ -42,7 +43,7 @@ static void calcChessboardCorners(Size boardSize, float squareSize, vector<Point
                                       float(i*squareSize), 0));
 }
 
-static bool run3Calibration( vector<vector<Point2f> > imagePoints1,
+static bool run3Calibration(vector<vector<Point2f> > imagePoints1,
                             vector<vector<Point2f> > imagePoints2,
                             vector<vector<Point2f> > imagePoints3,
                             Size imageSize, Size boardSize,
@@ -177,65 +178,48 @@ int main( int argc, char** argv )
     int i, k;
     int flags = 0;
     Size boardSize, imageSize;
-    float squareSize = 1.f, aspectRatio = 1.f;
-    const char* outputFilename = "out_camera_data.yml";
-    const char* inputFilename = 0;
+    float squareSize, aspectRatio;
+    string outputFilename;
+    string inputFilename = "";
 
     vector<vector<Point2f> > imgpt[3];
     vector<string> imageList;
 
-    if(argc < 2)
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv,
+        "{help ||}{w||}{h||}{s|1|}{o|out_camera_data.yml|}"
+        "{zt||}{a|1|}{p||}{@input||}");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
     {
         help();
-        return 1;
+        return 0;
     }
-
-
-    for( i = 1; i < argc; i++ )
+    boardSize.width = parser.get<int>("w");
+    boardSize.height = parser.get<int>("h");
+    squareSize = parser.get<float>("s");
+    aspectRatio = parser.get<float>("a");
+    if (parser.has("a"))
+        flags |= CALIB_FIX_ASPECT_RATIO;
+    if (parser.has("zt"))
+        flags |= CALIB_ZERO_TANGENT_DIST;
+    if (parser.has("p"))
+        flags |= CALIB_FIX_PRINCIPAL_POINT;
+    outputFilename = parser.get<string>("o");
+    inputFilename = parser.get<string>("@input");
+    if (!parser.check())
     {
-        const char* s = argv[i];
-        if( strcmp( s, "-w" ) == 0 )
-        {
-            if( sscanf( argv[++i], "%u", &boardSize.width ) != 1 || boardSize.width <= 0 )
-                return fprintf( stderr, "Invalid board width\n" ), -1;
-        }
-        else if( strcmp( s, "-h" ) == 0 )
-        {
-            if( sscanf( argv[++i], "%u", &boardSize.height ) != 1 || boardSize.height <= 0 )
-                return fprintf( stderr, "Invalid board height\n" ), -1;
-        }
-        else if( strcmp( s, "-s" ) == 0 )
-        {
-            if( sscanf( argv[++i], "%f", &squareSize ) != 1 || squareSize <= 0 )
-                return fprintf( stderr, "Invalid board square width\n" ), -1;
-        }
-        else if( strcmp( s, "-a" ) == 0 )
-        {
-            if( sscanf( argv[++i], "%f", &aspectRatio ) != 1 || aspectRatio <= 0 )
-                return printf("Invalid aspect ratio\n" ), -1;
-            flags |= CALIB_FIX_ASPECT_RATIO;
-        }
-        else if( strcmp( s, "-zt" ) == 0 )
-        {
-            flags |= CALIB_ZERO_TANGENT_DIST;
-        }
-        else if( strcmp( s, "-p" ) == 0 )
-        {
-            flags |= CALIB_FIX_PRINCIPAL_POINT;
-        }
-        else if( strcmp( s, "-o" ) == 0 )
-        {
-            outputFilename = argv[++i];
-        }
-        else if( s[0] != '-' )
-        {
-            inputFilename = s;
-        }
-        else
-            return fprintf( stderr, "Unknown option %s", s ), -1;
+        help();
+        parser.printErrors();
+        return -1;
     }
-
-    if( !inputFilename ||
+    if (boardSize.width <= 0)
+        return fprintf( stderr, "Invalid board width\n" ), -1;
+    if (boardSize.height <= 0)
+        return fprintf( stderr, "Invalid board height\n" ), -1;
+    if (squareSize <= 0)
+        return fprintf( stderr, "Invalid board square width\n" ), -1;
+    if (aspectRatio <= 0)
+        return printf("Invalid aspect ratio\n" ), -1;
+    if( inputFilename.empty() ||
        !readStringList(inputFilename, imageList) ||
        imageList.size() == 0 || imageList.size() % 3 != 0 )
     {
diff --git a/samples/cpp/autofocus.cpp b/samples/cpp/autofocus.cpp
index f237fb2ddb..cef279d6f2 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/autofocus.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/autofocus.cpp
@@ -43,11 +43,11 @@ const double epsylon = 0.0005; // compression, noice, etc.
 
 struct Args_t
 {
-    const char * deviceName;
-    const char * output;
-    unsigned int fps;
-    unsigned int minimumFocusStep;
-    unsigned int breakLimit;
+    string deviceName;
+    string output;
+    int fps;
+    int minimumFocusStep;
+    int breakLimit;
     bool measure;
     bool verbose;
 } GlobalArgs;
@@ -218,12 +218,12 @@ static void showHelp(const char * pName, bool welcomeMsg)
         cout << "usage " << pName << ": [OPTIONS] DEVICE_NAME\n\n"
                 "OPTIONS:\n"
                 "\t-h\t\treturns this help message,\n"
-                "\t-o FILENAME\tsave output video in file (MJPEG only),\n"
-                "\t-f FPS\t\tframes per second in output video,\n"
+                "\t-o=<FILENAME>\tsave output video in file (MJPEG only),\n"
+                "\t-f=FPS\t\tframes per second in output video,\n"
                 "\t-m\t\tmeasure exposition\n"
                 "\t\t\t(returns rates from closest focus to INTY\n"
                 "\t\t\tfor every minimum step),\n"
-                "\t-d INT\t\tset minimum focus step,\n"
+                "\t-d=<INT>\t\tset minimum focus step,\n"
                 "\t-v\t\tverbose mode.\n\n\n"
                 "DEVICE_NAME\t\tis your digital camera model substring.\n\n\n"
                 "On runtime you can use keys to control:\n";
@@ -244,60 +244,36 @@ static void showHelp(const char * pName, bool welcomeMsg)
 
 static bool parseArguments(int argc, char ** argv)
 {
-    int index;
-    GlobalArgs.deviceName = "Nikon";
-    GlobalArgs.output = NULL;
-    GlobalArgs.fps = DEFAULT_OUTPUT_FPS;
-    GlobalArgs.minimumFocusStep = 0;
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, "{h help ||}{o||}{f||}{m||}{d|0|}{v||}{@device|Nikon|}");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
+        return false;
     GlobalArgs.breakLimit = DEFAULT_BREAK_LIMIT;
-    GlobalArgs.measure = false;
-    GlobalArgs.verbose = false;
-
-    for (index = 1; index < argc; index++)
+    if (parser.has("o"))
+        GlobalArgs.output = parser.get<string>("o");
+    else
+        GlobalArgs.output = "";
+    if (parser.has("f"))
+        GlobalArgs.fps = parser.get<int>("f");
+    else
+        GlobalArgs.fps = DEFAULT_OUTPUT_FPS;
+    GlobalArgs.measure = parser.has("m");
+    GlobalArgs.verbose = parser.has("v");
+    GlobalArgs.minimumFocusStep = parser.get<int>("d");
+    GlobalArgs.deviceName = parser.get<string>("@device");
+    if (!parser.check())
     {
-        const char * arg = argv[index];
-        if (strcmp(arg, "-h") == 0)
-        {
-            return false;
-        }
-        else if (strcmp(arg, "-o") == 0)
-        {
-            GlobalArgs.output = argv[++index];
-        }
-        else if (strcmp(arg, "-f") == 0)
-        {
-            if (sscanf(argv[++index], "%u", &GlobalArgs.fps) != 1
-                    || GlobalArgs.fps <= 0)
-            {
-                cerr << "Invalid fps argument." << endl;
-                return false;
-            }
-        }
-        else if (strcmp(arg, "-m") == 0)
-        {
-            GlobalArgs.measure = true;
-        }
-        else if (strcmp(arg, "-v") == 0)
-        {
-            GlobalArgs.verbose = true;
-        }
-        else if (strcmp(arg, "-d") == 0)
-        {
-            if (sscanf(argv[++index], "%u", &GlobalArgs.minimumFocusStep) != 1
-                    || GlobalArgs.minimumFocusStep <= 0)
-            {
-                cerr << "Invalid minimum focus step argument." << endl;
-                return false;
-            }
-        }
-        else if (arg[0] != '-')
-        {
-            GlobalArgs.deviceName = arg;
-        }
-        else
-        {
-            cerr << "Unknown option " << arg << endl;
-        }
+        parser.printErrors();
+        return false;
+    }
+    if (GlobalArgs.fps < 0)
+    {
+        cerr << "Invalid fps argument." << endl;
+        return false;
+    }
+    if (GlobalArgs.minimumFocusStep < 0)
+    {
+        cerr << "Invalid minimum focus step argument." << endl;
+        return false;
     }
     return true;
 }
@@ -343,7 +319,7 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv)
     cap.set(CAP_PROP_GPHOTO2_PREVIEW, true);
     cap.set(CAP_PROP_VIEWFINDER, true);
     cap >> frame; // To check PREVIEW output Size.
-    if (GlobalArgs.output != NULL)
+    if (!GlobalArgs.output.empty())
     {
         Size S = Size((int) cap.get(CAP_PROP_FRAME_WIDTH), (int) cap.get(CAP_PROP_FRAME_HEIGHT));
         int fourCC = CV_FOURCC('M', 'J', 'P', 'G');
@@ -375,7 +351,7 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv)
         {
             break;
         }
-        if (GlobalArgs.output != NULL)
+        if (!GlobalArgs.output.empty())
         {
             videoWriter << frame;
         }
diff --git a/samples/cpp/calibration.cpp b/samples/cpp/calibration.cpp
index 7c751f8f6f..415d8bb837 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/calibration.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/calibration.cpp
@@ -16,11 +16,11 @@ using namespace std;
 
 const char * usage =
 " \nexample command line for calibration from a live feed.\n"
-"   calibration  -w 4 -h 5 -s 0.025 -o camera.yml -op -oe\n"
+"   calibration  -w=4 -h=5 -s=0.025 -o=camera.yml -op -oe\n"
 " \n"
 " example command line for calibration from a list of stored images:\n"
 "   imagelist_creator image_list.xml *.png\n"
-"   calibration -w 4 -h 5 -s 0.025 -o camera.yml -op -oe image_list.xml\n"
+"   calibration -w=4 -h=5 -s=0.025 -o=camera.yml -op -oe image_list.xml\n"
 " where image_list.xml is the standard OpenCV XML/YAML\n"
 " use imagelist_creator to create the xml or yaml list\n"
 " file consisting of the list of strings, e.g.:\n"
@@ -50,20 +50,20 @@ static void help()
 {
     printf( "This is a camera calibration sample.\n"
         "Usage: calibration\n"
-        "     -w <board_width>         # the number of inner corners per one of board dimension\n"
-        "     -h <board_height>        # the number of inner corners per another board dimension\n"
-        "     [-pt <pattern>]          # the type of pattern: chessboard or circles' grid\n"
-        "     [-n <number_of_frames>]  # the number of frames to use for calibration\n"
+        "     -w=<board_width>         # the number of inner corners per one of board dimension\n"
+        "     -h=<board_height>        # the number of inner corners per another board dimension\n"
+        "     [-pt=<pattern>]          # the type of pattern: chessboard or circles' grid\n"
+        "     [-n=<number_of_frames>]  # the number of frames to use for calibration\n"
         "                              # (if not specified, it will be set to the number\n"
         "                              #  of board views actually available)\n"
-        "     [-d <delay>]             # a minimum delay in ms between subsequent attempts to capture a next view\n"
+        "     [-d=<delay>]             # a minimum delay in ms between subsequent attempts to capture a next view\n"
         "                              # (used only for video capturing)\n"
-        "     [-s <squareSize>]       # square size in some user-defined units (1 by default)\n"
-        "     [-o <out_camera_params>] # the output filename for intrinsic [and extrinsic] parameters\n"
+        "     [-s=<squareSize>]       # square size in some user-defined units (1 by default)\n"
+        "     [-o=<out_camera_params>] # the output filename for intrinsic [and extrinsic] parameters\n"
         "     [-op]                    # write detected feature points\n"
         "     [-oe]                    # write extrinsic parameters\n"
         "     [-zt]                    # assume zero tangential distortion\n"
-        "     [-a <aspectRatio>]      # fix aspect ratio (fx/fy)\n"
+        "     [-a=<aspectRatio>]      # fix aspect ratio (fx/fy)\n"
         "     [-p]                     # fix the principal point at the center\n"
         "     [-v]                     # flip the captured images around the horizontal axis\n"
         "     [-V]                     # use a video file, and not an image list, uses\n"
@@ -297,20 +297,20 @@ static bool runAndSave(const string& outputFilename,
 int main( int argc, char** argv )
 {
     Size boardSize, imageSize;
-    float squareSize = 1.f, aspectRatio = 1.f;
+    float squareSize, aspectRatio;
     Mat cameraMatrix, distCoeffs;
-    const char* outputFilename = "out_camera_data.yml";
-    const char* inputFilename = 0;
+    string outputFilename;
+    string inputFilename = "";
 
-    int i, nframes = 10;
-    bool writeExtrinsics = false, writePoints = false;
+    int i, nframes;
+    bool writeExtrinsics, writePoints;
     bool undistortImage = false;
     int flags = 0;
     VideoCapture capture;
-    bool flipVertical = false;
-    bool showUndistorted = false;
-    bool videofile = false;
-    int delay = 1000;
+    bool flipVertical;
+    bool showUndistorted;
+    bool videofile;
+    int delay;
     clock_t prevTimestamp = 0;
     int mode = DETECTION;
     int cameraId = 0;
@@ -318,102 +318,70 @@ int main( int argc, char** argv )
     vector<string> imageList;
     Pattern pattern = CHESSBOARD;
 
-    if( argc < 2 )
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv,
+        "{help ||}{w||}{h||}{pt|chessboard|}{n|10|}{d|1000|}{s|1|}{o|out_camera_data.yml|}"
+        "{op||}{oe||}{zt||}{a|1|}{p||}{v||}{V||}{su||}"
+        "{@input_data|0|}");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
     {
         help();
         return 0;
     }
-
-    for( i = 1; i < argc; i++ )
+    boardSize.width = parser.get<int>( "w" );
+    boardSize.height = parser.get<int>( "h" );
+    if ( parser.has("pt") )
     {
-        const char* s = argv[i];
-        if( strcmp( s, "-w" ) == 0 )
-        {
-            if( sscanf( argv[++i], "%u", &boardSize.width ) != 1 || boardSize.width <= 0 )
-                return fprintf( stderr, "Invalid board width\n" ), -1;
-        }
-        else if( strcmp( s, "-h" ) == 0 )
-        {
-            if( sscanf( argv[++i], "%u", &boardSize.height ) != 1 || boardSize.height <= 0 )
-                return fprintf( stderr, "Invalid board height\n" ), -1;
-        }
-        else if( strcmp( s, "-pt" ) == 0 )
-        {
-            i++;
-            if( !strcmp( argv[i], "circles" ) )
-                pattern = CIRCLES_GRID;
-            else if( !strcmp( argv[i], "acircles" ) )
-                pattern = ASYMMETRIC_CIRCLES_GRID;
-            else if( !strcmp( argv[i], "chessboard" ) )
-                pattern = CHESSBOARD;
-            else
-                return fprintf( stderr, "Invalid pattern type: must be chessboard or circles\n" ), -1;
-        }
-        else if( strcmp( s, "-s" ) == 0 )
-        {
-            if( sscanf( argv[++i], "%f", &squareSize ) != 1 || squareSize <= 0 )
-                return fprintf( stderr, "Invalid board square width\n" ), -1;
-        }
-        else if( strcmp( s, "-n" ) == 0 )
-        {
-            if( sscanf( argv[++i], "%u", &nframes ) != 1 || nframes <= 3 )
-                return printf("Invalid number of images\n" ), -1;
-        }
-        else if( strcmp( s, "-a" ) == 0 )
-        {
-            if( sscanf( argv[++i], "%f", &aspectRatio ) != 1 || aspectRatio <= 0 )
-                return printf("Invalid aspect ratio\n" ), -1;
-            flags |= CALIB_FIX_ASPECT_RATIO;
-        }
-        else if( strcmp( s, "-d" ) == 0 )
-        {
-            if( sscanf( argv[++i], "%u", &delay ) != 1 || delay <= 0 )
-                return printf("Invalid delay\n" ), -1;
-        }
-        else if( strcmp( s, "-op" ) == 0 )
-        {
-            writePoints = true;
-        }
-        else if( strcmp( s, "-oe" ) == 0 )
-        {
-            writeExtrinsics = true;
-        }
-        else if( strcmp( s, "-zt" ) == 0 )
-        {
-            flags |= CALIB_ZERO_TANGENT_DIST;
-        }
-        else if( strcmp( s, "-p" ) == 0 )
-        {
-            flags |= CALIB_FIX_PRINCIPAL_POINT;
-        }
-        else if( strcmp( s, "-v" ) == 0 )
-        {
-            flipVertical = true;
-        }
-        else if( strcmp( s, "-V" ) == 0 )
-        {
-            videofile = true;
-        }
-        else if( strcmp( s, "-o" ) == 0 )
-        {
-            outputFilename = argv[++i];
-        }
-        else if( strcmp( s, "-su" ) == 0 )
-        {
-            showUndistorted = true;
-        }
-        else if( s[0] != '-' )
-        {
-            if( isdigit(s[0]) )
-                sscanf(s, "%d", &cameraId);
-            else
-                inputFilename = s;
-        }
+        string val = parser.get<string>("pt");
+        if( val == "circles" )
+            pattern = CIRCLES_GRID;
+        else if( val == "acircles" )
+            pattern = ASYMMETRIC_CIRCLES_GRID;
+        else if( val == "chessboard" )
+            pattern = CHESSBOARD;
         else
-            return fprintf( stderr, "Unknown option %s", s ), -1;
+            return fprintf( stderr, "Invalid pattern type: must be chessboard or circles\n" ), -1;
     }
-
-    if( inputFilename )
+    squareSize = parser.get<float>("s");
+    nframes = parser.get<int>("n");
+    aspectRatio = parser.get<float>("a");
+    delay = parser.get<int>("d");
+    writePoints = parser.has("op");
+    writeExtrinsics = parser.has("oe");
+    if (parser.has("a"))
+        flags |= CALIB_FIX_ASPECT_RATIO;
+    if ( parser.has("zt") )
+        flags |= CALIB_ZERO_TANGENT_DIST;
+    if ( parser.has("p") )
+        flags |= CALIB_FIX_PRINCIPAL_POINT;
+    flipVertical = parser.has("v");
+    videofile = parser.has("V");
+    if ( parser.has("o") )
+        outputFilename = parser.get<string>("o");
+    showUndistorted = parser.has("su");
+    if ( isdigit(parser.get<string>("@input_data")[0]) )
+        cameraId = parser.get<int>("@input_data");
+    else
+        inputFilename = parser.get<string>("@input_data");
+    if (!parser.check())
+    {
+        help();
+        parser.printErrors();
+        return -1;
+    }
+    if ( squareSize <= 0 )
+        return fprintf( stderr, "Invalid board square width\n" ), -1;
+    if ( nframes <= 3 )
+        return printf("Invalid number of images\n" ), -1;
+    if ( aspectRatio <= 0 )
+        return printf( "Invalid aspect ratio\n" ), -1;
+    if ( delay <= 0 )
+        return printf( "Invalid delay\n" ), -1;
+    if ( boardSize.width <= 0 )
+        return fprintf( stderr, "Invalid board width\n" ), -1;
+    if ( boardSize.height <= 0 )
+        return fprintf( stderr, "Invalid board height\n" ), -1;
+
+    if( !inputFilename.empty() )
     {
         if( !videofile && readStringList(inputFilename, imageList) )
             mode = CAPTURING;
diff --git a/samples/cpp/camshiftdemo.cpp b/samples/cpp/camshiftdemo.cpp
index 6400f1ec7d..4286e253e9 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/camshiftdemo.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/camshiftdemo.cpp
@@ -47,6 +47,15 @@ static void onMouse( int event, int x, int y, int, void* )
     }
 }
 
+string hot_keys =
+    "\n\nHot keys: \n"
+    "\tESC - quit the program\n"
+    "\tc - stop the tracking\n"
+    "\tb - switch to/from backprojection view\n"
+    "\th - show/hide object histogram\n"
+    "\tp - pause video\n"
+    "To initialize tracking, select the object with mouse\n";
+
 static void help()
 {
     cout << "\nThis is a demo that shows mean-shift based tracking\n"
@@ -54,33 +63,28 @@ static void help()
             "This reads from video camera (0 by default, or the camera number the user enters\n"
             "Usage: \n"
             "   ./camshiftdemo [camera number]\n";
-
-    cout << "\n\nHot keys: \n"
-            "\tESC - quit the program\n"
-            "\tc - stop the tracking\n"
-            "\tb - switch to/from backprojection view\n"
-            "\th - show/hide object histogram\n"
-            "\tp - pause video\n"
-            "To initialize tracking, select the object with mouse\n";
+    cout << hot_keys;
 }
 
 const char* keys =
 {
-    "{@camera_number| 0 | camera number}"
+    "{help h | | show help message}{@camera_number| 0 | camera number}"
 };
 
 int main( int argc, const char** argv )
 {
-    help();
-
     VideoCapture cap;
     Rect trackWindow;
     int hsize = 16;
     float hranges[] = {0,180};
     const float* phranges = hranges;
     CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, keys);
+    if (parser.has("help"))
+    {
+        help();
+        return 0;
+    }
     int camNum = parser.get<int>(0);
-
     cap.open(camNum);
 
     if( !cap.isOpened() )
@@ -91,7 +95,7 @@ int main( int argc, const char** argv )
         parser.printMessage();
         return -1;
     }
-
+    cout << hot_keys;
     namedWindow( "Histogram", 0 );
     namedWindow( "CamShift Demo", 0 );
     setMouseCallback( "CamShift Demo", onMouse, 0 );
diff --git a/samples/cpp/connected_components.cpp b/samples/cpp/connected_components.cpp
index d1c3411a79..6c978f1535 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/connected_components.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/connected_components.cpp
@@ -43,13 +43,17 @@ static void help()
 
 const char* keys =
 {
-    "{@image|../data/stuff.jpg|image for converting to a grayscale}"
+    "{help h||}{@image|../data/stuff.jpg|image for converting to a grayscale}"
 };
 
 int main( int argc, const char** argv )
 {
-    help();
     CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, keys);
+    if (parser.has("help"))
+    {
+        help();
+        return 0;
+    }
     string inputImage = parser.get<string>(0);
     img = imread(inputImage.c_str(), 0);
 
diff --git a/samples/cpp/contours2.cpp b/samples/cpp/contours2.cpp
index 0b488959ef..c5a1fa70f5 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/contours2.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/contours2.cpp
@@ -33,14 +33,15 @@ static void on_trackbar(int, void*)
     imshow("contours", cnt_img);
 }
 
-int main( int argc, char**)
+int main( int argc, char** argv)
 {
-    Mat img = Mat::zeros(w, w, CV_8UC1);
-    if(argc > 1)
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, "{help h||}");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
     {
         help();
-        return -1;
+        return 0;
     }
+    Mat img = Mat::zeros(w, w, CV_8UC1);
     //Draw 6 faces
     for( int i = 0; i < 6; i++ )
     {
diff --git a/samples/cpp/convexhull.cpp b/samples/cpp/convexhull.cpp
index 2aef70fe7d..36e5544548 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/convexhull.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/convexhull.cpp
@@ -13,13 +13,17 @@ static void help()
          << "./convexhull\n" << endl;
 }
 
-int main( int /*argc*/, char** /*argv*/ )
+int main( int argc, char** argv )
 {
+    CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, "{help h||}");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
+    {
+        help();
+        return 0;
+    }
     Mat img(500, 500, CV_8UC3);
     RNG& rng = theRNG();
 
-    help();
-
     for(;;)
     {
         char key;
diff --git a/samples/cpp/cout_mat.cpp b/samples/cpp/cout_mat.cpp
index 2261d837c9..bf1dfb2a41 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/cout_mat.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/cout_mat.cpp
@@ -25,9 +25,14 @@ static void help()
 }
 
 
-int main(int,char**)
+int main(int argc, char** argv)
 {
-    help();
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, "{help h||}");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
+    {
+        help();
+        return 0;
+    }
     Mat I = Mat::eye(4, 4, CV_64F);
     I.at<double>(1,1) = CV_PI;
     cout << "I = \n" << I << ";" << endl << endl;
diff --git a/samples/cpp/create_mask.cpp b/samples/cpp/create_mask.cpp
index 42225ebc6c..7d6a61cfb4 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/create_mask.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/create_mask.cpp
@@ -123,14 +123,21 @@ void mouseHandler(int event, int x, int y, int, void*)
 
 int main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
-
-    if(argc != 2)
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, "{help h | | show help message}{@input | | input image}");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
+    {
+        parser.printMessage();
+        return 0;
+    }
+    string input_image = parser.get<string>("@input");
+    if (input_image.empty())
     {
-        cout << "usage: " << argv[0] << " <input_image>" << endl;
-        exit(1);
+        parser.printMessage();
+        parser.printErrors();
+        return 0;
     }
 
-    Mat src = imread(argv[1]);
+    Mat src = imread(input_image);
 
     minx = INT_MAX; miny = INT_MAX; maxx = INT_MIN; maxy = INT_MIN;
 
diff --git a/samples/cpp/delaunay2.cpp b/samples/cpp/delaunay2.cpp
index a00e31a988..a370feb2a7 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/delaunay2.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/delaunay2.cpp
@@ -103,9 +103,14 @@ static void paint_voronoi( Mat& img, Subdiv2D& subdiv )
 }
 
 
-int main( int, char** )
+int main( int argc, char** argv )
 {
-    help();
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, "{help h||}");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
+    {
+        help();
+        return 0;
+    }
 
     Scalar active_facet_color(0, 0, 255), delaunay_color(255,255,255);
     Rect rect(0, 0, 600, 600);
diff --git a/samples/cpp/demhist.cpp b/samples/cpp/demhist.cpp
index 39661f0a88..d4a4c92042 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/demhist.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/demhist.cpp
@@ -64,14 +64,17 @@ static void help()
 
 const char* keys =
 {
-    "{@image|../data/baboon.jpg|input image file}"
+    "{help h||}{@image|../data/baboon.jpg|input image file}"
 };
 
 int main( int argc, const char** argv )
 {
-    help();
-
     CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, keys);
+    if (parser.has("help"))
+    {
+        help();
+        return 0;
+    }
     string inputImage = parser.get<string>(0);
 
     // Load the source image. HighGUI use.
diff --git a/samples/cpp/detect_blob.cpp b/samples/cpp/detect_blob.cpp
index badbaaa416..879b47e69d 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/detect_blob.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/detect_blob.cpp
@@ -69,19 +69,13 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
     vector<String> fileName;
     Mat img(600, 800, CV_8UC1);
-    if (argc == 1)
-    {
-        fileName.push_back("../data/detect_blob.png");
-    }
-    else if (argc == 2)
-    {
-        fileName.push_back(argv[1]);
-    }
-    else
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, "{@input |../data/detect_blob.png| }{h help | | }");
+    if (parser.has("h"))
     {
         help();
-        return(0);
+        return 0;
     }
+    fileName.push_back(parser.get<string>("@input"));
     img = imread(fileName[0], IMREAD_COLOR);
     if (img.rows*img.cols <= 0)
     {
diff --git a/samples/cpp/detect_mser.cpp b/samples/cpp/detect_mser.cpp
index 796cfa8046..a9a3fa3298 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/detect_mser.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/detect_mser.cpp
@@ -402,11 +402,18 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
     vector<String> fileName;
     Mat imgOrig,img;
     Size blurSize(5,5);
-    if (argc==2)
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, "{ help h | | }{ @input | | }");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
     {
-        fileName.push_back(argv[1]);
-        imgOrig = imread(fileName[0], IMREAD_GRAYSCALE);    blur(imgOrig, img, blurSize);
-
+        help();
+        return 0;
+    }
+    string input = parser.get<string>("@input");
+    if (!input.empty())
+    {
+        fileName.push_back(input);
+        imgOrig = imread(fileName[0], IMREAD_GRAYSCALE);
+        blur(imgOrig, img, blurSize);
     }
     else
     {
diff --git a/samples/cpp/dft.cpp b/samples/cpp/dft.cpp
index 0525d9f4fa..ddb56acf09 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/dft.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/dft.cpp
@@ -19,16 +19,20 @@ static void help()
 
 const char* keys =
 {
-    "{@image|../data/lena.jpg|input image file}"
+    "{help h||}{@image|../data/lena.jpg|input image file}"
 };
 
 int main(int argc, const char ** argv)
 {
     help();
     CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, keys);
+    if (parser.has("help"))
+    {
+        help();
+        return 0;
+    }
     string filename = parser.get<string>(0);
-
-    Mat img = imread(filename.c_str(), IMREAD_GRAYSCALE);
+    Mat img = imread(filename, IMREAD_GRAYSCALE);
     if( img.empty() )
     {
         help();
diff --git a/samples/cpp/distrans.cpp b/samples/cpp/distrans.cpp
index 070df3c488..4bf4707ba6 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/distrans.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/distrans.cpp
@@ -107,15 +107,17 @@ static void help()
 
 const char* keys =
 {
-    "{@image |../data/stuff.jpg|input image file}"
+    "{help h||}{@image |../data/stuff.jpg|input image file}"
 };
 
 int main( int argc, const char** argv )
 {
-    help();
     CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, keys);
+    help();
+    if (parser.has("help"))
+        return 0;
     string filename = parser.get<string>(0);
-    gray = imread(filename.c_str(), 0);
+    gray = imread(filename, 0);
     if(gray.empty())
     {
         printf("Cannot read image file: %s\n", filename.c_str());
diff --git a/samples/cpp/drawing.cpp b/samples/cpp/drawing.cpp
index 43e8c112fd..236bcbcc62 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/drawing.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/drawing.cpp
@@ -16,9 +16,14 @@ static Scalar randomColor(RNG& rng)
     return Scalar(icolor&255, (icolor>>8)&255, (icolor>>16)&255);
 }
 
-int main()
+int main(int argc, char** argv)
 {
-    help();
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, "{help h||}");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
+    {
+        help();
+        return 0;
+    }
     char wndname[] = "Drawing Demo";
     const int NUMBER = 100;
     const int DELAY = 5;
diff --git a/samples/cpp/edge.cpp b/samples/cpp/edge.cpp
index 4b398e7774..88abd8b257 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/edge.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/edge.cpp
@@ -33,14 +33,17 @@ static void help()
 
 const char* keys =
 {
-    "{@image |../data/fruits.jpg|input image name}"
+    "{help h||}{@image |../data/fruits.jpg|input image name}"
 };
 
 int main( int argc, const char** argv )
 {
-    help();
-
     CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, keys);
+    if (parser.has("help"))
+    {
+        help();
+        return 0;
+    }
     string filename = parser.get<string>(0);
 
     image = imread(filename, 1);
diff --git a/samples/cpp/facedetect.cpp b/samples/cpp/facedetect.cpp
index 2be4e17e41..39717b7336 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/facedetect.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/facedetect.cpp
@@ -27,73 +27,52 @@ void detectAndDraw( Mat& img, CascadeClassifier& cascade,
                     CascadeClassifier& nestedCascade,
                     double scale, bool tryflip );
 
-string cascadeName = "../../data/haarcascades/haarcascade_frontalface_alt.xml";
-string nestedCascadeName = "../../data/haarcascades/haarcascade_eye_tree_eyeglasses.xml";
+string cascadeName;
+string nestedCascadeName;
 
 int main( int argc, const char** argv )
 {
     VideoCapture capture;
     Mat frame, image;
-    const string scaleOpt = "--scale=";
-    size_t scaleOptLen = scaleOpt.length();
-    const string cascadeOpt = "--cascade=";
-    size_t cascadeOptLen = cascadeOpt.length();
-    const string nestedCascadeOpt = "--nested-cascade";
-    size_t nestedCascadeOptLen = nestedCascadeOpt.length();
-    const string tryFlipOpt = "--try-flip";
-    size_t tryFlipOptLen = tryFlipOpt.length();
     string inputName;
-    bool tryflip = false;
-
-    help();
-
+    bool tryflip;
     CascadeClassifier cascade, nestedCascade;
-    double scale = 1;
-
-    for( int i = 1; i < argc; i++ )
+    double scale;
+
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv,
+        "{help h||}"
+        "{cascade|../../data/haarcascades/haarcascade_frontalface_alt.xml|}"
+        "{nested-cascade|../../data/haarcascades/haarcascade_eye_tree_eyeglasses.xml|}"
+        "{scale|1|}{try-flip||}{@filename||}"
+    );
+    if (parser.has("help"))
     {
-        cout << "Processing " << i << " " <<  argv[i] << endl;
-        if( cascadeOpt.compare( 0, cascadeOptLen, argv[i], cascadeOptLen ) == 0 )
-        {
-            cascadeName.assign( argv[i] + cascadeOptLen );
-            cout << "  from which we have cascadeName= " << cascadeName << endl;
-        }
-        else if( nestedCascadeOpt.compare( 0, nestedCascadeOptLen, argv[i], nestedCascadeOptLen ) == 0 )
-        {
-            if( argv[i][nestedCascadeOpt.length()] == '=' )
-                nestedCascadeName.assign( argv[i] + nestedCascadeOpt.length() + 1 );
-            if( !nestedCascade.load( nestedCascadeName ) )
-                cerr << "WARNING: Could not load classifier cascade for nested objects" << endl;
-        }
-        else if( scaleOpt.compare( 0, scaleOptLen, argv[i], scaleOptLen ) == 0 )
-        {
-            if( !sscanf( argv[i] + scaleOpt.length(), "%lf", &scale ) || scale < 1 )
-                scale = 1;
-            cout << " from which we read scale = " << scale << endl;
-        }
-        else if( tryFlipOpt.compare( 0, tryFlipOptLen, argv[i], tryFlipOptLen ) == 0 )
-        {
-            tryflip = true;
-            cout << " will try to flip image horizontally to detect assymetric objects\n";
-        }
-        else if( argv[i][0] == '-' )
-        {
-            cerr << "WARNING: Unknown option %s" << argv[i] << endl;
-        }
-        else
-            inputName.assign( argv[i] );
+        help();
+        return 0;
     }
-
+    cascadeName = parser.get<string>("cascade");
+    nestedCascadeName = parser.get<string>("nested-cascade");
+    scale = parser.get<double>("scale");
+    if (scale < 1)
+        scale = 1;
+    tryflip = parser.has("try-flip");
+    inputName = parser.get<string>("@filename");
+    if (!parser.check())
+    {
+        parser.printErrors();
+        return 0;
+    }
+    if ( !nestedCascade.load( nestedCascadeName ) )
+        cerr << "WARNING: Could not load classifier cascade for nested objects" << endl;
     if( !cascade.load( cascadeName ) )
     {
         cerr << "ERROR: Could not load classifier cascade" << endl;
         help();
         return -1;
     }
-
-    if( inputName.empty() || (isdigit(inputName.c_str()[0]) && inputName.c_str()[1] == '\0') )
+    if( inputName.empty() || (isdigit(inputName[0]) && inputName.size() == 1) )
     {
-        int c = inputName.empty() ? 0 : inputName.c_str()[0] - '0' ;
+        int c = inputName.empty() ? 0 : inputName[0] - '0';
         if(!capture.open(c))
             cout << "Capture from camera #" <<  c << " didn't work" << endl;
     }
diff --git a/samples/cpp/facial_features.cpp b/samples/cpp/facial_features.cpp
index 9cfbd85c7f..f46fa3fb56 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/facial_features.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/facial_features.cpp
@@ -18,11 +18,6 @@
 using namespace std;
 using namespace cv;
 
-// Functions to parse command-line arguments
-static string getCommandOption(const vector<string>&, const string&);
-static void setCommandOptions(vector<string>&, int, char**);
-static bool doesCmdOptionExist(const vector<string>& , const string&);
-
 // Functions for facial feature detection
 static void help();
 static void detectFaces(Mat&, vector<Rect_<int> >&, string);
@@ -36,22 +31,23 @@ string face_cascade_path, eye_cascade_path, nose_cascade_path, mouth_cascade_pat
 
 int main(int argc, char** argv)
 {
-    if(argc < 3)
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv,
+            "{eyes||}{nose||}{mouth||}{help h||}");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
     {
         help();
+        return 0;
+    }
+    input_image_path = parser.get<string>(0);
+    face_cascade_path = parser.get<string>(1);
+    eye_cascade_path = parser.has("eyes") ? parser.get<string>("eyes") : "";
+    nose_cascade_path = parser.has("nose") ? parser.get<string>("nose") : "";
+    mouth_cascade_path = parser.has("mouth") ? parser.get<string>("mouth") : "";
+    if (input_image_path.empty() || face_cascade_path.empty())
+    {
+        cout << "IMAGE or FACE_CASCADE are not specified";
         return 1;
     }
-
-    // Extract command-line options
-    vector<string> args;
-    setCommandOptions(args, argc, argv);
-
-    input_image_path = argv[1];
-    face_cascade_path = argv[2];
-    eye_cascade_path = (doesCmdOptionExist(args, "-eyes")) ? getCommandOption(args, "-eyes") : "";
-    nose_cascade_path = (doesCmdOptionExist(args, "-nose")) ? getCommandOption(args, "-nose") : "";
-    mouth_cascade_path = (doesCmdOptionExist(args, "-mouth")) ? getCommandOption(args, "-mouth") : "";
-
     // Load image and cascade classifier files
     Mat image;
     image = imread(input_image_path);
@@ -67,30 +63,6 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
     return 0;
 }
 
-void setCommandOptions(vector<string>& args, int argc, char** argv)
-{
-    for(int i = 1; i < argc; ++i)
-    {
-        args.push_back(argv[i]);
-    }
-    return;
-}
-
-string getCommandOption(const vector<string>& args, const string& opt)
-{
-    string answer;
-    vector<string>::const_iterator it = find(args.begin(), args.end(), opt);
-    if(it != args.end() && (++it != args.end()))
-        answer = *it;
-    return answer;
-}
-
-bool doesCmdOptionExist(const vector<string>& args, const string& opt)
-{
-    vector<string>::const_iterator it = find(args.begin(), args.end(), opt);
-    return (it != args.end());
-}
-
 static void help()
 {
     cout << "\nThis file demonstrates facial feature points detection using Haarcascade classifiers.\n"
@@ -103,15 +75,15 @@ static void help()
         "FACE_CASCSDE\n\t Path to a haarcascade classifier for face detection.\n"
         "OPTIONS: \nThere are 3 options available which are described in detail. There must be a "
         "space between the option and it's argument (All three options accept arguments).\n"
-        "\t-eyes : Specify the haarcascade classifier for eye detection.\n"
-        "\t-nose : Specify the haarcascade classifier for nose detection.\n"
-        "\t-mouth : Specify the haarcascade classifier for mouth detection.\n";
+        "\t-eyes=<eyes_cascade> : Specify the haarcascade classifier for eye detection.\n"
+        "\t-nose=<nose_cascade> : Specify the haarcascade classifier for nose detection.\n"
+        "\t-mouth=<mouth-cascade> : Specify the haarcascade classifier for mouth detection.\n";
 
 
     cout << "EXAMPLE:\n"
-        "(1) ./cpp-example-facial_features image.jpg face.xml -eyes eyes.xml -mouth mouth.xml\n"
+        "(1) ./cpp-example-facial_features image.jpg face.xml -eyes=eyes.xml -mouth=mouth.xml\n"
         "\tThis will detect the face, eyes and mouth in image.jpg.\n"
-        "(2) ./cpp-example-facial_features image.jpg face.xml -nose nose.xml\n"
+        "(2) ./cpp-example-facial_features image.jpg face.xml -nose=nose.xml\n"
         "\tThis will detect the face and nose in image.jpg.\n"
         "(3) ./cpp-example-facial_features image.jpg face.xml\n"
         "\tThis will detect only the face in image.jpg.\n";
diff --git a/samples/cpp/fback.cpp b/samples/cpp/fback.cpp
index af0f2ca09b..5fbec6913c 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/fback.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/fback.cpp
@@ -30,8 +30,14 @@ static void drawOptFlowMap(const Mat& flow, Mat& cflowmap, int step,
         }
 }
 
-int main(int, char**)
+int main(int argc, char** argv)
 {
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, "{help h||}");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
+    {
+        help();
+        return 0;
+    }
     VideoCapture cap(0);
     help();
     if( !cap.isOpened() )
diff --git a/samples/cpp/ffilldemo.cpp b/samples/cpp/ffilldemo.cpp
index e099587a11..93bdd672bd 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/ffilldemo.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/ffilldemo.cpp
@@ -73,12 +73,21 @@ static void onMouse( int event, int x, int y, int, void* )
 
 int main( int argc, char** argv )
 {
-    char* filename = argc >= 2 ? argv[1] : (char*)"../data/fruits.jpg";
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser (argc, argv,
+        "{help h | | show help message}{@image|../data/fruits.jpg| input image}"
+    );
+    if (parser.has("help"))
+    {
+        parser.printMessage();
+        return 0;
+    }
+    string filename = parser.get<string>("@image");
     image0 = imread(filename, 1);
 
     if( image0.empty() )
     {
-        cout << "Image empty. Usage: ffilldemo <image_name>\n";
+        cout << "Image empty\n";
+        parser.printMessage();
         return 0;
     }
     help();
diff --git a/samples/cpp/filestorage.cpp b/samples/cpp/filestorage.cpp
index 41043d11cc..60ea51acab 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/filestorage.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/filestorage.cpp
@@ -70,14 +70,21 @@ static ostream& operator<<(ostream& out, const MyData& m){
 }
 int main(int ac, char** av)
 {
-  if (ac != 2)
+  cv::CommandLineParser parser(ac, av,
+    "{@input||}{help h ||}"
+  );
+  if (parser.has("help"))
+  {
+    help(av);
+    return 0;
+  }
+  string filename = parser.get<string>("@input");
+  if (filename.empty())
   {
     help(av);
     return 1;
   }
 
-  string filename = av[1];
-
   //write
   {
     FileStorage fs(filename, FileStorage::WRITE);
diff --git a/samples/cpp/fitellipse.cpp b/samples/cpp/fitellipse.cpp
index bd6b77d8a6..b83f617c1d 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/fitellipse.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/fitellipse.cpp
@@ -21,14 +21,14 @@
 using namespace cv;
 using namespace std;
 
-// static void help()
-// {
-//     cout <<
-//             "\nThis program is demonstration for ellipse fitting. The program finds\n"
-//             "contours and approximate it by ellipses.\n"
-//             "Call:\n"
-//             "./fitellipse [image_name -- Default ../data/stuff.jpg]\n" << endl;
-// }
+static void help()
+{
+    cout <<
+        "\nThis program is demonstration for ellipse fitting. The program finds\n"
+        "contours and approximate it by ellipses.\n"
+        "Call:\n"
+        "./fitellipse [image_name -- Default ../data/stuff.jpg]\n" << endl;
+}
 
 int sliderPos = 70;
 
@@ -38,11 +38,19 @@ void processImage(int, void*);
 
 int main( int argc, char** argv )
 {
-    const char* filename = argc == 2 ? argv[1] : (char*)"../data/stuff.jpg";
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv,
+        "{help h||}{@image|../data/stuff.jpg|}"
+    );
+    if (parser.has("help"))
+    {
+        help();
+        return 0;
+    }
+    string filename = parser.get<string>("@image");
     image = imread(filename, 0);
     if( image.empty() )
     {
-        cout << "Couldn't open image " << filename << "\nUsage: fitellipse <image_name>\n";
+        cout << "Couldn't open image " << filename << "\n";
         return 0;
     }
 
diff --git a/samples/cpp/grabcut.cpp b/samples/cpp/grabcut.cpp
index 7ab28f66b0..b6b406000b 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/grabcut.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/grabcut.cpp
@@ -276,15 +276,16 @@ static void on_mouse( int event, int x, int y, int flags, void* param )
 
 int main( int argc, char** argv )
 {
-    if( argc!=2 )
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, "{help h||}{@input||}");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
     {
         help();
-        return 1;
+        return 0;
     }
-    string filename = argv[1];
+    string filename = parser.get<string>("@input");
     if( filename.empty() )
     {
-        cout << "\nDurn, couldn't read in " << argv[1] << endl;
+        cout << "\nDurn, empty filename" << endl;
         return 1;
     }
     Mat image = imread( filename, 1 );
diff --git a/samples/cpp/houghcircles.cpp b/samples/cpp/houghcircles.cpp
index 34a2e6b7e8..bdafffec30 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/houghcircles.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/houghcircles.cpp
@@ -16,8 +16,21 @@ static void help()
 
 int main(int argc, char** argv)
 {
-    const char* filename = argc >= 2 ? argv[1] : "../data/board.jpg";
-
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv,
+        "{help h ||}{@image|../data/board.jpg|}"
+    );
+    if (parser.has("help"))
+    {
+        help();
+        return 0;
+    }
+    string filename = parser.get<string>("@image");
+    if (filename.empty())
+    {
+        help();
+        cout << "no image_name provided" << endl;
+        return -1;
+    }
     Mat img = imread(filename, 0);
     if(img.empty())
     {
diff --git a/samples/cpp/houghlines.cpp b/samples/cpp/houghlines.cpp
index ec825ab6b4..ddeb3bd751 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/houghlines.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/houghlines.cpp
@@ -16,8 +16,21 @@ static void help()
 
 int main(int argc, char** argv)
 {
-    const char* filename = argc >= 2 ? argv[1] : "../data/pic1.png";
-
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv,
+        "{help h||}{@image|../data/pic1.png|}"
+    );
+    if (parser.has("help"))
+    {
+        help();
+        return 0;
+    }
+    string filename = parser.get<string>("@image");
+    if (filename.empty())
+    {
+        help();
+        cout << "no image_name provided" << endl;
+        return -1;
+    }
     Mat src = imread(filename, 0);
     if(src.empty())
     {
diff --git a/samples/cpp/image.cpp b/samples/cpp/image.cpp
index a0e6718129..b5925c69af 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/image.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/image.cpp
@@ -27,14 +27,19 @@ static void help()
 
 int main( int argc, char** argv )
 {
-    help();
-    const char* imagename = argc > 1 ? argv[1] : "../data/lena.jpg";
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, "{help h | |}{@image|../data/lena.jpg|}");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
+    {
+        help();
+        return 0;
+    }
+    string imagename = parser.get<string>("@image");
 #if DEMO_MIXED_API_USE
     //! [iplimage]
-    Ptr<IplImage> iplimg(cvLoadImage(imagename)); // Ptr<T> is safe ref-counting pointer class
+    Ptr<IplImage> iplimg(cvLoadImage(imagename.c_str())); // Ptr<T> is safe ref-counting pointer class
     if(!iplimg)
     {
-        fprintf(stderr, "Can not load image %s\n", imagename);
+        fprintf(stderr, "Can not load image %s\n", imagename.c_str());
         return -1;
     }
     Mat img = cv::cvarrToMat(iplimg); // cv::Mat replaces the CvMat and IplImage, but it's easy to convert
@@ -45,7 +50,7 @@ int main( int argc, char** argv )
     Mat img = imread(imagename); // the newer cvLoadImage alternative, MATLAB-style function
     if(img.empty())
     {
-        fprintf(stderr, "Can not load image %s\n", imagename);
+        fprintf(stderr, "Can not load image %s\n", imagename.c_str());
         return -1;
     }
 #endif
diff --git a/samples/cpp/image_alignment.cpp b/samples/cpp/image_alignment.cpp
index 08814b84fd..c62a1608da 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/image_alignment.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/image_alignment.cpp
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ const std::string keys =
     "{m motionType   | affine        | type of motion (translation, euclidean, affine, homography) }"
     "{v verbose      | 0             | display initial and final images }"
     "{w warpedImfile | warpedECC.png | warped input image }"
+    "{h help | | print help message }"
 ;
 
 
@@ -176,12 +177,17 @@ int main (const int argc, const char * argv[])
     CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, keys);
     parser.about("ECC demo");
 
-    if (argc<2) {
+    if (argc < 2) {
+        parser.printMessage();
+        help();
+        return 1;
+    }
+    if (parser.has("help"))
+    {
         parser.printMessage();
         help();
         return 1;
     }
-
     string imgFile = parser.get<string>(0);
     string tempImgFile = parser.get<string>(1);
     string inWarpFile = parser.get<string>(2);
@@ -192,7 +198,11 @@ int main (const int argc, const char * argv[])
     int verbose = parser.get<int>("v");
     string finalWarp = parser.get<string>("o");
     string warpedImFile = parser.get<string>("w");
-
+    if (!parser.check())
+    {
+        parser.printErrors();
+        return -1;
+    }
     if (!(warpType == "translation" || warpType == "euclidean"
         || warpType == "affine" || warpType == "homography"))
     {
diff --git a/samples/cpp/image_sequence.cpp b/samples/cpp/image_sequence.cpp
index b87b3043e2..14b63e39c4 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/image_sequence.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/image_sequence.cpp
@@ -18,13 +18,20 @@ static void help(char** argv)
 
 int main(int argc, char** argv)
 {
-    if(argc != 2)
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, "{help h||}{@image||}");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
+    {
+        help(argv);
+        return 0;
+    }
+    string first_file = parser.get<string>("@image");
+
+    if(first_file.empty())
     {
         help(argv);
         return 1;
     }
 
-    string first_file = argv[1];
     VideoCapture sequence(first_file);
 
     if (!sequence.isOpened())
diff --git a/samples/cpp/imagelist_creator.cpp b/samples/cpp/imagelist_creator.cpp
index f2abb11c9a..bdb023187b 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/imagelist_creator.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/imagelist_creator.cpp
@@ -23,13 +23,19 @@ static void help(char** av)
 
 int main(int ac, char** av)
 {
-  if (ac < 3)
+  cv::CommandLineParser parser(ac, av, "{help h||}{@output||}");
+  if (parser.has("help"))
   {
     help(av);
-    return 1;
+    return 0;
   }
+  string outputname = parser.get<string>("@output");
 
-  string outputname = av[1];
+  if (outputname.empty())
+  {
+    help(av);
+    return 1;
+  }
 
   Mat m = imread(outputname); //check if the output is an image - prevent overwrites!
   if(!m.empty()){
diff --git a/samples/cpp/inpaint.cpp b/samples/cpp/inpaint.cpp
index 55bd91b73b..62d7521932 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/inpaint.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/inpaint.cpp
@@ -47,7 +47,13 @@ static void onMouse( int event, int x, int y, int flags, void* )
 
 int main( int argc, char** argv )
 {
-    char* filename = argc >= 2 ? argv[1] : (char*)"../data/fruits.jpg";
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, "{help h||}{@image|../data/fruits.jpg|}");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
+    {
+        help();
+        return 0;
+    }
+    string filename = parser.get<string>("@image");
     Mat img0 = imread(filename, -1);
     if(img0.empty())
     {
@@ -55,8 +61,6 @@ int main( int argc, char** argv )
         return 0;
     }
 
-    help();
-
     namedWindow( "image", 1 );
 
     img = img0.clone();
diff --git a/samples/cpp/intelperc_capture.cpp b/samples/cpp/intelperc_capture.cpp
index 5726ccdf4f..daae4420fb 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/intelperc_capture.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/intelperc_capture.cpp
@@ -9,14 +9,14 @@
 using namespace cv;
 using namespace std;
 
-static bool g_printStreamSetting        = false;
-static int g_imageStreamProfileIdx      = -1;
-static int g_depthStreamProfileIdx      = -1;
-static bool g_irStreamShow              = false;
-static double g_imageBrightness         = -DBL_MAX;
-static double g_imageContrast           = -DBL_MAX;
-static bool g_printTiming               = false;
-static bool g_showClosedPoint           = false;
+static bool g_printStreamSetting;
+static int g_imageStreamProfileIdx;
+static int g_depthStreamProfileIdx;
+static bool g_irStreamShow;
+static double g_imageBrightness;
+static double g_imageContrast;
+static bool g_printTiming;
+static bool g_showClosedPoint;
 
 
 static int g_closedDepthPoint[2];
@@ -31,13 +31,13 @@ static void printUsage(const char *arg0)
     filename++;
 
     cout << "This program demonstrates usage of camera supported\nby Intel Perceptual computing SDK." << endl << endl;
-    cout << "usage: " << filename << "[-ps] [-isp IDX] [-dsp IDX]\n [-ir] [-imb VAL] [-imc VAL]" << endl << endl;
+    cout << "usage: " << filename << "[-ps] [-isp=IDX] [-dsp=IDX]\n [-ir] [-imb=VAL] [-imc=VAL]" << endl << endl;
     cout << "   -ps,            print streams setting and profiles" << endl;
-    cout << "   -isp IDX,       set profile index of the image stream" << endl;
-    cout << "   -dsp IDX,       set profile index of the depth stream" << endl;
+    cout << "   -isp=IDX,       set profile index of the image stream" << endl;
+    cout << "   -dsp=IDX,       set profile index of the depth stream" << endl;
     cout << "   -ir,            show data from IR stream" << endl;
-    cout << "   -imb VAL,       set brighness value for a image stream" << endl;
-    cout << "   -imc VAL,       set contrast value for a image stream" << endl;
+    cout << "   -imb=VAL,       set brighness value for a image stream" << endl;
+    cout << "   -imc=VAL,       set contrast value for a image stream" << endl;
     cout << "   -pts,           print frame index and frame time" << endl;
     cout << "   --show-closed,  print frame index and frame time" << endl;
     cout <<  endl;
@@ -45,62 +45,40 @@ static void printUsage(const char *arg0)
 
 static void parseCMDLine(int argc, char* argv[])
 {
-    if( argc == 1 )
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv,
+        "{ h help | | }"
+        "{ ps print-streams | | }"
+        "{ isp image-stream-prof | -1 | }"
+        "{ dsp depth-stream-prof | -1 | }"
+        "{ir||}{imb||}{imc||}{pts||}{show-closed||}");
+    if (parser.has("h"))
     {
         printUsage(argv[0]);
+        exit(0);
     }
+    g_printStreamSetting = parser.has("ps");
+    g_imageStreamProfileIdx = parser.get<int>("isp");
+    g_depthStreamProfileIdx = parser.get<int>("dsp");
+    g_irStreamShow = parser.has("ir");
+    if (parser.has("imb"))
+        g_imageBrightness = parser.get<double>("imb");
     else
+        g_imageBrightness = -DBL_MAX;
+    if (parser.has("imc"))
+        g_imageContrast = parser.get<double>("imc");
+    else
+        g_imageContrast = -DBL_MAX;
+    g_printTiming = parser.has("pts");
+    g_showClosedPoint = parser.has("show-closed");
+    if (!parser.check())
     {
-        for( int i = 1; i < argc; i++ )
-        {
-            if ((0 == strcmp(argv[i], "--help")) || (0 == strcmp( argv[i], "-h")))
-            {
-                printUsage(argv[0]);
-                exit(0);
-            }
-            else if ((0 == strcmp( argv[i], "--print-streams")) || (0 == strcmp( argv[i], "-ps")))
-            {
-                g_printStreamSetting = true;
-            }
-            else if ((0 == strcmp( argv[i], "--image-stream-prof")) || (0 == strcmp( argv[i], "-isp")))
-            {
-                g_imageStreamProfileIdx = atoi(argv[++i]);
-            }
-            else if ((0 == strcmp( argv[i], "--depth-stream-prof")) || (0 == strcmp( argv[i], "-dsp")))
-            {
-                g_depthStreamProfileIdx = atoi(argv[++i]);
-            }
-            else if (0 == strcmp( argv[i], "-ir"))
-            {
-                g_irStreamShow = true;
-            }
-            else if (0 == strcmp( argv[i], "-imb"))
-            {
-                g_imageBrightness = atof(argv[++i]);
-            }
-            else if (0 == strcmp( argv[i], "-imc"))
-            {
-                g_imageContrast = atof(argv[++i]);
-            }
-            else if (0 == strcmp(argv[i], "-pts"))
-            {
-                g_printTiming = true;
-            }
-            else if (0 == strcmp(argv[i], "--show-closed"))
-            {
-                g_showClosedPoint = true;
-            }
-            else
-            {
-                cout << "Unsupported command line argument: " << argv[i] << "." << endl;
-                exit(-1);
-            }
-        }
-        if (g_showClosedPoint && (-1 == g_depthStreamProfileIdx))
-        {
-            cerr << "For --show-closed depth profile has be selected" << endl;
-            exit(-1);
-        }
+        parser.printErrors();
+        exit(-1);
+    }
+    if (g_showClosedPoint && (-1 == g_depthStreamProfileIdx))
+    {
+        cerr << "For --show-closed depth profile has be selected" << endl;
+        exit(-1);
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/samples/cpp/laplace.cpp b/samples/cpp/laplace.cpp
index bac432ca50..b33b49cbdb 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/laplace.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/laplace.cpp
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ static void help()
             "\nThis program demonstrates Laplace point/edge detection using OpenCV function Laplacian()\n"
             "It captures from the camera of your choice: 0, 1, ... default 0\n"
             "Call:\n"
-            "./laplace [camera #, default 0]\n" << endl;
+            "./laplace -c=<camera #, default 0> -p=<index of the frame to be decoded/captured next>\n" << endl;
 }
 
 enum {GAUSSIAN, BLUR, MEDIAN};
@@ -26,25 +26,31 @@ int smoothType = GAUSSIAN;
 int main( int argc, char** argv )
 {
     VideoCapture cap;
-    help();
-
-    if( argc == 1 || (argc == 2 && strlen(argv[1]) == 1 && isdigit(argv[1][0])))
-        cap.open(argc == 2 ? argv[1][0] - '0' : 0);
-    else if( argc >= 2 )
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, "{help h | | }{ c | 0 | }{ p | | }");
+    if ( parser.has("help") )
+    {
+        help();
+        return 0;
+    }
+    if( parser.get<string>("c").size() == 1 && isdigit(parser.get<string>("c")[0]) )
+        cap.open(parser.get<int>("c"));
+    else
+        cap.open(parser.get<string>("c"));
+    if( cap.isOpened() )
+        cout << "Video " << parser.get<string>("c") <<
+            ": width=" << cap.get(CAP_PROP_FRAME_WIDTH) <<
+            ", height=" << cap.get(CAP_PROP_FRAME_HEIGHT) <<
+            ", nframes=" << cap.get(CAP_PROP_FRAME_COUNT) << endl;
+    if( parser.has("p") )
     {
-        cap.open(argv[1]);
-        if( cap.isOpened() )
-            cout << "Video " << argv[1] <<
-                ": width=" << cap.get(CAP_PROP_FRAME_WIDTH) <<
-                ", height=" << cap.get(CAP_PROP_FRAME_HEIGHT) <<
-                ", nframes=" << cap.get(CAP_PROP_FRAME_COUNT) << endl;
-        if( argc > 2 && isdigit(argv[2][0]) )
+        int pos = parser.get<int>("p");
+        if (!parser.check())
         {
-            int pos;
-            sscanf(argv[2], "%d", &pos);
-            cout << "seeking to frame #" << pos << endl;
-            cap.set(CAP_PROP_POS_FRAMES, pos);
+            parser.printErrors();
+            return -1;
         }
+        cout << "seeking to frame #" << pos << endl;
+        cap.set(CAP_PROP_POS_FRAMES, pos);
     }
 
     if( !cap.isOpened() )
diff --git a/samples/cpp/letter_recog.cpp b/samples/cpp/letter_recog.cpp
index 174e7f9839..3d7e34ab7a 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/letter_recog.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/letter_recog.cpp
@@ -28,9 +28,9 @@ static void help()
     "and the remaining 4000 (10000 for boosting) - to test the classifier.\n"
     "======================================================\n");
     printf("\nThis is letter recognition sample.\n"
-            "The usage: letter_recog [-data <path to letter-recognition.data>] \\\n"
-            "  [-save <output XML file for the classifier>] \\\n"
-            "  [-load <XML file with the pre-trained classifier>] \\\n"
+            "The usage: letter_recog [-data=<path to letter-recognition.data>] \\\n"
+            "  [-save=<output XML file for the classifier>] \\\n"
+            "  [-load=<XML file with the pre-trained classifier>] \\\n"
             "  [-boost|-mlp|-knearest|-nbayes|-svm] # to use boost/mlp/knearest/SVM classifier instead of default Random Trees\n" );
 }
 
@@ -517,53 +517,32 @@ int main( int argc, char *argv[] )
 {
     string filename_to_save = "";
     string filename_to_load = "";
-    string data_filename = "../data/letter-recognition.data";
+    string data_filename;
     int method = 0;
 
-    int i;
-    for( i = 1; i < argc; i++ )
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, "{data|../data/letter-recognition.data|}{save||}{load||}{boost||}"
+            "{mlp||}{knn knearest||}{nbayes||}{svm||}{help h||}");
+    data_filename = parser.get<string>("data");
+    if (parser.has("save"))
+        filename_to_save = parser.get<string>("save");
+    if (parser.has("load"))
+        filename_to_load = parser.get<string>("load");
+    if (parser.has("boost"))
+        method = 1;
+    else if (parser.has("mlp"))
+        method = 2;
+    else if (parser.has("knearest"))
+        method = 3;
+    else if (parser.has("nbayes"))
+        method = 4;
+    else if (parser.has("svm"))
+        method = 5;
+    if (parser.has("help"))
     {
-        if( strcmp(argv[i],"-data") == 0 ) // flag "-data letter_recognition.xml"
-        {
-            i++;
-            data_filename = argv[i];
-        }
-        else if( strcmp(argv[i],"-save") == 0 ) // flag "-save filename.xml"
-        {
-            i++;
-            filename_to_save = argv[i];
-        }
-        else if( strcmp(argv[i],"-load") == 0) // flag "-load filename.xml"
-        {
-            i++;
-            filename_to_load = argv[i];
-        }
-        else if( strcmp(argv[i],"-boost") == 0)
-        {
-            method = 1;
-        }
-        else if( strcmp(argv[i],"-mlp") == 0 )
-        {
-            method = 2;
-        }
-        else if( strcmp(argv[i], "-knearest") == 0 || strcmp(argv[i], "-knn") == 0 )
-        {
-            method = 3;
-        }
-        else if( strcmp(argv[i], "-nbayes") == 0)
-        {
-            method = 4;
-        }
-        else if( strcmp(argv[i], "-svm") == 0)
-        {
-            method = 5;
-        }
-        else
-            break;
+        help();
+        return 0;
     }
-
-    if( i < argc ||
-        (method == 0 ?
+    if( (method == 0 ?
         build_rtrees_classifier( data_filename, filename_to_save, filename_to_load ) :
         method == 1 ?
         build_boost_classifier( data_filename, filename_to_save, filename_to_load ) :
diff --git a/samples/cpp/lkdemo.cpp b/samples/cpp/lkdemo.cpp
index 2f576c3ba8..3881aa8650 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/lkdemo.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/lkdemo.cpp
@@ -37,8 +37,6 @@ static void onMouse( int event, int x, int y, int /*flags*/, void* /*param*/ )
 
 int main( int argc, char** argv )
 {
-    help();
-
     VideoCapture cap;
     TermCriteria termcrit(TermCriteria::COUNT|TermCriteria::EPS,20,0.03);
     Size subPixWinSize(10,10), winSize(31,31);
@@ -47,10 +45,19 @@ int main( int argc, char** argv )
     bool needToInit = false;
     bool nightMode = false;
 
-    if( argc == 1 || (argc == 2 && strlen(argv[1]) == 1 && isdigit(argv[1][0])))
-        cap.open(argc == 2 ? argv[1][0] - '0' : 0);
-    else if( argc == 2 )
-        cap.open(argv[1]);
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, "{@input||}{help h||}");
+    string input = parser.get<string>("@input");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
+    {
+        help();
+        return 0;
+    }
+    if( input.empty() )
+        cap.open(0);
+    else if( input.size() == 1 && isdigit(input[0]) )
+        cap.open(input[0] - '0');
+    else
+        cap.open(input);
 
     if( !cap.isOpened() )
     {
diff --git a/samples/cpp/lsd_lines.cpp b/samples/cpp/lsd_lines.cpp
index 34f6b906b4..4c8c7e0a41 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/lsd_lines.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/lsd_lines.cpp
@@ -13,15 +13,13 @@ using namespace cv;
 int main(int argc, char** argv)
 {
     std::string in;
-    if (argc != 2)
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, "{@input|../data/building.jpg|input image}{help h||show help message}");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
     {
-        std::cout << "Usage: lsd_lines [input image]. Now loading ../data/building.jpg" << std::endl;
-        in = "../data/building.jpg";
-    }
-    else
-    {
-        in = argv[1];
+        parser.printMessage();
+        return 0;
     }
+    in = parser.get<string>("@input");
 
     Mat image = imread(in, IMREAD_GRAYSCALE);
 
diff --git a/samples/cpp/mask_tmpl.cpp b/samples/cpp/mask_tmpl.cpp
index 2b6bb77bf1..6617783266 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/mask_tmpl.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/mask_tmpl.cpp
@@ -13,16 +13,25 @@ static void help()
 {
     cout << "\nThis program demonstrates template match with mask.\n"
             "Usage:\n"
-            "./mask_tmpl <image_name> <template_name> <mask_name>, Default is ../data/lena_tmpl.jpg\n"
+            "./mask_tmpl -i=<image_name> -t=<template_name> -m=<mask_name>, Default is ../data/lena_tmpl.jpg\n"
             << endl;
 }
 
 int main( int argc, const char** argv )
 {
-    const char* filename = argc == 4 ? argv[1] : "../data/lena_tmpl.jpg";
-    const char* tmplname = argc == 4 ? argv[2] : "../data/tmpl.png";
-    const char* maskname = argc == 4 ? argv[3] : "../data/mask.png";
-
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv,
+        "{help h||}"
+        "{ i | ../data/lena_tmpl.jpg | }"
+        "{ t | ../data/tmpl.png | }"
+        "{ m | ../data/mask.png | }");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
+    {
+        help();
+        return 0;
+    }
+    string filename = parser.get<string>("i");
+    string tmplname = parser.get<string>("t");
+    string maskname = parser.get<string>("m");
     Mat img = imread(filename);
     Mat tmpl = imread(tmplname);
     Mat mask = imread(maskname);
diff --git a/samples/cpp/matchmethod_orb_akaze_brisk.cpp b/samples/cpp/matchmethod_orb_akaze_brisk.cpp
index 4e3884d690..379b53ae1d 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/matchmethod_orb_akaze_brisk.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/matchmethod_orb_akaze_brisk.cpp
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ static void help()
 {
     cout << "\n This program demonstrates how to detect compute and match ORB BRISK and AKAZE descriptors \n"
         "Usage: \n"
-        "  ./matchmethod_orb_akaze_brisk <image1(../data/basketball1.png as default)> <image2(../data/basketball2.png as default)>\n"
+        "  ./matchmethod_orb_akaze_brisk --image1=<image1(../data/basketball1.png as default)> --image2=<image2(../data/basketball2.png as default)>\n"
         "Press a key when image window is active to change algorithm or descriptor";
 }
 
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
     vector<String> typeDesc;
     vector<String> typeAlgoMatch;
     vector<String> fileName;
-    help();
     // This descriptor are going to be detect and compute
     typeDesc.push_back("AKAZE-DESCRIPTOR_KAZE_UPRIGHT");    // see http://docs.opencv.org/trunk/d8/d30/classcv_1_1AKAZE.html
     typeDesc.push_back("AKAZE");    // see http://docs.opencv.org/trunk/d8/d30/classcv_1_1AKAZE.html
@@ -31,21 +30,17 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
     typeAlgoMatch.push_back("BruteForce-L1");
     typeAlgoMatch.push_back("BruteForce-Hamming");
     typeAlgoMatch.push_back("BruteForce-Hamming(2)");
-    if (argc==1)
-    {
-        fileName.push_back("../data/basketball1.png");
-        fileName.push_back("../data/basketball2.png");
-    }
-    else if (argc==3)
-    {
-        fileName.push_back(argv[1]);
-        fileName.push_back(argv[2]);
-    }
-    else
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv,
+        "{ @image1 | ../data/basketball1.png | }"
+        "{ @image2 | ../data/basketball2.png | }"
+        "{help h ||}");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
     {
         help();
-        return(0);
+        return 0;
     }
+    fileName.push_back(parser.get<string>(0));
+    fileName.push_back(parser.get<string>(1));
     Mat img1 = imread(fileName[0], IMREAD_GRAYSCALE);
     Mat img2 = imread(fileName[1], IMREAD_GRAYSCALE);
     if (img1.rows*img1.cols <= 0)
diff --git a/samples/cpp/morphology2.cpp b/samples/cpp/morphology2.cpp
index 27eb52aee7..04e916c64a 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/morphology2.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/morphology2.cpp
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 #include "opencv2/highgui/highgui.hpp"
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
+#include <string>
 
 using namespace cv;
 
@@ -58,11 +59,18 @@ static void ErodeDilate(int, void*)
 
 int main( int argc, char** argv )
 {
-    char* filename = argc == 2 ? argv[1] : (char*)"../data/baboon.jpg";
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, "{help h||}{ @image | ../data/baboon.jpg | }");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
+    {
+        help();
+        return 0;
+    }
+    std::string filename = parser.get<std::string>("@image");
     if( (src = imread(filename,1)).empty() )
+    {
+        help();
         return -1;
-
-    help();
+    }
 
     //create windows for output images
     namedWindow("Open/Close",1);
diff --git a/samples/cpp/npr_demo.cpp b/samples/cpp/npr_demo.cpp
index e4fade0d8d..64a3e05389 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/npr_demo.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/npr_demo.cpp
@@ -28,15 +28,21 @@ using namespace cv;
 
 int main(int argc, char* argv[])
 {
-    if(argc < 2)
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, "{help h||show help message}{@image||input image}");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
     {
-        cout << "usage: " << argv[0] << " <Input image> "  << endl;
+        parser.printMessage();
+        exit(0);
+    }
+    if (parser.get<string>("@image").empty())
+    {
+        parser.printMessage();
         exit(0);
     }
 
-    int num,type;
+    Mat I = imread(parser.get<string>("@image"));
 
-    Mat I = imread(argv[1]);
+    int num,type;
 
     if(I.empty())
     {
diff --git a/samples/cpp/openni_capture.cpp b/samples/cpp/openni_capture.cpp
index 09f1d21e09..70d4a7c610 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/openni_capture.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/openni_capture.cpp
@@ -87,90 +87,49 @@ static float getMaxDisparity( VideoCapture& capture )
 
 static void printCommandLineParams()
 {
-    cout << "-cd       Colorized disparity? (0 or 1; 1 by default) Ignored if disparity map is not selected to show." << endl;
-    cout << "-fmd      Fixed max disparity? (0 or 1; 0 by default) Ignored if disparity map is not colorized (-cd 0)." << endl;
-    cout << "-mode     image mode: resolution and fps, supported three values:  0 - CAP_OPENNI_VGA_30HZ, 1 - CAP_OPENNI_SXGA_15HZ," << endl;
+    cout << "-cd=       Colorized disparity? (0 or 1; 1 by default) Ignored if disparity map is not selected to show." << endl;
+    cout << "-fmd=      Fixed max disparity? (0 or 1; 0 by default) Ignored if disparity map is not colorized (-cd 0)." << endl;
+    cout << "-mode=     image mode: resolution and fps, supported three values:  0 - CAP_OPENNI_VGA_30HZ, 1 - CAP_OPENNI_SXGA_15HZ," << endl;
     cout << "          2 - CAP_OPENNI_SXGA_30HZ (0 by default). Ignored if rgb image or gray image are not selected to show." << endl;
-    cout << "-m        Mask to set which output images are need. It is a string of size 5. Each element of this is '0' or '1' and" << endl;
+    cout << "-m=        Mask to set which output images are need. It is a string of size 5. Each element of this is '0' or '1' and" << endl;
     cout << "          determine: is depth map, disparity map, valid pixels mask, rgb image, gray image need or not (correspondently)?" << endl ;
-    cout << "          By default -m 01010 i.e. disparity map and rgb image will be shown." << endl ;
-    cout << "-r        Filename of .oni video file. The data will grabbed from it." << endl ;
+    cout << "          By default -m=01010 i.e. disparity map and rgb image will be shown." << endl ;
+    cout << "-r=        Filename of .oni video file. The data will grabbed from it." << endl ;
 }
 
 static void parseCommandLine( int argc, char* argv[], bool& isColorizeDisp, bool& isFixedMaxDisp, int& imageMode, bool retrievedImageFlags[],
                        string& filename, bool& isFileReading )
 {
-    // set defaut values
-    isColorizeDisp = true;
-    isFixedMaxDisp = false;
-    imageMode = 0;
-
-    retrievedImageFlags[0] = false;
-    retrievedImageFlags[1] = true;
-    retrievedImageFlags[2] = false;
-    retrievedImageFlags[3] = true;
-    retrievedImageFlags[4] = false;
-
     filename.clear();
-    isFileReading = false;
-
-    if( argc == 1 )
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, "{h help||}{cd|1|}{fmd|0|}{mode|0|}{m|01010|}{r||}");
+    if (parser.has("h"))
     {
         help();
+        printCommandLineParams();
+        exit(0);
     }
-    else
+    isColorizeDisp = (parser.get<int>("cd") != 0);
+    isFixedMaxDisp = (parser.get<int>("fmd") != 0);
+    imageMode = parser.get<int>("mode");
+    int flags = parser.get<int>("m");
+    isFileReading = parser.has("r");
+    if (isFileReading)
+        filename = parser.get<string>("r");
+    if (!parser.check())
     {
-        for( int i = 1; i < argc; i++ )
-        {
-            if( !strcmp( argv[i], "--help" ) || !strcmp( argv[i], "-h" ) )
-            {
-                printCommandLineParams();
-                exit(0);
-            }
-            else if( !strcmp( argv[i], "-cd" ) )
-            {
-                isColorizeDisp = atoi(argv[++i]) == 0 ? false : true;
-            }
-            else if( !strcmp( argv[i], "-fmd" ) )
-            {
-                isFixedMaxDisp = atoi(argv[++i]) == 0 ? false : true;
-            }
-            else if( !strcmp( argv[i], "-mode" ) )
-            {
-                imageMode = atoi(argv[++i]);
-            }
-            else if( !strcmp( argv[i], "-m" ) )
-            {
-                string mask( argv[++i] );
-                if( mask.size() != 5)
-                    CV_Error( Error::StsBadArg, "Incorrect length of -m argument string" );
-                int val = atoi(mask.c_str());
-
-                int l = 100000, r = 10000, sum = 0;
-                for( int j = 0; j < 5; j++ )
-                {
-                    retrievedImageFlags[j] = ((val % l) / r ) == 0 ? false : true;
-                    l /= 10; r /= 10;
-                    if( retrievedImageFlags[j] ) sum++;
-                }
-
-                if( sum == 0 )
-                {
-                    cout << "No one output image is selected." << endl;
-                    exit(0);
-                }
-            }
-            else if( !strcmp( argv[i], "-r" ) )
-            {
-                filename = argv[++i];
-                isFileReading = true;
-            }
-            else
-            {
-                cout << "Unsupported command line argument: " << argv[i] << "." << endl;
-                exit(-1);
-            }
-        }
+        parser.printErrors();
+        help();
+        exit(-1);
+    }
+    if (flags % 100000 == 0)
+    {
+        cout << "No one output image is selected." << endl;
+        exit(0);
+    }
+    for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++)
+    {
+        retrievedImageFlags[4 - i] = (flags % 10 != 0);
+        flags /= 10;
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/samples/cpp/pca.cpp b/samples/cpp/pca.cpp
index db5fb3802f..35fd0c1a04 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/pca.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/pca.cpp
@@ -121,13 +121,19 @@ static void onTrackbar(int pos, void* ptr)
 // Main
 int main(int argc, char** argv)
 {
-    if (argc != 2) {
-        cout << "usage: " << argv[0] << " <image_list.txt>" << endl;
-        exit(1);
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, "{@input||image list}{help h||show help message}");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
+    {
+        parser.printMessage();
+        exit(0);
     }
-
     // Get the path to your CSV.
-    string imgList = string(argv[1]);
+    string imgList = parser.get<string>("@input");
+    if (imgList.empty())
+    {
+        parser.printMessage();
+        exit(1);
+    }
 
     // vector to hold the images
     vector<Mat> images;
diff --git a/samples/cpp/polar_transforms.cpp b/samples/cpp/polar_transforms.cpp
index 3e2810e74b..872dda8c3f 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/polar_transforms.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/polar_transforms.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include "opencv2/imgproc/imgproc_c.h"
 #include "opencv2/videoio/videoio_c.h"
 #include "opencv2/highgui/highgui_c.h"
+#include "opencv2/core/utility.hpp"
 
 #include <ctype.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
@@ -20,15 +21,22 @@ int main( int argc, char** argv )
     IplImage*  recovered_img = 0;
 
     help();
-
-    if( argc == 1 || (argc == 2 && strlen(argv[1]) == 1 && isdigit(argv[1][0])))
-        capture = cvCaptureFromCAM( argc == 2 ? argv[1][0] - '0' : 0 );
-    else if( argc == 2 )
-        capture = cvCaptureFromAVI( argv[1] );
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, "{help h||}{@input|0|}");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
+    {
+        help();
+        return 0;
+    }
+    std::string arg = parser.get<std::string>("@input");
+    if( arg.size() == 1 && isdigit(arg[0]) )
+        capture = cvCaptureFromCAM( arg[0] - '0' );
+    else
+        capture = cvCaptureFromAVI( arg.c_str() );
     if( !capture )
     {
+        const char* name = argv[0];
         fprintf(stderr,"Could not initialize capturing...\n");
-        fprintf(stderr,"Usage: %s <CAMERA_NUMBER>    , or \n       %s <VIDEO_FILE>\n",argv[0],argv[0]);
+        fprintf(stderr,"Usage: %s <CAMERA_NUMBER>    , or \n       %s <VIDEO_FILE>\n", name, name);
         help();
         return -1;
     }
diff --git a/samples/cpp/segment_objects.cpp b/samples/cpp/segment_objects.cpp
index 72afbdeed3..3c217f679d 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/segment_objects.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/segment_objects.cpp
@@ -63,12 +63,17 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
     VideoCapture cap;
     bool update_bg_model = true;
 
-    help();
-
-    if( argc < 2 )
+    CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, "{help h||}{@input||}");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
+    {
+        help();
+        return 0;
+    }
+    string input = parser.get<std::string>("@input");
+    if (input.empty())
         cap.open(0);
     else
-        cap.open(std::string(argv[1]));
+        cap.open(input);
 
     if( !cap.isOpened() )
     {
diff --git a/samples/cpp/select3dobj.cpp b/samples/cpp/select3dobj.cpp
index ed598f2a1f..b13697fec2 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/select3dobj.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/select3dobj.cpp
@@ -30,14 +30,14 @@ const char* helphelp =
 "compute the homography of the plane the calibration pattern is on. It also shows grabCut\n"
 "segmentation etc.\n"
 "\n"
-"select3dobj -w <board_width> -h <board_height> [-s <square_size>]\n"
-"           -i <camera_intrinsics_filename> -o <output_prefix> [video_filename/cameraId]\n"
+"select3dobj -w=<board_width> -h=<board_height> [-s=<square_size>]\n"
+"           -i=<camera_intrinsics_filename> -o=<output_prefix>\n"
 "\n"
-" -w <board_width>          Number of chessboard corners wide\n"
-" -h <board_height>         Number of chessboard corners width\n"
-" [-s <square_size>]            Optional measure of chessboard squares in meters\n"
-" -i <camera_intrinsics_filename> Camera matrix .yml file from calibration.cpp\n"
-" -o <output_prefix>        Prefix the output segmentation images with this\n"
+" -w=<board_width>          Number of chessboard corners wide\n"
+" -h=<board_height>         Number of chessboard corners width\n"
+" [-s=<square_size>]            Optional measure of chessboard squares in meters\n"
+" -i=<camera_intrinsics_filename> Camera matrix .yml file from calibration.cpp\n"
+" -o=<output_prefix>        Prefix the output segmentation images with this\n"
 " [video_filename/cameraId]  If present, read from that video file or that ID\n"
 "\n"
 "Using a camera's intrinsics (from calibrating a camera -- see calibration.cpp) and an\n"
@@ -384,8 +384,8 @@ static bool readStringList( const string& filename, vector<string>& l )
 
 int main(int argc, char** argv)
 {
-    const char* help = "Usage: select3dobj -w <board_width> -h <board_height> [-s <square_size>]\n"
-           "\t-i <intrinsics_filename> -o <output_prefix> [video_filename/cameraId]\n";
+    const char* help = "Usage: select3dobj -w=<board_width> -h=<board_height> [-s=<square_size>]\n"
+           "\t-i=<intrinsics_filename> -o=<output_prefix> [video_filename/cameraId]\n";
     const char* screen_help =
     "Actions: \n"
     "\tSelect object as 3D box with the mouse. That's it\n"
@@ -394,82 +394,59 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
     "\tENTER - Confirm the selection. Grab next object in video mode.\n"
     "\tq - Exit the program\n";
 
-    if(argc < 5)
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, "{help h||}{w||}{h||}{s|1|}{i||}{o||}{@input|0|}");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
     {
         puts(helphelp);
         puts(help);
         return 0;
     }
-    const char* intrinsicsFilename = 0;
-    const char* outprefix = 0;
-    const char* inputName = 0;
+    string intrinsicsFilename;
+    string outprefix = "";
+    string inputName = "";
     int cameraId = 0;
     Size boardSize;
-    double squareSize = 1;
+    double squareSize;
     vector<string> imageList;
-
-    for( int i = 1; i < argc; i++ )
+    intrinsicsFilename = parser.get<string>("i");
+    outprefix = parser.get<string>("o");
+    boardSize.width = parser.get<int>("w");
+    boardSize.height = parser.get<int>("h");
+    squareSize = parser.get<double>("s");
+    if ( parser.get<string>("@input").size() == 1 && isdigit(parser.get<string>("@input")[0]) )
+        cameraId = parser.get<int>("@input");
+    else
+        inputName = parser.get<string>("@input");
+    if (!parser.check())
     {
-        if( strcmp(argv[i], "-i") == 0 )
-            intrinsicsFilename = argv[++i];
-        else if( strcmp(argv[i], "-o") == 0 )
-            outprefix = argv[++i];
-        else if( strcmp(argv[i], "-w") == 0 )
-        {
-            if(sscanf(argv[++i], "%d", &boardSize.width) != 1 || boardSize.width <= 0)
-            {
-                printf("Incorrect -w parameter (must be a positive integer)\n");
-                puts(help);
-                return 0;
-            }
-        }
-        else if( strcmp(argv[i], "-h") == 0 )
-        {
-            if(sscanf(argv[++i], "%d", &boardSize.height) != 1 || boardSize.height <= 0)
-            {
-                printf("Incorrect -h parameter (must be a positive integer)\n");
-                puts(help);
-                return 0;
-            }
-        }
-        else if( strcmp(argv[i], "-s") == 0 )
-        {
-            if(sscanf(argv[++i], "%lf", &squareSize) != 1 || squareSize <= 0)
-            {
-                printf("Incorrect -w parameter (must be a positive real number)\n");
-                puts(help);
-                return 0;
-            }
-        }
-        else if( argv[i][0] != '-' )
-        {
-            if( isdigit(argv[i][0]))
-                sscanf(argv[i], "%d", &cameraId);
-            else
-                inputName = argv[i];
-        }
-        else
-        {
-            printf("Incorrect option\n");
-            puts(help);
-            return 0;
-        }
+        puts(help);
+        parser.printErrors();
+        return 0;
     }
-
-    if( !intrinsicsFilename || !outprefix ||
-        boardSize.width <= 0 || boardSize.height <= 0 )
+    if ( boardSize.width <= 0 )
     {
-        printf("Some of the required parameters are missing\n");
+        printf("Incorrect -w parameter (must be a positive integer)\n");
+        puts(help);
+        return 0;
+    }
+    if ( boardSize.height <= 0 )
+    {
+        printf("Incorrect -h parameter (must be a positive integer)\n");
+        puts(help);
+        return 0;
+    }
+    if ( squareSize <= 0 )
+    {
+        printf("Incorrect -s parameter (must be a positive real number)\n");
         puts(help);
         return 0;
     }
-
     Mat cameraMatrix, distCoeffs;
     Size calibratedImageSize;
     readCameraMatrix(intrinsicsFilename, cameraMatrix, distCoeffs, calibratedImageSize );
 
     VideoCapture capture;
-    if( inputName )
+    if( !inputName.empty() )
     {
         if( !readStringList(inputName, imageList) &&
             !capture.open(inputName))
@@ -486,21 +463,21 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
 
     const char* outbarename = 0;
     {
-        outbarename = strrchr(outprefix, '/');
-        const char* tmp = strrchr(outprefix, '\\');
+        outbarename = strrchr(outprefix.c_str(), '/');
+        const char* tmp = strrchr(outprefix.c_str(), '\\');
         char cmd[1000];
-        sprintf(cmd, "mkdir %s", outprefix);
+        sprintf(cmd, "mkdir %s", outprefix.c_str());
         if( tmp && tmp > outbarename )
             outbarename = tmp;
         if( outbarename )
         {
-            cmd[6 + outbarename - outprefix] = '\0';
+            cmd[6 + outbarename - outprefix.c_str()] = '\0';
             int result = system(cmd);
             CV_Assert(result == 0);
             outbarename++;
         }
         else
-            outbarename = outprefix;
+            outbarename = outprefix.c_str();
     }
 
     Mat frame, shownFrame, selectedObjFrame, mapxy;
@@ -510,7 +487,7 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
     setMouseCallback("View", onMouse, 0);
     bool boardFound = false;
 
-    string indexFilename = format("%s_index.yml", outprefix);
+    string indexFilename = format("%s_index.yml", outprefix.c_str());
 
     vector<string> capturedImgList;
     vector<Rect> roiList;
@@ -588,7 +565,7 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
                     char path[1000];
                     for(;frameIdx < maxFrameIdx;frameIdx++)
                     {
-                        sprintf(path, "%s%04d.jpg", outprefix, frameIdx);
+                        sprintf(path, "%s%04d.jpg", outprefix.c_str(), frameIdx);
                         FILE* f = fopen(path, "rb");
                         if( !f )
                             break;
@@ -596,7 +573,7 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
                     }
                     if( frameIdx == maxFrameIdx )
                     {
-                        printf("Can not save the image as %s<...>.jpg", outprefix);
+                        printf("Can not save the image as %s<...>.jpg", outprefix.c_str());
                         break;
                     }
                     imwrite(path, selectedObjFrame(r));
diff --git a/samples/cpp/shape_example.cpp b/samples/cpp/shape_example.cpp
index e1c925f8c7..cb6cfbeef4 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/shape_example.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/shape_example.cpp
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ static void help()
             "This program demonstrates a method for shape comparisson based on Shape Context\n"
             "You should run the program providing a number between 1 and 20 for selecting an image in the folder ../data/shape_sample.\n"
             "Call\n"
-            "./shape_example [number between 1 and 20]\n\n");
+            "./shape_example [number between 1 and 20, 1 default]\n\n");
 }
 
 static vector<Point> simpleContour( const Mat& currentQuery, int n=300 )
@@ -54,16 +54,24 @@ static vector<Point> simpleContour( const Mat& currentQuery, int n=300 )
 
 int main(int argc, char** argv)
 {
-    help();
     string path = "../data/shape_sample/";
-    int indexQuery = 1;
-    if( argc < 2 )
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, "{help h||}{@input|1|}");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
     {
-        std::cout<<"Using first image as query."<<std::endl;
+        help();
+        return 0;
     }
-    else
+    int indexQuery = parser.get<int>("@input");
+    if (!parser.check())
     {
-        sscanf( argv[1], "%i", &indexQuery );
+        parser.printErrors();
+        help();
+        return 1;
+    }
+    if (indexQuery < 1 || indexQuery > 20)
+    {
+        help();
+        return 1;
     }
     cv::Ptr <cv::ShapeContextDistanceExtractor> mysc = cv::createShapeContextDistanceExtractor();
 
diff --git a/samples/cpp/smiledetect.cpp b/samples/cpp/smiledetect.cpp
index d15183fb06..f3f85764f7 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/smiledetect.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/smiledetect.cpp
@@ -25,61 +25,42 @@ void detectAndDraw( Mat& img, CascadeClassifier& cascade,
                     CascadeClassifier& nestedCascade,
                     double scale, bool tryflip );
 
-string cascadeName = "../../data/haarcascades/haarcascade_frontalface_alt.xml";
-string nestedCascadeName = "../../data/haarcascades/haarcascade_smile.xml";
+string cascadeName;
+string nestedCascadeName;
 
 int main( int argc, const char** argv )
 {
     VideoCapture capture;
     Mat frame, image;
-    const string scaleOpt = "--scale=";
-    size_t scaleOptLen = scaleOpt.length();
-    const string cascadeOpt = "--cascade=";
-    size_t cascadeOptLen = cascadeOpt.length();
-    const string nestedCascadeOpt = "--smile-cascade";
-    size_t nestedCascadeOptLen = nestedCascadeOpt.length();
-    const string tryFlipOpt = "--try-flip";
-    size_t tryFlipOptLen = tryFlipOpt.length();
     string inputName;
-    bool tryflip = false;
+    bool tryflip;
 
     help();
 
     CascadeClassifier cascade, nestedCascade;
-    double scale = 1;
-
-    for( int i = 1; i < argc; i++ )
+    double scale;
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv,
+        "{help h||}{scale|1|}"
+        "{cascade|../../data/haarcascades/haarcascade_frontalface_alt.xml|}"
+        "{smile-cascade|../../data/haarcascades/haarcascade_smile.xml|}"
+        "{try-flip||}{@input||}");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
     {
-        cout << "Processing " << i << " " <<  argv[i] << endl;
-        if( cascadeOpt.compare( 0, cascadeOptLen, argv[i], cascadeOptLen ) == 0 )
-        {
-            cascadeName.assign( argv[i] + cascadeOptLen );
-            cout << "  from which we have cascadeName= " << cascadeName << endl;
-        }
-        else if( nestedCascadeOpt.compare( 0, nestedCascadeOptLen, argv[i], nestedCascadeOptLen ) == 0 )
-        {
-            if( argv[i][nestedCascadeOpt.length()] == '=' )
-                nestedCascadeName.assign( argv[i] + nestedCascadeOpt.length() + 1 );
-        }
-        else if( scaleOpt.compare( 0, scaleOptLen, argv[i], scaleOptLen ) == 0 )
-        {
-            if( !sscanf( argv[i] + scaleOpt.length(), "%lf", &scale ) || scale < 1 )
-                scale = 1;
-            cout << " from which we read scale = " << scale << endl;
-        }
-        else if( tryFlipOpt.compare( 0, tryFlipOptLen, argv[i], tryFlipOptLen ) == 0 )
-        {
-            tryflip = true;
-            cout << " will try to flip image horizontally to detect assymetric objects\n";
-        }
-        else if( argv[i][0] == '-' )
-        {
-            cerr << "WARNING: Unknown option " << argv[i] << endl;
-        }
-        else
-            inputName.assign( argv[i] );
+        help();
+        return 0;
     }
-
+    cascadeName = parser.get<string>("cascade");
+    nestedCascadeName = parser.get<string>("smile-cascade");
+    tryflip = parser.has("try-flip");
+    inputName = parser.get<string>("@input");
+    scale = parser.get<int>("scale");
+    if (!parser.check())
+    {
+        help();
+        return 1;
+    }
+    if (scale < 1)
+        scale = 1;
     if( !cascade.load( cascadeName ) )
     {
         cerr << "ERROR: Could not load face cascade" << endl;
@@ -92,10 +73,9 @@ int main( int argc, const char** argv )
         help();
         return -1;
     }
-
-    if( inputName.empty() || (isdigit(inputName.c_str()[0]) && inputName.c_str()[1] == '\0') )
+    if( inputName.empty() || (isdigit(inputName[0]) && inputName.size() == 1) )
     {
-        int c = inputName.empty() ? 0 : inputName.c_str()[0] - '0' ;
+        int c = inputName.empty() ? 0 : inputName[0] - '0' ;
         if(!capture.open(c))
             cout << "Capture from camera #" <<  c << " didn't work" << endl;
     }
diff --git a/samples/cpp/starter_imagelist.cpp b/samples/cpp/starter_imagelist.cpp
index a576030b95..89df0cc1b5 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/starter_imagelist.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/starter_imagelist.cpp
@@ -62,13 +62,18 @@ int process(vector<string> images)
 
 int main(int ac, char** av)
 {
-
-  if (ac != 2)
+  cv::CommandLineParser parser(ac, av, "{help h||}{@input||}");
+  if (parser.has("help"))
+  {
+      help(av);
+      return 0;
+  }
+  std::string arg = parser.get<std::string>("@input");
+  if (arg.empty())
   {
     help(av);
     return 1;
   }
-  std::string arg = av[1];
   vector<string> imagelist;
 
   if (!readStringList(arg,imagelist))
diff --git a/samples/cpp/starter_video.cpp b/samples/cpp/starter_video.cpp
index 34f23d376c..d6bf1b7664 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/starter_video.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/starter_video.cpp
@@ -71,12 +71,17 @@ namespace {
 }
 
 int main(int ac, char** av) {
-
-    if (ac != 2) {
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(ac, av, "{help h||}{@input||}");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
+    {
+        help(av);
+        return 0;
+    }
+    std::string arg = parser.get<std::string>("@input");
+    if (arg.empty()) {
         help(av);
         return 1;
     }
-    std::string arg = av[1];
     VideoCapture capture(arg); //try to open string, this will attempt to open it as a video file or image sequence
     if (!capture.isOpened()) //if this fails, try to open as a video camera, through the use of an integer param
         capture.open(atoi(arg.c_str()));
diff --git a/samples/cpp/stereo_calib.cpp b/samples/cpp/stereo_calib.cpp
index 12ed3ef1ee..117c9bac5d 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/stereo_calib.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/stereo_calib.cpp
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ static int print_help()
             "         matrix separately) stereo. \n"
             " Calibrate the cameras and display the\n"
             " rectified results along with the computed disparity images.   \n" << endl;
-    cout << "Usage:\n ./stereo_calib -w board_width -h board_height [-nr /*dot not view results*/] <image list XML/YML file>\n" << endl;
+    cout << "Usage:\n ./stereo_calib -w=<board_width default=9> -h=<board_height default=6> <image list XML/YML file default=../data/stereo_calib.xml>\n" << endl;
     return 0;
 }
 
@@ -347,50 +347,19 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
 {
     Size boardSize;
     string imagelistfn;
-    bool showRectified = true;
-
-    for( int i = 1; i < argc; i++ )
-    {
-        if( string(argv[i]) == "-w" )
-        {
-            if( sscanf(argv[++i], "%d", &boardSize.width) != 1 || boardSize.width <= 0 )
-            {
-                cout << "invalid board width" << endl;
-                return print_help();
-            }
-        }
-        else if( string(argv[i]) == "-h" )
-        {
-            if( sscanf(argv[++i], "%d", &boardSize.height) != 1 || boardSize.height <= 0 )
-            {
-                cout << "invalid board height" << endl;
-                return print_help();
-            }
-        }
-        else if( string(argv[i]) == "-nr" )
-            showRectified = false;
-        else if( string(argv[i]) == "--help" )
-            return print_help();
-        else if( argv[i][0] == '-' )
-        {
-            cout << "invalid option " << argv[i] << endl;
-            return 0;
-        }
-        else
-            imagelistfn = argv[i];
-    }
-
-    if( imagelistfn == "" )
-    {
-        imagelistfn = "../data/stereo_calib.xml";
-        boardSize = Size(9, 6);
-    }
-    else if( boardSize.width <= 0 || boardSize.height <= 0 )
+    bool showRectified;
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, "{w|9|}{h|6|}{nr||}{help||}{@input|../data/stereo_calib.xml|}");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
+        return print_help();
+    showRectified = !parser.has("nr");
+    imagelistfn = parser.get<string>("@input");
+    boardSize.width = parser.get<int>("w");
+    boardSize.height = parser.get<int>("h");
+    if (!parser.check())
     {
-        cout << "if you specified XML file with chessboards, you should also specify the board width and height (-w and -h options)" << endl;
-        return 0;
+        parser.printErrors();
+        return 1;
     }
-
     vector<string> imagelist;
     bool ok = readStringList(imagelistfn, imagelist);
     if(!ok || imagelist.empty())
diff --git a/samples/cpp/stereo_match.cpp b/samples/cpp/stereo_match.cpp
index 3a2943afe0..e3ebb5ddf0 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/stereo_match.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/stereo_match.cpp
@@ -21,8 +21,8 @@ static void print_help()
 {
     printf("\nDemo stereo matching converting L and R images into disparity and point clouds\n");
     printf("\nUsage: stereo_match <left_image> <right_image> [--algorithm=bm|sgbm|hh|sgbm3way] [--blocksize=<block_size>]\n"
-           "[--max-disparity=<max_disparity>] [--scale=scale_factor>] [-i <intrinsic_filename>] [-e <extrinsic_filename>]\n"
-           "[--no-display] [-o <disparity_image>] [-p <point_cloud_file>]\n");
+           "[--max-disparity=<max_disparity>] [--scale=scale_factor>] [-i=<intrinsic_filename>] [-e=<extrinsic_filename>]\n"
+           "[--no-display] [-o=<disparity_image>] [-p=<point_cloud_file>]\n");
 }
 
 static void saveXYZ(const char* filename, const Mat& mat)
@@ -43,114 +43,90 @@ static void saveXYZ(const char* filename, const Mat& mat)
 
 int main(int argc, char** argv)
 {
-    const char* algorithm_opt = "--algorithm=";
-    const char* maxdisp_opt = "--max-disparity=";
-    const char* blocksize_opt = "--blocksize=";
-    const char* nodisplay_opt = "--no-display";
-    const char* scale_opt = "--scale=";
-
-    if(argc < 3)
-    {
-        print_help();
-        return 0;
-    }
-    const char* img1_filename = 0;
-    const char* img2_filename = 0;
-    const char* intrinsic_filename = 0;
-    const char* extrinsic_filename = 0;
-    const char* disparity_filename = 0;
-    const char* point_cloud_filename = 0;
+    std::string img1_filename = "";
+    std::string img2_filename = "";
+    std::string intrinsic_filename = "";
+    std::string extrinsic_filename = "";
+    std::string disparity_filename = "";
+    std::string point_cloud_filename = "";
 
     enum { STEREO_BM=0, STEREO_SGBM=1, STEREO_HH=2, STEREO_VAR=3, STEREO_3WAY=4 };
     int alg = STEREO_SGBM;
-    int SADWindowSize = 0, numberOfDisparities = 0;
-    bool no_display = false;
-    float scale = 1.f;
+    int SADWindowSize, numberOfDisparities;
+    bool no_display;
+    float scale;
 
     Ptr<StereoBM> bm = StereoBM::create(16,9);
     Ptr<StereoSGBM> sgbm = StereoSGBM::create(0,16,3);
-
-    for( int i = 1; i < argc; i++ )
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv,
+        "{help h||}{algorithm||}{max-disparity|0|}{blocksize|0|}{no-display||}{scale|1|}{i||}{e||}{o||}{p||}");
+    if(parser.has("help"))
     {
-        if( argv[i][0] != '-' )
-        {
-            if( !img1_filename )
-                img1_filename = argv[i];
-            else
-                img2_filename = argv[i];
-        }
-        else if( strncmp(argv[i], algorithm_opt, strlen(algorithm_opt)) == 0 )
-        {
-            char* _alg = argv[i] + strlen(algorithm_opt);
-            alg = strcmp(_alg, "bm") == 0 ? STEREO_BM :
-                  strcmp(_alg, "sgbm") == 0 ? STEREO_SGBM :
-                  strcmp(_alg, "hh") == 0 ? STEREO_HH :
-                  strcmp(_alg, "var") == 0 ? STEREO_VAR :
-                  strcmp(_alg, "sgbm3way") == 0 ? STEREO_3WAY : -1;
-            if( alg < 0 )
-            {
-                printf("Command-line parameter error: Unknown stereo algorithm\n\n");
-                print_help();
-                return -1;
-            }
-        }
-        else if( strncmp(argv[i], maxdisp_opt, strlen(maxdisp_opt)) == 0 )
-        {
-            if( sscanf( argv[i] + strlen(maxdisp_opt), "%d", &numberOfDisparities ) != 1 ||
-                numberOfDisparities < 1 || numberOfDisparities % 16 != 0 )
-            {
-                printf("Command-line parameter error: The max disparity (--maxdisparity=<...>) must be a positive integer divisible by 16\n");
-                print_help();
-                return -1;
-            }
-        }
-        else if( strncmp(argv[i], blocksize_opt, strlen(blocksize_opt)) == 0 )
-        {
-            if( sscanf( argv[i] + strlen(blocksize_opt), "%d", &SADWindowSize ) != 1 ||
-                SADWindowSize < 1 || SADWindowSize % 2 != 1 )
-            {
-                printf("Command-line parameter error: The block size (--blocksize=<...>) must be a positive odd number\n");
-                return -1;
-            }
-        }
-        else if( strncmp(argv[i], scale_opt, strlen(scale_opt)) == 0 )
-        {
-            if( sscanf( argv[i] + strlen(scale_opt), "%f", &scale ) != 1 || scale < 0 )
-            {
-                printf("Command-line parameter error: The scale factor (--scale=<...>) must be a positive floating-point number\n");
-                return -1;
-            }
-        }
-        else if( strcmp(argv[i], nodisplay_opt) == 0 )
-            no_display = true;
-        else if( strcmp(argv[i], "-i" ) == 0 )
-            intrinsic_filename = argv[++i];
-        else if( strcmp(argv[i], "-e" ) == 0 )
-            extrinsic_filename = argv[++i];
-        else if( strcmp(argv[i], "-o" ) == 0 )
-            disparity_filename = argv[++i];
-        else if( strcmp(argv[i], "-p" ) == 0 )
-            point_cloud_filename = argv[++i];
-        else
-        {
-            printf("Command-line parameter error: unknown option %s\n", argv[i]);
-            return -1;
-        }
+        print_help();
+        return 0;
     }
-
-    if( !img1_filename || !img2_filename )
+    img1_filename = parser.get<std::string>(0);
+    img2_filename = parser.get<std::string>(1);
+    if (parser.has("algorithm"))
+    {
+        std::string _alg = parser.get<std::string>("algorithm");
+        alg = _alg == "bm" ? STEREO_BM :
+            _alg == "sgbm" ? STEREO_SGBM :
+            _alg == "hh" ? STEREO_HH :
+            _alg == "var" ? STEREO_VAR :
+            _alg == "sgbm3way" ? STEREO_3WAY : -1;
+    }
+    numberOfDisparities = parser.get<int>("max-disparity");
+    SADWindowSize = parser.get<int>("blocksize");
+    scale = parser.get<float>("scale");
+    no_display = parser.has("no-display");
+    if( parser.has("i") )
+        intrinsic_filename = parser.get<std::string>("i");
+    if( parser.has("e") )
+        extrinsic_filename = parser.get<std::string>("e");
+    if( parser.has("o") )
+        disparity_filename = parser.get<std::string>("o");
+    if( parser.has("p") )
+        point_cloud_filename = parser.get<std::string>("p");
+    if (!parser.check())
+    {
+        parser.printErrors();
+        return 1;
+    }
+    if( alg < 0 )
+    {
+        printf("Command-line parameter error: Unknown stereo algorithm\n\n");
+        print_help();
+        return -1;
+    }
+    if ( numberOfDisparities < 1 || numberOfDisparities % 16 != 0 )
+    {
+        printf("Command-line parameter error: The max disparity (--maxdisparity=<...>) must be a positive integer divisible by 16\n");
+        print_help();
+        return -1;
+    }
+    if (scale < 0)
+    {
+        printf("Command-line parameter error: The scale factor (--scale=<...>) must be a positive floating-point number\n");
+        return -1;
+    }
+    if (SADWindowSize < 1 || SADWindowSize % 2 != 1)
+    {
+        printf("Command-line parameter error: The block size (--blocksize=<...>) must be a positive odd number\n");
+        return -1;
+    }
+    if( img1_filename.empty() || img2_filename.empty() )
     {
         printf("Command-line parameter error: both left and right images must be specified\n");
         return -1;
     }
-
-    if( (intrinsic_filename != 0) ^ (extrinsic_filename != 0) )
+    if( (!intrinsic_filename.empty()) ^ (!extrinsic_filename.empty()) )
     {
         printf("Command-line parameter error: either both intrinsic and extrinsic parameters must be specified, or none of them (when the stereo pair is already rectified)\n");
         return -1;
     }
 
-    if( extrinsic_filename == 0 && point_cloud_filename )
+    if( extrinsic_filename.empty() && !point_cloud_filename.empty() )
     {
         printf("Command-line parameter error: extrinsic and intrinsic parameters must be specified to compute the point cloud\n");
         return -1;
@@ -186,13 +162,13 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
     Rect roi1, roi2;
     Mat Q;
 
-    if( intrinsic_filename )
+    if( !intrinsic_filename.empty() )
     {
         // reading intrinsic parameters
         FileStorage fs(intrinsic_filename, FileStorage::READ);
         if(!fs.isOpened())
         {
-            printf("Failed to open file %s\n", intrinsic_filename);
+            printf("Failed to open file %s\n", intrinsic_filename.c_str());
             return -1;
         }
 
@@ -208,7 +184,7 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
         fs.open(extrinsic_filename, FileStorage::READ);
         if(!fs.isOpened())
         {
-            printf("Failed to open file %s\n", extrinsic_filename);
+            printf("Failed to open file %s\n", extrinsic_filename.c_str());
             return -1;
         }
 
@@ -297,16 +273,16 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
         printf("\n");
     }
 
-    if(disparity_filename)
+    if(!disparity_filename.empty())
         imwrite(disparity_filename, disp8);
 
-    if(point_cloud_filename)
+    if(!point_cloud_filename.empty())
     {
         printf("storing the point cloud...");
         fflush(stdout);
         Mat xyz;
         reprojectImageTo3D(disp, xyz, Q, true);
-        saveXYZ(point_cloud_filename, xyz);
+        saveXYZ(point_cloud_filename.c_str(), xyz);
         printf("\n");
     }
 
diff --git a/samples/cpp/train_HOG.cpp b/samples/cpp/train_HOG.cpp
index 0a94e348c5..900637b6b3 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/train_HOG.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/train_HOG.cpp
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ void load_images( const string & prefix, const string & filename, vector< Mat >
     while( !end_of_parsing )
     {
         getline( file, line );
-        if( line == "" ) // no more file to read
+        if( line.empty() ) // no more file to read
         {
             end_of_parsing = true;
             break;
@@ -403,23 +403,33 @@ void test_it( const Size & size )
 
 int main( int argc, char** argv )
 {
-    if( argc != 5 )
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, "{help h|| show help message}"
+            "{pd||pos_dir}{p||pos.lst}{nd||neg_dir}{n||neg.lst}");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
     {
-        cout << "Wrong number of parameters." << endl
-            << "Usage: " << argv[0] << " pos_dir pos.lst neg_dir neg.lst" << endl
-            << "example: " << argv[0] << " /INRIA_dataset/ Train/pos.lst /INRIA_dataset/ Train/neg.lst" << endl;
-        exit( -1 );
+        parser.printMessage();
+        exit(0);
     }
     vector< Mat > pos_lst;
     vector< Mat > full_neg_lst;
     vector< Mat > neg_lst;
     vector< Mat > gradient_lst;
     vector< int > labels;
-
-    load_images( argv[1], argv[2], pos_lst );
+    string pos_dir = parser.get<string>("pd");
+    string pos = parser.get<string>("p");
+    string neg_dir = parser.get<string>("nd");
+    string neg = parser.get<string>("n");
+    if( pos_dir.empty() || pos.empty() || neg_dir.empty() || neg.empty() )
+    {
+        cout << "Wrong number of parameters." << endl
+            << "Usage: " << argv[0] << " --pd=pos_dir -p=pos.lst --nd=neg_dir -n=neg.lst" << endl
+            << "example: " << argv[0] << " --pd=/INRIA_dataset/ -p=Train/pos.lst --nd=/INRIA_dataset/ -n=Train/neg.lst" << endl;
+        exit( -1 );
+    }
+    load_images( pos_dir, pos, pos_lst );
     labels.assign( pos_lst.size(), +1 );
     const unsigned int old = (unsigned int)labels.size();
-    load_images( argv[3], argv[4], full_neg_lst );
+    load_images( neg_dir, neg, full_neg_lst );
     sample_neg( full_neg_lst, neg_lst, Size( 96,160 ) );
     labels.insert( labels.end(), neg_lst.size(), -1 );
     CV_Assert( old < labels.size() );
diff --git a/samples/cpp/tree_engine.cpp b/samples/cpp/tree_engine.cpp
index d9fbb96788..4412588753 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/tree_engine.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/tree_engine.cpp
@@ -12,9 +12,9 @@ static void help()
 {
     printf(
         "\nThis sample demonstrates how to use different decision trees and forests including boosting and random trees.\n"
-        "Usage:\n\t./tree_engine [-r <response_column>] [-ts type_spec] <csv filename>\n"
-        "where -r <response_column> specified the 0-based index of the response (0 by default)\n"
-        "-ts specifies the var type spec in the form ord[n1,n2-n3,n4-n5,...]cat[m1-m2,m3,m4-m5,...]\n"
+        "Usage:\n\t./tree_engine [-r=<response_column>] [-ts=type_spec] <csv filename>\n"
+        "where -r=<response_column> specified the 0-based index of the response (0 by default)\n"
+        "-ts= specifies the var type spec in the form ord[n1,n2-n3,n4-n5,...]cat[m1-m2,m3,m4-m5,...]\n"
         "<csv filename> is the name of training data file in comma-separated value format\n\n");
 }
 
@@ -34,38 +34,30 @@ static void train_and_print_errs(Ptr<StatModel> model, const Ptr<TrainData>& dat
 
 int main(int argc, char** argv)
 {
-    if(argc < 2)
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, "{ help h | | }{r | 0 | }{ts | | }{@input | | }");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
     {
         help();
         return 0;
     }
-    const char* filename = 0;
-    int response_idx = 0;
+    std::string filename = parser.get<std::string>("@input");
+    int response_idx;
     std::string typespec;
-
-    for(int i = 1; i < argc; i++)
+    response_idx = parser.get<int>("r");
+    typespec = parser.get<std::string>("ts");
+    if( filename.empty() || !parser.check() )
     {
-        if(strcmp(argv[i], "-r") == 0)
-            sscanf(argv[++i], "%d", &response_idx);
-        else if(strcmp(argv[i], "-ts") == 0)
-            typespec = argv[++i];
-        else if(argv[i][0] != '-' )
-            filename = argv[i];
-        else
-        {
-            printf("Error. Invalid option %s\n", argv[i]);
-            help();
-            return -1;
-        }
+        parser.printErrors();
+        help();
+        return 0;
     }
-
-    printf("\nReading in %s...\n\n",filename);
+    printf("\nReading in %s...\n\n",filename.c_str());
     const double train_test_split_ratio = 0.5;
 
     Ptr<TrainData> data = TrainData::loadFromCSV(filename, 0, response_idx, response_idx+1, typespec);
     if( data.empty() )
     {
-        printf("ERROR: File %s can not be read\n", filename);
+        printf("ERROR: File %s can not be read\n", filename.c_str());
         return 0;
     }
 
diff --git a/samples/cpp/tvl1_optical_flow.cpp b/samples/cpp/tvl1_optical_flow.cpp
index dee9cf6e33..55b5558ebe 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/tvl1_optical_flow.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/tvl1_optical_flow.cpp
@@ -148,23 +148,33 @@ static void writeOpticalFlowToFile(const Mat_<Point2f>& flow, const string& file
 
 int main(int argc, const char* argv[])
 {
-    if (argc < 3)
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, "{help h || show help message}"
+            "{ @frame0 | | frame 0}{ @frame1 | | frame 1}{ @output | | output flow}");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
     {
-        cerr << "Usage : " << argv[0] << "<frame0> <frame1> [<output_flow>]" << endl;
+        parser.printMessage();
+        return 0;
+    }
+    string frame0_name = parser.get<string>("@frame0");
+    string frame1_name = parser.get<string>("@frame1");
+    string file = parser.get<string>("@output");
+    if (frame0_name.empty() || frame1_name.empty() || file.empty())
+    {
+        cerr << "Usage : " << argv[0] << " [<frame0>] [<frame1>] [<output_flow>]" << endl;
         return -1;
     }
 
-    Mat frame0 = imread(argv[1], IMREAD_GRAYSCALE);
-    Mat frame1 = imread(argv[2], IMREAD_GRAYSCALE);
+    Mat frame0 = imread(frame0_name, IMREAD_GRAYSCALE);
+    Mat frame1 = imread(frame1_name, IMREAD_GRAYSCALE);
 
     if (frame0.empty())
     {
-        cerr << "Can't open image ["  << argv[1] << "]" << endl;
+        cerr << "Can't open image ["  << parser.get<string>("frame0") << "]" << endl;
         return -1;
     }
     if (frame1.empty())
     {
-        cerr << "Can't open image ["  << argv[2] << "]" << endl;
+        cerr << "Can't open image ["  << parser.get<string>("frame1") << "]" << endl;
         return -1;
     }
 
@@ -184,9 +194,8 @@ int main(int argc, const char* argv[])
 
     Mat out;
     drawOpticalFlow(flow, out);
-
-    if (argc == 4)
-        writeOpticalFlowToFile(flow, argv[3]);
+    if (!file.empty())
+        writeOpticalFlowToFile(flow, file);
 
     imshow("Flow", out);
     waitKey();
diff --git a/samples/cpp/videostab.cpp b/samples/cpp/videostab.cpp
index 2eea9b9026..3fb7fb40bd 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/videostab.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/videostab.cpp
@@ -73,9 +73,9 @@ void printHelp()
     cout << "OpenCV video stabilizer.\n"
             "Usage: videostab <file_path> [arguments]\n\n"
             "Arguments:\n"
-            "  -m, --model=(transl|transl_and_scale|rigid|similarity|affine|homography)\n"
+            "  -m=, --model=(transl|transl_and_scale|rigid|similarity|affine|homography)\n"
             "      Set motion model. The default is affine.\n"
-            "  -lp, --lin-prog-motion-est=(yes|no)\n"
+            "  -lp=, --lin-prog-motion-est=(yes|no)\n"
             "      Turn on/off LP based motion estimation. The default is no.\n"
             "  --subset=(<int_number>|auto)\n"
             "      Number of random samples per one motion hypothesis. The default is auto.\n"
@@ -89,16 +89,16 @@ void printHelp()
             "      Number of keypoints to find in each frame. The default is 1000.\n"
             "  --local-outlier-rejection=(yes|no)\n"
             "      Perform local outlier rejection. The default is no.\n\n"
-            "  -sm, --save-motions=(<file_path>|no)\n"
+            "  -sm=, --save-motions=(<file_path>|no)\n"
             "      Save estimated motions into file. The default is no.\n"
-            "  -lm, --load-motions=(<file_path>|no)\n"
+            "  -lm=, --load-motions=(<file_path>|no)\n"
             "      Load motions from file. The default is no.\n\n"
-            "  -r, --radius=<int_number>\n"
+            "  -r=, --radius=<int_number>\n"
             "      Set sliding window radius. The default is 15.\n"
             "  --stdev=(<float_number>|auto)\n"
             "      Set smoothing weights standard deviation. The default is auto\n"
             "      (i.e. sqrt(radius)).\n"
-            "  -lps, --lin-prog-stab=(yes|no)\n"
+            "  -lps=, --lin-prog-stab=(yes|no)\n"
             "      Turn on/off linear programming based stabilization method.\n"
             "  --lps-trim-ratio=(<float_number>|auto)\n"
             "      Trimming ratio used in linear programming based method.\n"
@@ -114,28 +114,28 @@ void printHelp()
             "      Do deblurring.\n"
             "  --deblur-sens=<float_number>\n"
             "      Set deblurring sensitivity (from 0 to +inf). The default is 0.1.\n\n"
-            "  -t, --trim-ratio=<float_number>\n"
+            "  -t=, --trim-ratio=<float_number>\n"
             "      Set trimming ratio (from 0 to 0.5). The default is 0.1.\n"
-            "  -et, --est-trim=(yes|no)\n"
+            "  -et=, --est-trim=(yes|no)\n"
             "      Estimate trim ratio automatically. The default is yes.\n"
-            "  -ic, --incl-constr=(yes|no)\n"
+            "  -ic=, --incl-constr=(yes|no)\n"
             "      Ensure the inclusion constraint is always satisfied. The default is no.\n\n"
-            "  -bm, --border-mode=(replicate|reflect|const)\n"
+            "  -bm=, --border-mode=(replicate|reflect|const)\n"
             "      Set border extrapolation mode. The default is replicate.\n\n"
             "  --mosaic=(yes|no)\n"
             "      Do consistent mosaicing. The default is no.\n"
             "  --mosaic-stdev=<float_number>\n"
             "      Consistent mosaicing stdev threshold. The default is 10.0.\n\n"
-            "  -mi, --motion-inpaint=(yes|no)\n"
+            "  -mi=, --motion-inpaint=(yes|no)\n"
             "      Do motion inpainting (requires CUDA support). The default is no.\n"
             "  --mi-dist-thresh=<float_number>\n"
             "      Estimated flow distance threshold for motion inpainting. The default is 5.0.\n\n"
-            "  -ci, --color-inpaint=(no|average|ns|telea)\n"
+            "  -ci=, --color-inpaint=(no|average|ns|telea)\n"
             "      Do color inpainting. The defailt is no.\n"
             "  --ci-radius=<float_number>\n"
             "      Set color inpainting radius (for ns and telea options only).\n"
             "      The default is 2.0\n\n"
-            "  -ws, --wobble-suppress=(yes|no)\n"
+            "  -ws=, --wobble-suppress=(yes|no)\n"
             "      Perform wobble suppression. The default is no.\n"
             "  --ws-lp=(yes|no)\n"
             "      Turn on/off LP based motion estimation. The default is no.\n"
@@ -156,13 +156,13 @@ void printHelp()
             "      Number of keypoints to find in each frame. The default is 1000.\n"
             "  --ws-local-outlier-rejection=(yes|no)\n"
             "      Perform local outlier rejection. The default is no.\n\n"
-            "  -sm2, --save-motions2=(<file_path>|no)\n"
+            "  -sm2=, --save-motions2=(<file_path>|no)\n"
             "      Save motions estimated for wobble suppression. The default is no.\n"
-            "  -lm2, --load-motions2=(<file_path>|no)\n"
+            "  -lm2=, --load-motions2=(<file_path>|no)\n"
             "      Load motions for wobble suppression from file. The default is no.\n\n"
             "  -gpu=(yes|no)\n"
             "      Use CUDA optimization whenever possible. The default is no.\n\n"
-            "  -o, --output=(no|<file_path>)\n"
+            "  -o=, --output=(no|<file_path>)\n"
             "      Set output file path explicitely. The default is stabilized.avi.\n"
             "  --fps=(<float_number>|auto)\n"
             "      Set output video FPS explicitely. By default the source FPS is used (auto).\n"
diff --git a/samples/cpp/watershed.cpp b/samples/cpp/watershed.cpp
index b92bbf1fd1..9f2e69ec6b 100644
--- a/samples/cpp/watershed.cpp
+++ b/samples/cpp/watershed.cpp
@@ -48,7 +48,13 @@ static void onMouse( int event, int x, int y, int flags, void* )
 
 int main( int argc, char** argv )
 {
-    char* filename = argc >= 2 ? argv[1] : (char*)"../data/fruits.jpg";
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv, "{help h | | }{ @input | ../data/fruits.jpg | }");
+    if (parser.has("help"))
+    {
+        help();
+        return 0;
+    }
+    string filename = parser.get<string>("@input");
     Mat img0 = imread(filename, 1), imgGray;
 
     if( img0.empty() )
diff --git a/samples/tapi/ufacedetect.cpp b/samples/tapi/ufacedetect.cpp
index e3c82a2c6a..f6dc0ce1d9 100644
--- a/samples/tapi/ufacedetect.cpp
+++ b/samples/tapi/ufacedetect.cpp
@@ -36,56 +36,37 @@ int main( int argc, const char** argv )
     VideoCapture capture;
     UMat frame, image;
     Mat canvas;
-    const string scaleOpt = "--scale=";
-    size_t scaleOptLen = scaleOpt.length();
-    const string cascadeOpt = "--cascade=";
-    size_t cascadeOptLen = cascadeOpt.length();
-    const string nestedCascadeOpt = "--nested-cascade";
-    size_t nestedCascadeOptLen = nestedCascadeOpt.length();
-    const string tryFlipOpt = "--try-flip";
-    size_t tryFlipOptLen = tryFlipOpt.length();
-    String inputName;
-    bool tryflip = false;
 
-    help();
+    string inputName;
+    bool tryflip;
 
     CascadeClassifier cascade, nestedCascade;
-    double scale = 1;
+    double scale;
 
-    for( int i = 1; i < argc; i++ )
+    cv::CommandLineParser parser(argc, argv,
+        "{cascade|../../data/haarcascades/haarcascade_frontalface_alt.xml|}"
+        "{nested-cascade|../../data/haarcascades/haarcascade_eye_tree_eyeglasses.xml|}"
+        "{help h ||}{scale|1|}{try-flip||}{@filename||}"
+    );
+    if (parser.has("help"))
     {
-        cout << "Processing " << i << " " <<  argv[i] << endl;
-        if( cascadeOpt.compare( 0, cascadeOptLen, argv[i], cascadeOptLen ) == 0 )
-        {
-            cascadeName.assign( argv[i] + cascadeOptLen );
-            cout << "  from which we have cascadeName= " << cascadeName << endl;
-        }
-        else if( nestedCascadeOpt.compare( 0, nestedCascadeOptLen, argv[i], nestedCascadeOptLen ) == 0 )
-        {
-            if( argv[i][nestedCascadeOpt.length()] == '=' )
-                nestedCascadeName.assign( argv[i] + nestedCascadeOpt.length() + 1 );
-            if( !nestedCascade.load( nestedCascadeName ) )
-                cerr << "WARNING: Could not load classifier cascade for nested objects" << endl;
-        }
-        else if( scaleOpt.compare( 0, scaleOptLen, argv[i], scaleOptLen ) == 0 )
-        {
-            if( !sscanf( argv[i] + scaleOpt.length(), "%lf", &scale ) )
-                scale = 1;
-            cout << " from which we read scale = " << scale << endl;
-        }
-        else if( tryFlipOpt.compare( 0, tryFlipOptLen, argv[i], tryFlipOptLen ) == 0 )
-        {
-            tryflip = true;
-            cout << " will try to flip image horizontally to detect assymetric objects\n";
-        }
-        else if( argv[i][0] == '-' )
-        {
-            cerr << "WARNING: Unknown option " << argv[i] << endl;
-        }
-        else
-            inputName = argv[i];
+        help();
+        return 0;
+    }
+    cascadeName = parser.get<string>("cascade");
+    nestedCascadeName = parser.get<string>("nested-cascade");
+    scale = parser.get<double>("scale");
+    tryflip = parser.has("try-flip");
+    inputName = parser.get<string>("@filename");
+    if ( !parser.check())
+    {
+        parser.printErrors();
+        help();
+        return -1;
     }
 
+    if ( !nestedCascade.load( nestedCascadeName ) )
+        cerr << "WARNING: Could not load classifier cascade for nested objects" << endl;
     if( !cascade.load( cascadeName ) )
     {
         cerr << "ERROR: Could not load classifier cascade" << endl;
@@ -95,9 +76,9 @@ int main( int argc, const char** argv )
 
     cout << "old cascade: " << (cascade.isOldFormatCascade() ? "TRUE" : "FALSE") << endl;
 
-    if( inputName.empty() || (isdigit(inputName.c_str()[0]) && inputName.c_str()[1] == '\0') )
+    if( inputName.empty() || (isdigit(inputName[0]) && inputName.size() == 1) )
     {
-        int c = inputName.empty() ? 0 : inputName.c_str()[0] - '0';
+        int c = inputName.empty() ? 0 : inputName[0] - '0';
         if(!capture.open(c))
             cout << "Capture from camera #" <<  c << " didn't work" << endl;
     }