GP based smart reversible watermarking of depth image based rendering for stereoscopic images

Abstract

Depth Image Based Rendering (DIBR) for 3D-TV, or free-view TV, is one of the most promising techniques in multimedia world, whereby a monoscopic image and the depth image of the same view are utilized to generate stereoscopic left and right images. Therefore, the protection of valuable content generated for 3D TV is an important concern in the world of digital media. In this paper, we exploit an interpolation errors expansion scheme by employing Genetic Programming based smart reversible watermarking technique that is viable for 3D-TV. The proposed technique exploits directional weights using hidden dependencies pertaining to the imperceptibility and capacity of the watermark in a previously established interpolation scheme. It then embeds the watermark in the 3D content using interpolation error expansion based reversible watermarking scheme. Previously presented empirical techniques are not much effective as they use hit and trial strategies for selecting optimal weights for watermark embedding. The proposed technique achieves significant watermark capacity as well as imperceptibility, and is reversible when compared to existing state of the art techniques.