Perceptual watermarks for digital images and video

TLDR

The rapid expansion of imaging technologies has created a need for copyright protection, prompting the use of invisible digital watermarks embedded in images and video. This paper reviews perceptually based watermarking techniques that exploit human visual system properties to embed transparent yet robust invisible marks, aiming to illustrate their evolution as requirements and applications develop. The authors present a spectrum of watermarking methods, from simple perceptual rule‑based schemes to sophisticated adaptive techniques that tailor watermark embedding to local image characteristics using formal perceptual models.

Abstract

The growth of new imaging technologies has created a need for techniques that can be used for copyright protection of digital images and video. One approach for copyright protection is to introduce an invisible signal, known as a digital watermark, into an image or video sequence. In this paper, we describe digital watermarking techniques, known as perceptually based watermarks, that are designed to exploit aspects of the the human visual system in order to provide a transparent (invisible), yet robust watermark. In the most general sense, any watermarking technique that attempts to incorporate an invisible mark into an image is perceptually based. However, in order to provide transparency and robustness to attack, two conflicting requirements from a signal processing perspective, more sophisticated use of perceptual information in the watermarking process is required. We describe watermarking techniques ranging from simple schemes which incorporate common-sense rules in using perceptual information in the watermarking process, to more elaborate schemes which adapt to local image characteristics based on more formal perceptual models. This review is not meant to be exhaustive; its aim is to provide the reader with an understanding of how the techniques have been evolving as the requirements and applications become better defined.