Binary Logo Research Articles

Development of a cropping resilient watermarking scheme based on contourlet transform for secure IoT communication

The objective of this work is to propose a robust watermarking method as watermarking techniques are widely used today for preventing image altering and duplication. With the growth of image-based IoT applications nowadays, the need for developing robust digital watermarking techniques is of high demand. In this work, a robust yet highly perceptible watermarking scheme is proposed. The proposed scheme is based on the Contourlet Transform (CT) and Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) as the embedding domain in which the high-frequency components are chosen for embedding. The frequency domain is selected in order to make the watermarking scheme resists image attacks as the watermark is spreaded across different frequency bands in the cover image and hence the possibility of altering all the embedded bands is not possible as it will results in destroying the cover image. On the other hand, the Arnold transformation was used to insure secure IOT communication where the Arnold transform is applied to the binary logo watermark before embedding for a more secure design. In this context, the host image has been decomposed into the first level of contourlet transform and the highest frequency sub-bands are selected for embedding after performing the SVD on those bands where the SVD matrix is chosen to be the embedding domain. Moreover, This work aims to resist the cropping attack on images where PSNR values were above 52 dB and NC values ranged from 0.8 to 0.9 under various types of cropping attacks. In addition, the proposed method demonstrates its ability to resist various geometric and noise attacks such as JPEG compression, histogram equalization, gaussian noising and image brightening. Comparisons with state-of-the-art work demonstrate the proposed scheme's efficienc

Privacy Protection of Patient Medical Images using Digital Watermarking Technique for E-healthcare System.

Privacy protection has been a critical issue in the delivery of medical images for telemedicine, e-health care and other remote medical systems. The aim of this proposed work is to implement a secure, reversible, digital watermarking technique for the transmission of medical data remotely in health care systems. In this research work, we employed a novel optimized digital watermarking scheme using discrete wavelet transform and singular value decomposition using cuckoo search algorithm based on Lévy flight for embedding watermark into the grayscale medical images of the patient. The performance of our proposed algorithm is evaluated on four different 256 × 256 grayscale host medical images and a 32 × 32 binary logo image. The performance of the proposed scheme in terms of peak signal to noise ratio was remarkably high, with an average of 55.022dB compared to other methods. Experimental results reveal that the proposed method is capable of achieving superior performance compared to some of the state-of-art schemes in terms of robustness, security and high embedding capacity which is required in the field of telemedicine and e-health care system.

Combining SVD-DCT Image Watermarking Scheme Based on Perona-Malik Diffusion

In this paper, we propose an efficient image watermarking scheme based on combining Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) and Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) transforms. The main idea consists of exploiting results obtained by the well-known Perona-Malik diffusion applied in image de-noising in watermarking domain by selecting significant blocks to embed a binary logo watermark. After applying the DCT on the selected blocks, the SVD is performed on each of these transformed blocks to modify a few numbers of its U matrix elements according to some defined conditions. Computer simulation and experimental results prove the efficiency of our proposed method against image processing attacks and outperform several previous schemes in terms of imperceptibility and robustness.

Stereo image zero-watermarking algorithm based on ternary polar harmonic Fourier moments and chaotic mapping

In recent years, stereo images have attracted extensive attention because of their strong immersion, and the corresponding copyright protection of stereo images is becoming increasingly urgent. At present, most of the watermarking algorithms for image copyright protection are aimed at planar images, and there are few watermarking algorithms for stereo images. Moreover, most of the existing stereo image watermarking algorithms are not very good at reflecting and retaining the specific relationship between the left and right views of the stereo images, which will inevitably affect the robustness of the algorithm. In this paper, ternary polar harmonic Fourier moments (TPHFM) for stereo images is proposed and based on this and chaotic mapping, a robust stereo image zero-watermarking algorithm is presented. First, mixed linear-nonlinear coupled map lattice is used to make the original binary logo image chaotic. Next, the TPHFM of the original stereo image is computed and accurate moments for the zero-watermarking algorithm are selected. Then, the binary feature image is constructed using the accurate moments, and scrambled using Sine mapping and Cosine mapping. Finally, a zero-watermark image is generated using the exclusive-or on the scrambled binary feature image and the chaotic binary logo image. Experimental results show that the proposed zero-watermarking algorithm is excellently robust against common image processing attacks and geometric attacks, and is superior to ternary radial harmonic Fourier moments (TRHFM)-based algorithm and other zero-watermarking algorithms.

Geometrically resilient color image zero-watermarking algorithm based on quaternion Exponent moments

Although research on zero-watermarking has made great progress in recent years, most of it has been focused on grayscale images rather than color ones, and cannot resist geometric attacks efficiently. In this paper, we discuss properties of quaternion Exponent moments (QEMs) in detail and propose a robust color image zero-watermarking algorithm which is robust to geometric attacks. We first compute and select robust QEMs of the original color image, and then a binary feature image is constructed using the magnitude of the selected moments. Eventually, a bitwise exclusive-or is applied on the binary feature image and a scrambled binary logo to generate the zero-watermark image. Experimental results show that the proposed zero-watermarking algorithm is robust to both geometric attacks and common image processing attacks effectively. Compared to similar zero-watermarking algorithms and traditional watermarking algorithms based on QEMs, the proposed zero-watermarking algorithm has better performance.

Effect of Watermarking on Diagnostic Preservation of Atherosclerotic Ultrasound Video in Stroke Telemedicine.

Embedding of diagnostic and health care information requires secure encryption and watermarking. This research paper presents a comprehensive study for the behavior of some well established watermarking algorithms in frequency domain for the preservation of stroke-based diagnostic parameters. Two different sets of watermarking algorithms namely: two correlation-based (binary logo hiding) and two singular value decomposition (SVD)-based (gray logo hiding) watermarking algorithms are used for embedding ownership logo. The diagnostic parameters in atherosclerotic plaque ultrasound video are namely: (a) bulb identification and recognition which consists of identifying the bulb edge points in far and near carotid walls; (b) carotid bulb diameter; and (c) carotid lumen thickness all along the carotid artery. The tested data set consists of carotid atherosclerotic movies taken under IRB protocol from University of Indiana Hospital, USA-AtheroPoint™ (Roseville, CA, USA) joint pilot study. ROC (receiver operating characteristic) analysis was performed on the bulb detection process that showed an accuracy and sensitivity of 100 % each, respectively. The diagnostic preservation (DPsystem) for SVD-based approach was above 99 % with PSNR (Peak signal-to-noise ratio) above 41, ensuring the retention of diagnostic parameter devalorization as an effect of watermarking. Thus, the fully automated proposed system proved to be an efficient method for watermarking the atherosclerotic ultrasound video for stroke application.

An image copyright protection system using chaotic maps

In this paper, a simple and efficient watermarking method is proposed by using visual cryptography, singular value decomposition and chaotic maps. The proposed scheme uses a gray-level image as watermark instead of binary logo or bit sequence. The proposed scheme is a zero-watermarking scheme, where the watermark is not embedded directly in the host image. The host image is encrypted with secret watermark image by constructing two shares- master share and ownership share. The two shares separately do not give any information about the watermark but when stacked together, the watermark is revealed. Singular value decomposition has been used to select the robust features of the host image and chaotic maps have been used to improve the security. Experimental study is conducted to evaluate the robustness of the algorithm against various signal processing and geometrical attacks.

An efficient and secure robust watermarking scheme for document images using Integer wavelets and block coding of binary watermarks

A novel, efficient and robust watermarking scheme for protection of document image contents is proposed in this work. An integer wavelet-based watermarking scheme for embedding the compressed version of the binary watermark logo has been developed for robust watermarking. At the sender side, the source document image is divided into empty and non-empty segments depending on the absence or presence of the information. Watermarking is applied for non-empty segments and thus the amount of embedding capacity is reduced. A binary watermark logo is compressed using binary block coding technique of appropriate block-size. A level-2 integer wavelet transformation is applied on the non-empty segment of the source document image. LL-sub-band of level-2 of the transformed image is subdivided into blocks of uniform size and compressed watermark bitstream is embedded into it. The compressed watermark is redundantly embedded into blocks using quantization technique. Thus, multiple copies of compressed watermark are available and each block of the source document image segment need not include the entire compressed watermark stream. At the receiver side, the extracted segments from each set of blocks are merged to obtain a single extracted bitstream. The bitstream is further decoded to get the binary watermark. The extracted and embedded watermarks are compared and authentication decision is taken based on majority voting technique. Based on the quantization step size, size of the logo and the level of wavelet transform, the watermarks are extracted without accessing the original image. The experimental results show that the proposed technique is highly robust. The performance of the proposed approach is measured in parameters Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR) and Normalized Correlation Coefficient (NCC). Results show that the proposed approach is better than the existing methods. In the proposed scheme for decompression of watermark, the level of block coding technique is the key, which provides an additional layer of security.

Visible watermarking based on importance and just noticeable distortion of image regions

Visible watermarking is the process of embedding data (watermark) into a multimedia object (video/image) such that the embedded watermark is perceptible to a human observer. Many times, visible watermarks occlude important portion of multimedia objects. This paper introduces a visible watermarking algorithm to embed a binary logo watermark at N non-overlapping positions in an image such that important portions of the image are not occluded. The important portions are found through visual saliency computation or available human eye fixation density maps. In the proposed visible watermarking, just noticeable distortion is used to adaptively filter the watermark embedding energy based on the image content. A mathematical model in terms of information-content-weighted-structural-similarity-index and visual importance is proposed to find optimal watermark embedding strength. We tested the algorithm on several color images of different sizes and on several binary watermarks of different sizes and found the results to be very promising as per the requirements in visible watermarking. When compared to the state-of-the-art, we also found that the proposed technique does better in not hiding the details of any test image.

Sub-band discrete cosine transform-based greyscale image watermarking using general regression neural network

In this paper, a new grey scale image watermarking scheme based on sub-band discrete Cosine transform (SB-DCT) using general regression neural network (GRNN) is proposed. The image features are extracted by applying the SB-DCT to each non-overlapping block of the image. These features are used to form the dataset, which act as input to GRNN. The output obtained by GRNN is used to embed the binary watermark logo in the selected low variance blocks of the image. Owing to the good function approximation and high generalisation property of GRNN, we are able to recover the watermark after performing several image processing operations. Through the extensive experimental results, high peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) value of watermarked image and high bit correct ratio (BCR), normalised correlation (NC) value of the extracted watermark proves the imperceptibility and robustness of the proposed scheme compared to the state-of-art techniques.

State Transition Based Embedding in Cepstrum Domain for Audio Copyright Protection

ABSTRACTIn this paper, we propose a new state transition based embedding (STBE) technique for audio watermarking with high fidelity. Furthermore, we propose a new correlation based encoding (CBE) scheme for binary logo image in order to enhance the payload capacity. The result of CBE is also compared with standard run-length encoding (RLE) compression and Huffman schemes. Most of the watermarking algorithms are based on modulating selected transform domain feature of an audio segment in order to embed given watermark bit. In the proposed STBE method instead of modulating feature of each and every segment to embed data, our aim is to retain the default value of this feature for most of the segments. Thus, a high quality of watermarked audio is maintained. Here, the difference between the mean values (Mdiff) of insignificant complex cepstrum transform (CCT) coefficients of down-sampled subsets is selected as a robust feature for embedding. Mdiff values of the frames are changed only when certain conditions are met. Hence, almost 50% of the times, segments are not changed and still STBE can convey watermark information at receiver side. STBE also exhibits a partial restoration feature by which the watermarked audio can be restored partially after extraction of the watermark at detector side. The psychoacoustic model analysis showed that the noise-masking ratio (NMR) of our system is less than −10dB. As amplitude scaling in time domain does not affect selected insignificant CCT coefficients, strong invariance towards amplitude scaling attacks is also proved theoretically. Experimental results reveal that the proposed watermarking scheme maintains high audio quality and are simultaneously robust to general attacks like MP3 compression, amplitude scaling, additive noise, re-quantization, etc.

A Secure and Robust Reversible Watermarking Algorithm using Fuzzy Matching Quad Tree Segmentation (F-QTS) Technique for Digital Images

attainment incompetence of extracting the original image is one of the most challenging tasks in digital image watermarking methods. When an image is embedded into another image, this increases more complications. To overcome this problematic scenario, this paper proposes a Fuzzy based Quad Tree Segmentation (F-QTS) method. In this paper, a binary logo image is embedded into a RGB cover image. Due to the embedding data is an image, Quad Tree Segmentation method is applied in both the images in order to allocate the blocks for logo image. This space allocation is empowered by Fuzzy Rules and the binary logo image is embedded into the R-plane of the cover image. Moreover, performances of the proposed watermarking method is evaluated with the various watermarking attacks and presented in terms of PSNR (Peak signal-to-noise ratio).

Digital Image Watermarking Scheme Using Discrete Wavelet Transform Domain, Quantization, and Genetic Algorithm

Protection of digital multimedia content has become an increasingly important issue for content owners and service providers. Watermarking is identified as a major means to achieve copyright protection. The algorithm proposed in this work, is to use a blind watermarking scheme based on the Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT). Watermark components are embedded in the LL subband of the 4th DWT level of the host image by quantizing coefficients of the LL subband to improve the watermark robustness. The Genetic Algorithm (GA) is used for optimizing the quantization step size parameter, and the strength of factors. The host image used is a 512×512 gray scale image and the watermark image is a 32×32 binary logo. The proposed scheme was tested against mostly known threats and it proves to give good robustness. Also, it still gives a high quality watermarked image. MATLAB Program was used to perform the watermarking task.

Video Watermarking Scheme Based on DWT and PCA for Copyright Protection

The distribution of digital products like audio and video are increasing rapidly over the networks, so the owners of such digital data are worried about their ownership protection. It may be possible that the third- party may claim the digital products as their own and misuse it in future. In order to overcome this problem, 'Video Watermarking Scheme Based on Principal Component Analysis and Wavelet Transform for Copyright Protection', is introduced for preventing illegal copying of their digital products. In this system, a Binary logo watermark is embedded in video frames for copyright protection. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is applied to each block of the two bands (LL - HH) which results from Discrete Wavelet transform of the video frame. The watermark is embedded into the principal components of the LL blocks and HH blocks at different levels. Combining the DWT and PCA transform improves the performance of the watermark algorithm. This watermarking scheme shows no visible difference between the watermarked frames and the original frames i.e. imperceptible to the Human Visual System (HVS). It depicts the robustness against a wide range of attacks such as geometric transformation, histogram equalization, and gamma correction. Keywords -Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), Discrete wavelet transforms (DWT), Fixed-length codeword (FLC), Principle Component Analysis (PCA), Video Watermarking.

A New Digital Watermarking Algorithm Based on DWT-DCT-RLC

The paper presents an imperceptible and robust digital watermarking algorithm using a combination of the DWT-DCT , which improves the robustness via using new embedding strategy. Apply 4-level DWT to the host image. Then, DCT transform of each directional middle frequencies DWT subband is computed; A binary watermarked logo is coded by Run-Length Code(RLC);The watermark bits are embedded in the coefficients of the DCT block based on the energy of each corresponding to coefficient in the highest level selected using the value of RLC. Performance evaluation show that the proposed scheme is invisible and robust against common image manipulations like JPEG compression, noise adding, sharpening, filtering.

Oblivious Image Watermarking in Discrete Multiwavelet Domain using QIMM

This paper proposes a novel oblivious image watermarking technique for the copyright protection and authentication of still images, based on Discrete Multiwavelet Transform (DMWT) and Quantization Index Modulus Modulation (QIMM). The multiwavelet coefficients of an image are quantized using QIMM and the coefficients are modified according to the binary watermark logo. Watermark extraction does not require the original image. Experimental results show that, the proposed watermarking scheme is robust to image compression and rotational attacks. It is superior to the method proposed by Lin et al. [10] in terms of Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR) and Bit Error Rate (BER).

Reversible Blind HF Domain Contourlet Watermarking for Authentication of Digital Images

Digital images are widely used in defense, e-governance, medicine, banking, insurance, healthcare, scientific research, weather forecasting etc. Varied applications in these fields demand the secure exchange of digital images that serve as valid document evidences for legal procedures and for clinical, scientific and forensic analysis. These images are susceptible to intentional or accidental attacks during transit which may lead to the loss of confidentiality and integrity of the content and identity of the sender. This paper presents a reversible blind watermarking scheme for authentication of digital images with a binary logo. It exploits the contourlet domain for watermarking as it preserves the smooth contours and edges even after multiple levels of decomposition. The proposed watermarking algorithm embeds the watermark in an arbitrary sparse High Frequency (HF) subband; the watermark extraction algorithm follows a unique hard thresholding approach for blind watermark extraction. The system applies a triangular number generating function to strengthen the binary watermark and employs Arnold transform for watermark synchronization. Experimental results show that the proposed system provides good fidelity of watermarked and recovered images and robustness to certain geometrical and non geometrical attacks.

Robust Image Watermarking Using Discrete Wavelet Transform

Problem statement: Digital Watermarking have gained popularity in recent years as a means of protecting multimedia data from illegal copying and unlawful reproduction. It is mainly used for copyright protection of multimedia data. Approach: In this study an image watermarking algorithm which is blind (do not require the presence of host image for detection) and robust is proposed. Results: The proposed watermarking scheme embeds the watermark in the Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) domain. The watermark is a binary logo and is embedded in the subband of the wavelet decomposition. Conclusion: This watermarking scheme is robust to several attacks like JPEG compression, rotation, Gaussian filtering, median filtering, cropping, scaling, sharpening, Gaussian noise and salt and pepper noise.

Speech signals protection via logo watermarking based on the time–frequency analysis

A procedure for logo watermarking of speech signals is proposed. In order to take full advantage of both time and frequency domains, we have used joint time–frequency representation of speech signal, which provides a more comprehensive information compared to each domain individually. Time–frequency-based selection of the discrete Fourier transform coefficients is used for logo embedding. The proposed coefficients selection provides both the imperceptibility and robustness requirements. The binary logo is embedded by using the concept of bit-plane modification. The logo extraction procedure is provided as well. The robustness of the proposed procedure is tested under various attacks such as compression, noise addition, filtering, re-sampling, re-quantization, time stretch, pitch scaling, etc.

Robust RDWT-ICA based information hiding

We present a new method for watermarking which is based on redundant wavelet transform (RDWT) and independent component analysis (ICA) for authenticity protection of multimedia products. RDWT gives an over complete presentation of the input sequences and functions as a better approximation to the wavelet transform, and therefore, is well-suitable for watermarking. An advantage of using a large logo is the ability to carry redundant information about copyright, increasing the robustness. By exploiting RDWT, we can embed a large binary logo watermark, which has the same size as the host image. The watermark is detected by a new intelligent ICA-based detector, with which we can directly extract the watermark in spatial domain without transformation steps. Our findings are that RDWT-based watermarking out-performs against image compression, and produces less image distortion than conventional DWT. The robustness of the proposed method is demonstrated and tested under various attacks