A high capacity reversible data hiding scheme with edge prediction and difference expansion

To enhance the embedding capacity of a reversible data hiding system, in this paper, a novel multiple-base lossless scheme based on JPEG-LS pixel value prediction and reversible difference expansion will be presented. The proposed scheme employs a pixel value prediction mechanism to decrease the distortion caused by the hiding of the secret data. In general, the prediction error value tends to be much smaller in smooth areas than in edge areas, and more secret data embedded in smooth areas still meets better stego-image quality. The multiple-base notational system, on the other hand, is applied to increase the payload of the image. With the system, the payload of each pixel, determined by the complexity of its neighboring pixels, can be very different. In addition, the cover image processed by the proposed scheme can be fully recovered without any distortion. Experimental results, as shown in this paper, have demonstrated that the proposed method is capable of hiding more secret data while keeping the stego-image quality degradation imperceptible.     

Prediction-based reversible data hiding

For some applications such as satellite and medical images, reversible data hiding is the best solution to provide copyright protection or authentication. Being reversible, the decoder can extract the hidden data and recover the original image without distortion. In this paper, a reversible data hiding scheme based on prediction error expansion is proposed. The predictive value is computed by using various predictors. The secret data is embedded in the cover image by exploiting the expansion of the difference between a pixel and its predictive value. Experimental results show that our method is capable of providing a great embedding capacity without making noticeable distortion. In addition, the proposed scheme is also applicable to various predictors.     

Reversible data hiding for high quality images exploiting interpolation and direction order mechanism

Reversible data hiding can restore the original image from the stego image without any distortion after the embedded secret message is exactly extracted. In this paper, a novel, reversible, data hiding scheme for high quality images is proposed in spatial domain. To increase embedding capacity and enhance image quality, the proposed scheme classifies all pixels as wall pixels and non-wall pixels. For wall pixel, the interpolation error is used to embed secret data over the interpolation prediction method. In contrast, the difference value between the non-wall pixel and its parent pixel, which is defined by the direction order, is computed to hide secret data based on the histogram shifting. The experimental results demonstrate that our scheme provides a larger payload and a better image quality than some existing schemes. Moreover, the performance of the proposed scheme is more stable for different images.     

High capacity reversible hiding scheme based on interpolation,difference expansion,and histogram shifting

Difference expansion and histogram shifting methods are two popular hiding strategies that have been widely used in many researches. For example, Hong and Chen developed a reversible hiding method based on interpolation and histogram shifting. The image quality of their scheme is exceptional; however, their scheme needs to keep and transmit two peak points for secret data extraction and pixel recovering. Moreover, the reference pixels in their scheme cannot be used to embed secret data that will decrease the hiding capacity. Therefore, this paper shall propose a reversible hiding method to enhance their scheme. The proposed method applies the difference expansion, histogram shifting and interpolation strategies to conceal secret data in the reference pixels for increasing the hiding payload. Experimental results indicate that the proposed method performs better in terms of hiding capacity than recently developed methods.     

Reversible data hiding based on PDE predictor

In this paper, we propose a prediction-error expansion based reversible data hiding by using a new predictor based on partial differential equation (PDE). For a given pixel, PDE predictor uses the mean of its four nearest neighboring pixels as initial prediction, and then iteratively updates the prediction until the value goes stable. Specifically, for each pixel, by calculating the gradients of four directions, the direction with small magnitude of gradient will be weighted larger in the iteration process, and finally a more accurate prediction can be obtained. Since PDE predictor can better exploit image redundancy, the proposed method introduces less distortion for embedding the same payload. Experimental results show that our method outperforms some state-of-the-art methods.     

一种基于像素预测的图像可逆信息隐藏策略

基于像素点预测的可逆信息隐藏(Reversible Data Hiding,RDH)是当今一种低失真、高容量的信息隐藏策略,特别是对于差值扩展和直方图平移算法而言,准确预测可以同时提高数据容量和减小图像失真。文中提出了一种基于像素预测差的直方图平移方案。首先,采用Warped Distance算法来对像素值进行预测,并在此基础上利用图像的局部梯度来实现对像素值的更精确预测。综合上述两种策略,改进了现有的直方图平移算法,同时也给出了防止像素值在平移后溢出的建议。实验结果表明,相对于近年来的其他方案,该方案能够在保证图像质量的情况下有效提升数据嵌入量,并且通过调整数据嵌入层级,可以在具体使用该算法时针对图像质量和数据嵌入量进行权衡。这也进一步说明了利用图像的局部特性,特别是梯度与图像局部几何相似性,可以有效提升像素预测的精度,从而改善可逆信息隐藏的容量-失真性能。     

一种基于块中值整数变换的可逆数据隐藏

在基于可逆整数变换的数据隐藏算法中,传统的方法利用左上角像素值与块中其他像素值得到差值。提出的方法利用块中值与块中其他像素值得到差值,差值变小,从而使得藏密图像失真降低。同时该方法采用在平滑区域优先嵌入数据的策略,使藏密图像的信噪比显著提高。将该方法与类似的方法进行实验比较,结果表明提出方法在嵌入相同数据量时确实具有更好的隐蔽性,并且隐密数据和原宿主图像均能从隐藏图像无损恢复,验证了提出算法的有效性。     

Embedding capacity raising in reversible data hiding based on prediction of difference expansion

Most of the proposed methods of reversible data hiding based on difference expansion require location maps to recover cover images. Although the location map can be compressed by a lossless compression algorithm, this lowers embedding capacity and increases computational cost during the procedures of embedding and extracting. The study presents an adaptive reversible data scheme based on the prediction of difference expansion. Since each cover pixel generally resembles its surrounding pixels, most of the difference values between the cover pixels and their corresponding predictive pixels are small; therefore, the proposed scheme gains from embedding capacity by taking full advantage of the large quantities of smaller difference values where secret data can be embedded. The proposed scheme offers several advantages, namely, (1) the location map is no more required, (2) the embedding capacity can be adjusted depending on the practical applications, and (3) the high embedding capacity with minimal visual distortion can be achieved. Moreover, the experimental results demonstrate that the proposed scheme yields high embedding capacity by comparing the related schemes that are proposed recently.     

Multilevel reversible data hiding based on histogram modification of difference images

Reversible data hiding has drawn considerable attention in recent years. Reversibility allows original media to be completely recovered from marked media without distortion after embedded message has been extracted. In this paper we propose a multilevel reversible data hiding scheme based on the difference image histogram modification that uses the peak point to hide messages. Through a joint imperceptibility and hiding capacity evaluation, we show that our proposed scheme uses a multilevel hiding strategy to achieve large hiding capacity and keep distortion low. Performance comparisons with other existing reversible hiding schemes are provided to demonstrate the validity of our proposed scheme.     

基于四边边缘匹配的图像信息隐秘法

将人眼的视觉特性和图像信息隐藏技术结合,文章提出了基于HVS特性的信息隐秘方法,设计实现了一种基于四边边缘匹配的自适应信息隐秘算法,利用嵌入信息像素相邻的四个像素信息估计嵌入容量,依据载体图像局部的不同特性自适应地隐藏秘密信息.实验结果表明,这种方法比最低有效位算法嵌入容量大,而且不会产生易觉察的失真.此外,隐蔽图像中嵌入数据的提取与原始图像无关.同时,采用伪随机机制的图像遍历顺序,提高了信息的隐蔽性.     

Reversible data hiding scheme based on neighboring pixel differences

In this paper, we propose a reversible data hiding algorithm for grayscale images. Specifically, our algorithm is based on the histogram modification technique. The premise of this algorithm is that a histogram is constructed from the differences between each pixel and its neighbors. In the data embedding process, a modified histogram shifting scheme is used to embed a secret message into the pixels whose pixel difference is located at the peak value within the histogram. Experimental results show that our algorithm can achieve higher embedding capacity and imperceptible distortion. Performance comparisons with other existing algorithms are also provided to demonstrate the feasibility of our proposed algorithm in reversible data hiding.     

Quadruple Difference Expansion-Based Reversible Data Hiding Method for Digital Images

ABSTRACT

Lossless data hiding is a special type of data hiding technique that guarantees not only the secret data but also the ability of cover media to be reconstructed without any distortion. A latest lossless data hiding technique is proposed by Hong Lin Jin's that is based on hiding only one data bit in the spatial domain in gray-level image. However, this method uses double difference expansion to embed bits which results in a small embedding capacity. For this purpose, we propose an improved algorithm with the potential of increasing the payload capacity and maintaining good image quality. The proposed improved algorithm is characterized by two aspects. First, the proposed improved reversible data hiding scheme is enhanced to exhibit data hiding in color palette images. Second, the embedding level is improved by using quadruple difference expansion to guarantee the embedding of 2-bit data into color images. Experiments of the proposed improved method have been conducted over several well-known test images. The results show that the proposed improved method significantly improves the embedding capacity over Hong Lin Jin's scheme by the range of 15–35% for grayscale images and 20–46% for color images while still maintaining the quality of the stego-images.     

增强图像平滑度的可逆信息隐藏方案

随着互联网技术的发展和社交网络的普及,可逆信息隐藏技术因其具有无损恢复载体信息的特性而被广泛应用于医疗、军事等领域的隐蔽信息传输。传统的可逆信息隐藏方案大多聚焦于嵌入容量提升和载密图像失真率降低,并未过多关注人们对图像视觉细节的要求,难以抵抗隐藏信息检测方法。针对上述挑战,从增强图像视觉平滑度方面入手,提出了一种增强图像平滑度的可逆信息隐藏方案,在嵌入隐蔽信息的同时提升载密图像最终的视觉质量。具体来说,所提方案将目标图像分为参考区域与非参考区域,利用非参考区域的图像像素预测值与原始像素值的差值作为信息嵌入的判断依据,通过差值平移来嵌入信息;进而构造图像平滑机制,采用高斯滤波作为秘密信息嵌入时像素值修改的模板,对预测值进行滤波计算,将滤波差值无损地加入载体图像中,以达到图像平滑的效果;同时将参考区域的像素值作为边信息,用于实现信息提取方对原始载体图像和秘密信息的无损恢复和提取;并以高斯函数中的滤波系数作为预置秘密信息对嵌入信息进行加密处理以保证嵌入信息的机密性。大量经典图像数据集的测试与分析结果表明,所提方案处理过的载密图像视觉平滑度得到了显著增强,具有较低的失真率、较高的嵌入率和较高的嵌入提取效率。在典型环境下,其生成的载密图像与高斯滤波后的图像相似度可达0.996 3,且可获得37.346的峰值信噪比和0.328 9的嵌入容量。     

Genuine reversible data hiding technology using compensation for H.264 bitstreams

Reversible data hiding technologies have been considered largely impractical because those are, in most cases, applicable to raw video data rather than prevailing compressed data. Even though, many algorithms have been recently developed in the compressed video domain, most of them cannot guarantee the reversibility of cover video due to the lossy characteristics of video compression standards. We suggest completely practical data hiding scheme for H.264 baseline bitstream by achieving genuine reversibility for both I and P frames. Regardless of the data hiding algorithm, the proposed scheme can increase embedding payload by 66.9% and reduce computational complexity by 93%. Also, a novel compensation based difference expansion method with clever coefficient pairing strategy is proposed as a data hiding algorithm and achieved superior embedding payload vs. image quality performance. The proposed algorithm improves payload by 48.9% on average at almost the same video quality distortion.     

Reversible data hiding with context modeling,generalized expansion and boundary map

This paper proposes a reversible data hiding scheme with high capacity-distortion efficiency, which embeds data by expanding prediction-errors. Instead of using the MED predictor as did in other schemes, a predictor with context modeling, which refines prediction-errors through an error feedback mechanism, is adopted to work out prediction-errors. The context modeling can significantly sharpen the distribution of prediction-errors, and benefit the embedding capacity and the image quality. To expand prediction-errors, the proposed scheme utilizes a generalized expansion, which enables it to provide capacities larger than 1 bpp (bits per pixel) without resorting to multiple embedding. Besides, a novel boundary map is proposed to record overflow-potential pixels. The boundary map is much shorter compared with either a location map or an overflow map even though it is not compressed. The combination of the context modeling, the generalized expansion and the boundary map makes the overall scheme efficient in pursuing large embedding capacity and high image quality. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed scheme provides competitive capacity compared with other state-of-the-art schemes when the image quality is kept at the same level.     

一种DCT域稳健的彩色图像隐藏方法

基于YCbCr色彩系统,提出了一种稳健的DCT域彩色图像隐藏方法,可以将一幅彩色图像隐藏在另一幅公开的彩色载体图像中,并与JPEG压缩标准相兼容。在嵌入过程中,通过对彩色图像各分量值进行合理分配和标志性嵌入,可以有效地克服DCT域秘密图像提取时的严重失真问题;并根据HVS特征和模糊理论对DCT图像块进行模糊分类,实现嵌入强度的自适应变化。实验结果表明,提出的方法对嵌入过程中产生的噪声具有很强的稳健性,恢复的秘密图像的像素值最大失真误差在±1之内,在保证隐秘图像视觉质量的前提下,载体图像具有较大的数据隐藏量。     

Issues and solution on distortion drift in reversible video data hiding

Different from reversible image data hiding, most reversible video data hiding schemes have the particular problem that the distortion due to hidden data will spread and accumulate. In this paper, the problem of distortion drift caused by reversible data hiding in compressed video is analyzed, and a lossless drift compensation scheme is proposed to restrain the distortion for the first time. In order to ensure the reversibility, drift compensation signals are merged in the quantized DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform) coefficients of P-frames and the corresponding recovery mechanism is presented as well. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed lossless drift compensation scheme significantly improves the video quality, and the original compressed video can be recovered exactly after the hidden data and compensation signals are removed. In addition, the proposed scheme does not depend on specific reversible data hiding method.     

Inter-view local texture analysis based stereo image reversible data hiding

To enhance security of three-dimensional images, an inter-view local texture analysis (ILTA) based stereo image reversible data hiding method is presented. Due to low accuracy of existing predictors, two novel predictors are proposed to improve the prediction precision. In the first predictor, a texture analysis model is built by using ILTA, in which the texture similarity between a pair of matched pixels in the stereo image is used to classify pixels into horizontal texture, vertical texture, smooth and complex types. Thus, the accurate prediction is adaptively computed by considering the pixel type. Moreover, an intra-view based predictor as the second predictor is also described to predict pixels by optimal weights finding (OWF). Since ILTA and OWF predictors are combined to predict pixels in the stereo image, sharp prediction error histograms of two views are both constructed, and then multi-level histogram shifting is used to embed secret data reversibly for obtaining low image distortion and high embedding capacity. Experimental results demonstrates that ILTA and OWF predictors can obtain precise predicted values, and the proposed data hiding method outperforms some state-of-the-art data hiding methods in terms of embedding capacity and quality of stego stereo image.     

JPEG图像多域可逆信息隐藏及载荷分配算法

信息隐藏技术通过修改数字媒体信号嵌入附加信息而不影响媒体本身的使用价值;可逆信息隐藏不仅可以隐藏并提取附加信息,还可以无失真地恢复载体,是当前研究热点.针对应用最广泛的图像格式JPEG(joint photographic experts group),其可逆信息隐藏方法可分2类：1)离散余弦变换(discrete cosine transform, DCT)系数域修改,会导致文件扩展和视觉质量失真;2)熵编码域修改,生成的载密图像与原始图像相比无信号失真,但载荷有限且载荷越高往往文件扩展越严重.针对这2类方法存在的问题,设计了一种JPEG图像多域可逆信息隐藏算法,同时考虑DCT系数域修改和熵编码域修改来嵌入附加信息.由于2个域的修改对视觉质量失真和文件扩展的影响不同,因此研究重点在于载荷的合理分配.首先分析了在熵编码域嵌入信息时引起文件扩展的原因;然后据此设计基于VLC频率直方图的载荷分配算法以最小化文件扩展和视觉质量失真.实验结果表明：所提算法在文件扩展和视觉质量方面明显优于现有的方法.     

A reversible data hiding scheme using complementary embedding strategy

Obtaining good visual quality and high hiding capacity with reversible data hiding systems is a technically challenging problem. In this paper, we propose a simple reversible data hiding scheme that uses a complementary hiding strategy. The proposed method embeds one secret bit horizontally and vertically into one cover pixel of a grayscale cover image by decreasing odd-valued pixels and increasing even-valued pixels by one. Experimental results show that the hiding capacity measured by bit per pixel (bpp) of the proposed scheme is at least 1.21 bpp with a PSNR (peak signal-to-noise ratio) value greater than 52 dB for all standard test images. Especially in the case of four-layer embedding, the PSNR value of the proposed method is still greater than 51 dB at a hiding capacity of about 5 bpp for all standard test images. In addition, the proposed method is quite simple because it primarily uses additions and subtractions. These results indicate that the proposed scheme is superior to many existing reversible data hiding schemes introduced in the literature.