A Robust Wavelet-Based Watermarking Algorithm Using Edge Detection

In this paper, a robust watermarking algorithm using the wavelet transform and edge detection is presented. The efficiency of an image watermarking technique depends on the preservation of visually significant information. This is attained by embedding the watermark transparently with the maximum possible strength. The watermark embedding process is carried over the subband coefficients that lie on edges, where distortions are less noticeable, with a subband level dependent strength. Also, the watermark is embedded to selected coefficients around edges, using a different scale factor for watermark strength, that are captured by a morphological dilation operation. The experimental evaluation of the proposed method shows very good results in terms of robustness and transparency to various attacks such as median filtering, Gaussian noise, JPEG compression and geometrical transformations.

Authors:

• John N. Ellinas

Keywords:

• Watermarking
• wavelet transform
• edge detection.

References:

[1] R. Schyndel, A. Tirkel, and C. Osborne, "A digital watermark," in IEEE
Proc. Int. Conf. Image Processing, 1994, vol. 2, pp. 86-90.
[2] W. Bender, D. Gruhl, N. Morimoto, and A. Lu, "Techniques for data
hiding," IBM Systems Journal, vol. 35, no. 3-4, pp. 313-336, 1996.
[3] R. B. Wolfgang and E. J. Delp, "A watermark for digital images," in
IEEE Proc. Int. Conf. Image Processing, 1996, vol. 3, pp. 219-222.
[4] M. D. Swanson, B. Zhu, and A. H. Tewfik, "Transparent robust image
watermarking," in IEEE Proc. Int. Conf. Image Processing, 1996, vol. 3,
pp. 211-214.
[5] I. J. Cox, J. Kilian, T. Leighton, and T. Shamoon, "Secure spread
spectrum watermarking for multimedia," IEEE Trans. Image Processing,
vol. 6, no. 12, pp. 1673-1687, Dec. 1997.
[6] M. Barni, F. Bartolini,a and A. Piva, "Improved wavelet-based
watermarking through pixel-wise masking", IEEE Trans. Image
Processing, vol. 10, no. 5, pp. 783-791, 2001.
[7] X. Xia, C. G. Boncelet, and G. R. Arce, "A multiresolution watermark
for digital images," in IEEE Proc. Int. Conf. Image Processing, USA,
1997, pp. 548-551.
[8] J. R. Kim, and Y. S. Moon, "A robust wavelet-based digital
watermarking using level-adaptive thresholding," in IEEE Proc. Int.
Conf. Image Processing, Japan, 1999, pp. 226-230.
[9] C. T. Hsu, and J. L. Wu, "Hidden digital watermarks in images," IEEE
Trans. Image Processing, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 58-68, Jan. 1999.
[10] R. Dugad, K. Ratakonda, and N. Ahuja, "A new wavelet-based scheme
for watermarking images," in IEEE Proc. Int. Conf. Image Processing,
USA, 1998, pp. 419-423.
[11] R. B. Wolfgang, C. I. Podilchuk, and E. J. Delp, "Perceptual watermarks
for digital images and video," in SPIE Proc. Int. Conf. Security and
watermarking of multimedia contents, USA, 1999, pp. 40-51.
[12] J. N. Ellinas, D. E. Manolakis, "A robust watermarking scheme based on
edge detection and contrast sensitivity function," in VISAPP Proc. Int.
Conf. Computer Vision Theory and Applications, Barcelona, 2007.