A Data Lossless Message Hiding Scheme without Extra Information

Abstract

Wang et al. proposed a histogram-shifting-imitated reversible data hiding scheme. Because the pixel value after transformation for each peak point is limited to a fixed range, the visual quality of the stego-image is very good and is independent of the volume of the embedded data. In this paper, we have proposed an extra information-free multi-dimensional multi-layer data embedding scheme, which improves two aspects of Wang et al.'s scheme. First, the proposed scheme expands the hiding capacity by extending the frame of Wang et al.'s scheme from a one-dimensional one-layer scheme to a multi-dimensional multi-layer scheme. Second, the proposed scheme treats the location map as a part of the data to be embedded into the image rather than treating it as extra information to be transmitted to the receiver through the secure channel. The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed scheme can achieve a higher hiding capacity and a lower distortion than Wang et al.'s scheme without transmitting any extra information.