Robust, Secure and Semi-Blind Watermarking Technique Using Flexible Scaling Factor in Block-Based Wavelet Algorithm

Abstract

Multimedia security has received much attention recently because of the rapid transmission of elements such as text, images, audio, video, software, animation and games. Security is becoming especially critical for content owners concerned about the illegal usage of their original products. Encryption and watermarking are two methodologies for digital applications. Spatial domain and frequency domain watermarking algorithms give very promising results in embedding binary images into the cover images. This paper proposed a new method of semi-blind watermarking technique. The digital images are divided into 4 × 4 blocks and converted into discrete Wavelet transformations (DWTs). The binary image is embedded into each block using the flexible scaling factor method. Experimental results show that the proposed method has higher peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR) and similarity ratio (SR) values compared to the standard Wavelet transformation and block-based Wavelet algorithms. The results prove that the proposed hybrid algorithm is more effective, robust, secure and resistant than DWT and block-based DWT algorithms.

Robust Image Watermarking in Spatial Domain Utilizing Features Equivalent to SVD Transform

“…The basic purpose of copy right protection watermarking schemes is to demonstrate ownership regardless of time Therefore, this is not a vital element in these situations; however, it cannot be ignored in broadcast monitoring when embedding and extraction are conducted live. In Table 6, it i evident that the computational complexity of the proposed scheme is greater than th other schemes but comparable to the scheme provided by Zhang et al [49] and is less than the scheme proposed by Elbasi et al [26]. This is due to the time required to redistribut the pixels in the image to their new locations in order to obtain singular values that ar invariant.…”

“…In this section, a comparison of the performance of the proposed watermarking scheme with the performance of other relevant watermarking techniques that have been developed by Parah et al [48], Zhang et al [49], Zeng et al [50], Su et al [47], and Elbasi et al [26] is carried out. All these schemes have, in some way or another, utilized an idea that is similar to the proposed scheme.…”

“…This section analyzes the robustness of the proposed watermarking scheme, utilizing image distortion attacks to distort the watermarked image shown in Table 1 and the extraction procedure described in Section 3.3. The normalized correlation coefficient (NCC) and bits error ratio (BER), which are defined in Equations ( 25) and (26), were employed for this task. A higher NCC value means higher robustness, while a smaller BER value means higher robustness.…”

“…The direct current (DC) value of the DCT of any image is the In contrast, frequency-domain watermarking techniques incorporate watermark information in frequency coefficients by converting spatial representation into the frequency domain. Several transforms have been used in watermarking, including discrete wavelet transform (DWT), discrete cosine transform (DCT), discrete Fourier transform (DFT), discrete fractional Fourier transform (DFrFT), quaternion wavelet transform (QWT), singular value decomposition (SVD), and their combinations [21][22][23][24][25][26]. Li et al [27] presented image watermarking based on the redistributed invariant discrete wavelet transform (RIDWT).…”

Blind watermarking algorithm with 2D-SCCM chaotic system encryption based on SURF and RHFMs

“…AbdelAziz et al [24] developed a blind watermarking algorithm for color medical images using multi-channel fractional Legendre-Fourier moments. Elbasi et al [25] implemented a secure semi-blind watermarking algorithm using a block-based wavelet approach. In this paper, a robust blind watermarking algorithm has been implemented.…”