High-capacity reversible data hiding in encrypted images based on extended run-length coding and block-based MSB plane rearrangement

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a novel reversible data hiding method in encrypted images. The proposed method takes full advantage of the spatial correlation in the original images to vacate room for embedding data before image encryption. By jointly using an extended run-length coding and a block-based most significant bit (MSB) plane rearrangement mechanism, the MSB planes of images can be compressed efficiently to generate room for high-capacity embedding. The receiver can extract data directly from encrypted images with only the data hiding key, and the original image or the high-quality plain image that contains secret data can be recovered with only the encryption key. The experimental results prove that the proposed method can reach a high embedding rate and a high PSNR.