Watermarking with recovery capability for HGI image compression

Abstract

The paper proposes a new semi-fragile watermarking system with tamper localization and recovery capabilities, adapted for the HGI image compression method. The method exploits the hierarchical structure of the image when embedding: it replaces a step of post-interpolation residual quantization by a special quantizer based on quantization index modulation (QIM). The proposed watermarking system consists of authentication and recovery parts. Both parts work at different hierarchical levels. Our approach makes it possible not only to detect the area of local distortions but also to recover the original image in this area with acceptable quality. The developed watermarking system, compatible with the HGI compression method, is applicable to protect remote sensing and medical images against malicious distortions.