Abstract
The ease in digital imaging has led to a decrease in image fidelity where illegal reproduction of multimedia information has become difficult to detect. The most challenging problem is to protect image copyright against illegal copies. Therefore a watermark detection process is required to verify the owner of the image. This paper proposes a blind algorithm to extract the watermark. This algorithm is robust against noise and geometric attacks for grayscale images. Robust feature points are detected using the Harris Detector. In the embedding stage, sequences are placed into regions located around feature points. The sequences used are PN, Gold and decimal. In the extraction process, image features are re-allocated using the same detector. Each feature point is used as a center of an N × N region. This region is moved horizontally and vertically within its neighboring pixels. Each move should be registered in a matrix as a correlation value of this region with the initial sequence. This procedure is repeated for all feature points till we find all the watermarked regions. The maximum correlation obtained will determine the center of the watermarked region. The proposed algorithm is robust against a wide variety of tests and is compared to other schemes.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
W. Y. Chen and S. Y. Huang, “Digital watermarking using DCT transformation,” Nat. Chin-Yi Inst. Technol. 18, 173–183 (2008).
M. Vidyasagar, H. Song, and C. Elizabeth, “A survey of digital image watermarking techniques,” in Proc. 3rd IEEE Int. Conf. on Industrial Informatics (INDIN) (Curtin Univ. of Tech. Perth, 2005), pp. 709–713.
S. J. Vaishalim and R. G. Sachin, “Literature review of wavelet based digital image watermarking techniques,” Int. J. Comput. Appl. 31 (1), 975–987 (2011).
Z. Chuzhong, Z. Li, T. Xiaolin, and X. Shaowei, “A novel anti-geometric-attacking watermarking algorithm based on Harris feature points,” in Proc. 4th Int. Congress on Image and Signal Processing (Shanghai, 2011), pp. 1003–1007.
Y. T. Lin, C. Y. Huang, and G. C. Lee, “Rotation, scaling, and translation resilient watermarking for images,” IET Image Processing 5 (4), 328–340 (2009).
C. Y. Lin, W. Min, A. B. Jeffrey, C. Ingemar, L. M. Matt, and M. L. Yui, “Rotation, scale, and translation resilient watermarking for images,” IEEE Trans. Image Processing 10 (5) (2001).
A. Sangeetha, B. Gomathy, and K. Anusudha, “A watermarking approach to combat geometric attacks,” in Proc. Int. Conf. on Digital Image Processing (Cairo, 2009), pp. 381–385.
B. Patrick, C. Jean-Marc, and B. Macq, “Robust watermarking based on the warping of pre-defined triangular patterns,” in Proc. SPIE Electronic Imaging, Security and Watermarking of Multimedia Content II (2000), pp. 99–109.
Z. Xinguo, L. Na, and J. Nawei, “Robust watermarking algorithm for digital image based on SIFT feature points,” in Proc. 5th IEEE Int. Conf. on Software Engineering and Service Science (ICSESS) (Beijing, June 27–29, 2014), pp. 996–999.
R. K. Krishna and R. C. Srinivasa, “Block based robust blind image watermarking using discrete wavelet transform,” in Proc. IEEE Int. Colloquium on Signal Processing & Its Applications (Kuala Lumpur, 2009), pp. 58–61.
P. Akarapol, S. Sippawit, and T. Panwit, “Image watermarking using joined wavelet and time domain,” in Proc. 3rd ICT Int. Student Project Conf. (Bangkok, 2014), pp. 47–50.
Z. Jun, S. El-Na, G. Mei-Jing, Y. Zheng-Ling, X. Jun-Tao, and W. Liang, “Robust watermarking of digital image based on feature and DWT,” Proc. 2012 Int. Conf. on Machine Learning and Cybernetics 4 (2), 1356–1361 (2012).
N. Wei, Y. Kazuhiko, C. H. Manuel, N. M. Mariko, and P. M. Héctor, “Robust image watermarking using feature points and image normalization,” Proc. Electronics, Robotics and Automotive Mechanics Conf. 4 (1), 313–318 (2010).
Afaq Ahmad, Sayyid Samir Al-Busaidi, and Mufeed Juma Al-Musharafi, “On properties of PN sequences generated,” Indian J. Sci. Technol. 21 (4), 1290–1303 (2013).
S. C. Kak and A. Chatterjee, “On decimal sequences,” IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory 27, 647–652 (1981).
S. C. Kak, “Generating d-sequences,” Electron. 23 (1), 202–203 (1987).
W. T. Chih and M. Hsueh, “A feature-based robust digital image watermarking scheme,” IEEE Trans. Signal Processing 51 (4), 1–5 (2003).
Yuping Hu, Zhijian Wang, Hui Liu, and Guangjun Guo, “A geometric distortion resilient image watermark algorithm based on DWT-DFT,” J. Software 6 (9), 1805–1812 (2011).
G. Xinbo, D. Cheng, L. Xuelong, and T. Dacheng, “Geometric distortion insensitive image watermarking in affine covariant regions,” IEEE Trans. Syst. 40 (3), 278–286 (2010).
http://www.imageprocessingplace.com/root_-files_V3/image_databases.htm.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
The article is published in the original.
Issam Dagher finished his MS in electrical engineering degree in 1994 from Florida International University, Miami, USA. He finished his PhD in 1997 from University of Central Florida, Orlando USA. He is now an associate professor at the University of Balamand, Lebanon. His area of interests are pattern recognition, neural networks, artificial intelligence, and computer vision. He published many papers on these topics.
Patrick Hanna finished his MS in electrical engineering degree in 2014 from University of Balamand. His area of interests are image processing and computer vision.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dagher, I., Hanna, P. An improved watermarking algorithm using variable block image features. Pattern Recognit. Image Anal. 27, 289–300 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1134/S105466181702002X
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S105466181702002X