Digital Image Watermarking Using Discrete Cosine Transform

“Digital image watermarking using Discrete Cosine Transform” Page 1
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Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
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Dept of IT,JSSATE, Bangalore 8th Semester Project 2010
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INTRODUCTION
Information is becoming widely available via global networks. These

connected networks allow cross-references between databases. The advent of
multimedia is allowing different applications to mix sound, images, and video
and to interact with large amounts of information (e.g., in e-business,
distance education, and human-machine interface). The industry is investing
to deliver audio, image and video data in electronic form to customers, and
broadcast television companies, major corporations and photo archivers are
converting their content from analog to digital form.
An important factor that slows down the growth of multimedia

networked services is that authors, publishers and providers of multimedia
data are reluctant to allow the distribution of their documents in a networked
environment. This is because the ease of reproducing digital data in their
exact original form is likely to encourage copyright violation, data
misappropriation and abuse. Replicas of a given piece of digital data cannot
be distinguished and their origin cannot be confirmed. These are the
problems of theft and distribution of intellectual property. Therefore, creators
and distributors of digital data are actively seeking reliable solutions to the
problems associated with copyright protection of multimedia data.
Moreover, the future development of networked multimedia systems, in

particular on open networks like the Internet, is conditioned by the
development of efficient methods to protect data owners against unauthorized
copying and redistribution of the material put on the network. This will
guarantee that their rights are protected and their assets properly managed.
Copyright protection of multimedia data has been accomplished by means of
cryptography algorithms to provide control over data access and to make data
unreadable to non-authorized users. However, encryption systems do not
completely solve the problem; because once encryption is removed there is no
more control on the dissemination of data.
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The concept of digital watermarking arose while trying to solve

problems related to the copyright of intellectual property in digital media. It
is used as a means to identify the owner or distributor of digital data.
Watermarking is the process of encoding hidden copyright information since
it is possible today to hide information messages within digital audio, video,
images and texts, by taking into account the limitations of the human audio
and visual systems.
1.1 Motivation
Digital watermarking is a form of data hiding or Steganography.

Digital watermarking is intended as the solution to the need to provide value-
added protection on top of data encryption and scrambling for content
protection. Motivated by growing concern about the protection of intellectual
property on the Internet and limitations of encryption techniques, the interest
of watermarking techniques has been increasing over the recent years.
1.2 Definition
Digital image watermarking is a technique which allows an individual

to add hidden copyright notices or other verification messages to digital
images [1].without destroying the quality or information content of the
image. Such messages contain information pertaining to the signal or to the
author of the signal (name, place, etc.). The technique takes its name from
watermarking of paper or money as a security measure.The watermark is
hidden in the host data in such a way that it is inseparable from the data and
so that it is resistant to many operations (called attacks). Thus by means of
watermarking, the work is still accessible but permanently marked.
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1.3 Literature
Digital watermarking techniques derive from Steganography, which

means covered writing (from the Greek words stegano or “covered” and
graphos or “to write”) [3]. Steganography is the science of communicating
information while hiding the existence of the communication. The goal of
Steganography is to hide an information message inside harmless messages in
such a way that it is not possible even to detect that there is a secret message
present.
Thus both Steganography and watermarking belong to a category of

information hiding, but the objectives and conditions for the two techniques
are just the opposite. In watermarking, for example, the important
information is the “external” data (e.g., images, voices, etc.). The “internal”
data (e.g., watermark) are additional data for protecting the external data and
to prove ownership. In Steganography, however, the external data (referred to
as a vessel, container, or dummy data) are not very important. They are just a
carrier of the important information. The internal data are the most important.
Watermarking cannot be compared to encryption although they were

both designed keeping the same thing in mind i.e. protection of data from
piracy. Watermarking does not restrict access to the data while encryption
has the aim of making messages unintelligible to any unauthorized persons
who might intercept them. Once encrypted data is decrypted, the media is no
longer protected. A watermark is designed to permanently reside in the host
data. If the ownership of a digital work is in question, the information can be
extracted to completely characterize the owner.
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1.3.1 Description
Digital image watermarking is a technique which allows an individual

to add hidden copyright notices or other verification messages to digital
images.without destroying the quality or information content of the image.
Such messages contain information pertaining to the signal or to the author of
the signal (name, place, etc.). The technique takes its name from
watermarking of paper or money as a security measure.The watermark is
hidden in the host data in such a way that it is inseparable from the data and
so that it is resistant to many operations (called attacks). Thus by means of
watermarking, the work is still accessible but permanently marked.
Digital watermarking offers several advantages. The details of a good

digital watermarking algorithm can be made public knowledge. Digital
watermarking provides the owner of a piece of digital data the means to mark
the data invisibly. The mark could be used to serialize a piece of data as it is
sold or used as a method to mark a valuable image. For example, this marking
allows an owner to safely post an image for viewing but legally provides an
embedded copyright to prohibit others from posting the same image [3].
The contents of the image can be marked without visible loss of value
or dependence on specific formats. For example a bitmap (BMP) image can be
compressed to a JPEG image [2]. The result is an image that requires less
storage space but cannot be distinguished from the original. Generally, a
JPEG compression level of 70% can be applied without humanly visible
degradation. This property of digital images allows insertion of additional
data in the image without altering the value of the image. The message is
hidden in unused “visual space” in the image and stays below the human
visible threshold for the image.
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1.3.2 Building an Effective Watermarking Algorithm
A simple block diagram of a watermarking algorithm is shown in Fig

1.1. As the diagram shows the watermarking algorithm combines the original
image and the watermark image to give the watermarked image.
Watermark
Original Watermarking Watermarked

image Algorithm image
Fig 1.1: Block diagram of a watermarking algorithm
In case detection is necessary, then Fig 1.2 shows the block diagram of
a detection algorithm. The detector algorithm generally follows a reverse path
to that of the watermarking algorithm.
Original image
or watermark
Watermarked Detector
Watermark
image Algorithm
Fig 1.2: Block diagram of a watermark detection algorithm
The dotted line implies the original image may or may not be used for
detection. When it is used we call it as private watermarking and if it is not
used then we call it a public watermarking scheme.
Some of the properties desirable in a watermark are discussed below.

These should be kept in mind when designing a watermarking system.
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A watermark shall convey as much information as possible, which
means the watermark data rate should be high.
A watermark is said to have high fidelity, if the degradation it causes is

very difficult for a viewer to perceive [3]. However, it only needs to be
imperceptible at the time that the media is viewed. If we can be certain that
the media will be seriously degraded before it is viewed, we can rely on that
degradation to help mask the watermark.
It is desired that watermarks survive image-processing manipulations

such as rotation, scaling, image compression and image enhancement, for
example. Robustness against geometrical transformation is essential since
image-publishing applications often apply some kind of geometrical
transformations to the image, and thus, an intellectual property ownership
protection system should not be affected by these changes [7].
Watermarked images are often subjected to attacks in order to remove

the copyright protection. Tamper resistance refers to a watermarking system’s
resistance to hostile attacks. Watermarks and attacks on watermarks are two
sides of the same coin. The goal of both is to preserve the value of the digital
data. However, the goal of a watermark is to be robust enough to resist attack
but not at the expense of altering the value of the data being protected. On
the other hand, the goal of the attack is to remove the watermark without
destroying the value of the protected data.
In practice, it is probably impossible to design a watermarking system

that excels at all of these. Thus, it is necessary to make tradeoffs between
them, and those tradeoffs must be chosen with careful analysis of the
application.
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1.3.3 Classifications of digital image watermarking
Some of the most general classifications of image watermarks are

discussed here [7].
Visible and Invisible Watermarks
Digital watermarking can be divided into two main categories: visible

and invisible. The idea behind the visible watermark is very simple. The
watermark is purposefully made perceptible. It is equivalent to stamping a
watermark on paper, and for this reason is sometimes said to be digitally
stamped. One example is the visible watermarking of preview images
available in image databases or on the World Wide Web in order to prevent
people from commercial use of such images. Invisible watermarking, on the
other hand, is a far more complex concept. It is most often used to identify
copyright data, like author, distributor, and so forth.
Visible and invisible watermarks both serve to deter theft but they do
so in very different ways. Visible watermarks are especially useful for
conveying an immediate claim of ownership. The main advantage of visible
watermarks, in principle at least, is that they virtually eliminate the
commercial value of the document to a would-be thief without lessening the
document's utility for legitimate, authorized purposes. Invisible watermarks,
on the other hand, are more of an aid in catching the thief than discouraging
the theft in the first place.
Spatial domain and Transform domain watermarks
The watermark may be inserted into the image either in the spatial
domain or the transform (frequency) domain. Spatial domain techniques are
easier to implement. However with transform domain techniques it is easier
to develop invisible watermarks and also the watermarks produced are more
robust to attacks.
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The idea is to directly insert a watermark in the pixel value when the
image is in the spatial domain. The robustness of this domain is weak
compared to transform domain. The most widely used algorithm in the spatial
domain is – Least Signification Bit (LSB) technique, which is the simplest
method of inserting the watermark. As the LSB provides the least
information in a byte, it can be replaced with the watermark bit. Hence the no
of watermark bits that can be inserted depends on the size of the image.
In the transform domain, we transform the spatial image into the

frequency domain and insert the watermark information by changing the
frequency coefficient. The frequency domain can overcome the greatest
disadvantage of techniques operating in the spatial domain. The frequency
domain watermark is less susceptible compared with the spatial domain, the
LSB technique can also be applied in the frequency domain. The watermark
normally applies to the lower frequencies or mid frequencies within an image,
as higher frequencies are usually lost when an image is compressed.
Frequency-based techniques result in a watermark that is dispersed
throughout the image and are less susceptible to attack by cropping. In
majority of the images, the values of high frequency coefficients are small.
The human vision system is not sensitive to high frequency. Therefore, we
always adopt the thick quantification to high frequency coefficients. Low
energy in high frequency coefficients does not affect the degradation of
image quality of reconstructed image.
Figs 1.3 below shows some of the methods used in the spatial and
transform domains for image watermarking.
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Watermarking Embedding Domain
Spatial Domain Transform Domain
Modification of Least Cosines transform

Significant Bit (LSB) (DCT)
Wavelets transform
Spread Spectrum
(DWT)
Other transforms
Fig 1.3: Classification of watermarking based on embedding domain
As shown in the above figure we can further classify spatial domain

techniques into modification of LSB and spread spectrum techniques. The
LSB bits contain the least information and hence altering them to represent
the watermark will not change the original image by much. Spread spectrum
techniques involve both direct sequence and frequency hopping methods. The
methods in transform domain are identified by the transforms they use like
discrete cosine transforms, wavelet transforms etc [7].
1.3.4 Discrete cosine transforms
One of the most commonly used transforms in image processing is the

Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) [4]. Since we make use of DCT in
implementing both the algorithms, a brief description of DCT is given in this
section.
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The One-Dimensional DCT
The most common DCT definition C(u) of a function f(x) which is a 1-

D sequence of length N is
……………(1)
for u= 0,1,2,…,N− 1.
where the function α(u) is defined as
…………....(2)
Similarly, the inverse transformation is defined as
……………………………… (3)
for x= 0,1,2,…,N− 1 and the

function α(u) is defined as in equation (2)
It is clear from (1) that for:
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Thus, the first transform coefficient is the average value of the sample
sequence. In literature, this value is referred to as the DC Coefficient. All
other transform coefficients are called the AC Coefficients .
The Two-Dimensional DCT
The 2-D DCT [4] is a direct extension of the 1-D case. The 2-D DCT
definition C(u,v) of a function f(x,y) which is a 2-D sequence of size NxN is
……….....(4)
for u ,v = 0,1,2,…,N −1.
where α ( u ) and α ( v ) are as defined in equation (2).
The inverse transform is defined as
……………(5)
for x, y = 0,1,2,…,N −1.
where α (u) and α (v) are as defined in equation (2).
The 2-D basis functions can be generated by multiplying the

horizontally oriented 1-D basis functions with vertically oriented set of the
same functions. Again, it can be noted that the basis functions exhibit a
progressive increase in frequency both in the vertical and horizontal
direction. The top left basis function results from multiplication of the DC
component with its transpose. Hence, this function assumes a constant value
and is referred to as the DC coefficient.
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Properties of DCT
Here we discuss some of the properties of DCT that make it highly

useful in image watermarking [4].
1. Decorrelation
The principle advantage of image transformation using DCT is the

removal of redundancy between neighboring pixels. This leads to
uncorrelated transform coefficients which can be encoded independently. The
amplitude of the autocorrelation after the DCT operation is very small at all
lags. Hence, it can be inferred that DCT exhibits excellent decorrelation
properties.
2. Energy Compaction
Efficacy of a transformation scheme can be directly gauged by its

ability to pack input data into as few coefficients as possible. This allows the
quantizer to discard coefficients with relatively small amplitudes without
introducing visual distortion in the reconstructed image. DCT exhibits
excellent energy compaction for highly correlated images. The uncorrelated
image has more sharp intensity variations than the correlated image.
Therefore, the former has more high frequency content than the latter. The
uncorrelated image has its energy spread out, whereas the energy of the
correlated image is packed into the low frequency region (i.e., top left
region).
Advantages of DCT
Compared to other transforms DCT, it has fixed basis images and fast
implementations are possible. It also exhibits good decorrelation and energy
compaction characteristics [5]. However, a transform like DFT is a complex
transform and therefore stipulates that both image magnitude and phase
information be encoded. Furthermore, the implicit periodicity of DFT gives
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rise to boundary discontinuities that result in significant high-frequency
content. After quantization, Gibbs Phenomenon causes the boundary points to
take on erroneous values, which appears in the image as blocking artifacts.
That is the boundaries between the adjacent sub images become visible
because the boundary pixels of the adjacent sub images assume the mean
value of discontinuities formed at the boundary points. The DCT reduces this
effect, because its implicit 2n point periodicity does not inherently produce
boundary discontinuities.
Sub image size selection
Another important factor affecting the transform coding and

computational complexity is the sub image size [14]. In watermarking, image
is divided so that the correlation (redundancy) between adjacent sub images
is reduced to some acceptable level and so that n is the dimension of the sub-
image which is an integer power of 2, n usually takes values of 2,4,8,16 or
32. But with 8x8 as the sub image size the root mean square error is least it is
usually preferred in DCT algorithms used in image processing.
1.4 Brief results
We have successfully implemented both visible and invisible

watermarking using Discrete Cosine Transform. The implementation is
depicted in results.
In visible watermarking the image of Lena is the cover image and our
college logo is the watermark. The logo is satisfactorily embedded in the host
image without any significant degradation. In case of colour image
watermarking the picture of the national emblem is embedded in picture of
Tajmahal which is the cover image.
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Invisible watermarking was implemented by embedding a watermark
image of size (1/64) t h the size of the cover image, that is maximum size of
watermark that can be embedded . Invisible watermarking is performed for
different values of scaling factors and hence different watermarked images
with different quality are obtained.
Chapter 2
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MATLAB
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MATLAB
MATLAB is a high-performance language for technical computing. It

integrates computation, visualization, and programming in an easy-to-use
environment where problems and solutions are expressed in familiar
mathematical notation. The name MATLAB stands for matrix laboratory.
Typical uses include Math and computation, Algorithm development,

Data acquisition Modeling, simulation, and prototyping Data analysis,
exploration, and visualization Scientific and engineering graphics
Application development, including graphical user interface building.
MATLAB is an interactive system whose basic data element is an array

that does not require dimensioning. This allows you to solve many technical
computing problems, especially those with matrix and vector formulations, in
a fraction of the time it would take to write a program in a scalar no
interactive language such as C or any other language.
MATLAB has evolved over a period of years with input from many
users. In university environments, it is the standard instructional tool for
introductory and advanced courses in mathematics, engineering, and science.
In industry, MATLAB is the tool of choice for high-productivity research,
development, and analysis.
MATLAB features a family of add-on application-specific solutions

called toolboxes. Very important to most users of MATLAB, toolboxes allow
you to learn and apply specialized technology. Toolboxes are comprehensive
collections of MATLAB functions (M-files) that extend the MATLAB
environment to solve particular classes of problems. Areas in which
toolboxes are available include signal processing, image processing, control
systems, neural networks, fuzzy logic, wavelets, simulation, and many others.
One such toolbox used extensively in this project is image processing
toolbox.
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2.1 What is the Image Processing Toolbox?
The Image Processing Toolbox is a collection of functions that extend

the capability of the MATLAB numeric computing environment. The toolbox
supports a wide range of image processing operations, including
• Spatial image transformations

• Morphological operations
• Neighborhood and block operations
• Linear filtering and filter design
• Transforms
• Image analysis and enhancement
• Image registration
• Deblurring
• Region of interest operations
MATLAB 7.0 with inbuilt toolboxes was used in WINDOWS XP environment

to implement this project.
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Chapter 3
IMPLEMENTATION
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IMPLEMENTATION
In this chapter we discuss about the implementation details of our
project. Since we have used two methods, one each for visible and invisible
watermarking, we discuss both methods in sufficient detail.
3.1 Visible watermarking
In visible watermarking of images, a secondary image (the watermark)

is embedded in a primary (host) image such that watermark is intentionally
perceptible to a human observer whereas in the case of invisible
watermarking the embedded data is not perceptible, but may be detected by a
computer program [6]. The perception of the host as well as the watermark
can be controlled as per the application.
Some of the characteristics of visible watermarks are
1. A visible watermark should be visible in both color and monochrome

images.
2. The watermark should be spread in a large or important area of the
image in order to prevent its deletion by clipping.
3. The watermark must not significantly obscure the image details beneath
it.
4. The watermark must be difficult to remove; removing a watermark
should be more costly and labor intensive than purchasing the image
from the owner.
5. The watermark should be applied automatically with little human
intervention and labor.
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3.1.1 Algorithms and flow charts
The algorithm we have followed for visible watermarking is discussed

in this section. It is a transform domain approach that uses DCT.
The equation defining the insertion of watermark in the DCT domain is
as follows,
Xij(n) = α n Cij(n) + β n Wij(n)...................................................(1)

where n = 0,1,2…N-1 and N is the total number of 8x8 blocks in the original
image, n represents the position of block in the original image I.
The α n and β n coefficients are for block n. The Cij(n) are the DCT
coefficients of the host image block I and Wij(n) the DCT coefficients of the
watermark image block W. The α n and β n values are found out using a
mathematical model developed by exploiting the texture sensitivity of the
human visual system (HVS). This ensures that the perceptual quality of the
image is better preserved. We call α n the scaling factor and β n as the
embedding factor. Xij(n) the DCT coefficients of watermarked image.
Finding the scaling and embedding factors
While finding the scaling factors (α n ) and embedding factors (β n ), the

following are taken into consideration so that the quality of the watermarked
image is not degraded.
The distortion visibility is low when the background has strong texture.
In a highly textured block, energy tends to be more evenly distributed among
the different AC DCT coefficients. That means AC DCT coefficients of
highly textured blocks have small variances and we can add more to those
blocks. So for convenience, we assume α n to be directly proportional to
variance (σ n ) and β n to be inversely proportional to variance (σ n ).
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Let us denote the mean gray value of each image block as μ n and that of
the image as μ. The blocks with mid-intensity values (μ n ≈ μ) are more
sensitive to noise than that of low intensity blocks (μ n < μ) as well as high
intensity blocks (μ n > μ). This means that α n should increase with μ n as long
as (μ n < μ) and should decrease with μ n as long as (μ n > μ).For convenience,
the relationship between α n and μ n is taken to be truncated Gaussian. The
variation of β n with respect to μ n is the reverse of that of α n . The mean gray
value of each block is given by its DC DCT coefficient.
Using the observations made in the above discussions α n and β n are computed
as:
α n = σ’ n exp. ( - (μ’ n - μ’ ) 2 )...................................……………………(2)
β n = (1/ σ’ n ) (1 – exp. ( - (μ’ n - μ’ ) 2 .......................................................(3)

where μ’ n , μ’ are the normalized values of μ n and μ respectively, and σ’ n is
the normalized logarithm of σ n (the variance of the AC DCT coefficients).
The α n and β n are then scaled to the ranges (α m i n , α m a x ) and (β m i n , β m a x )

respectively, where α m i n and α m a x are the minimum and maximum values of the
scaling factor, and β m i n and β m a x are the minimum and maximum values of the
embedding factor. These are the parameters determining the extent of
watermark insertion.
Divide the original image I into 8x8 blocks and find the DCT
coefficients of each block. Let us denote the DCT coefficients of block n by
Cij(n),n = 1, 2 ... N, where n represents the position of block in image I (if
we traverse the image in a raster-scan manner).
N = (row x col)/ 64........................................................................................(4)

where N is the total number of 8x8 blocks in the image. And "row" is the
number of rows and "col" is the number of columns of the image.
The normalized mean gray value of block n is given by,
μ’ n = C 0 0 (n) / C 0 0 m a x .....................................................................................................................................(5)
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where C 0 0 (n) are the DC coefficients and C 0 0 m a x is the maximum value of

C 0 0 (n).
The normalized mean gray value of the image I, is given by,

μ’ = (1/N) Σ N n=1 C 0 0 (n) / C 0 0 m a x ...............................................................(6)
The variance of the AC DCT coefficients (σ n ) of block n is given by,

σ n = (1/64) Σ i Σ j (Cij - μ n A C ) 2 ......................................................................(7)
where μ n A C is the mean of the AC DCT coefficients, i = 0,1,2….N-1 and j=

0,1,2….N-1.
Note: While calculating variance we also include the DC component in order

to prevent the case of zero variance.
Let us denote the natural logarithm of σ n as σ* n .The normalized variance of

the AC DCT coefficients of block n is of the value given by,
σ’ n . = σ* n ./ σ* m a x ....................................................................................................................................................................(8)
where σ* m a x is the maximum value of σ* n .
The typical values of α m i n , α m a x ,β m i n , β m a x ( especially when the

watermarked images are to be viewed through the internet) are around 0.95,
0.98, 0.07 and 0.17 respectively.
The plots for the above expressions are given in Fig.3.1-Fig.3.4.
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Fig 3.1: variation of α n with σ n
As we see in the above figure the scaling factor α n increases linearly

with variance σ n ranging from a low of 0.95 to a high of 0.98.
Fig 3.2: variation of β n with σ n
As we see in the above figure the embedding factor β n decreases

exponentially with variance σ n starting from around 0.17 for small variances
and decreasing to 0.07 for high variances.
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Fig 3.3: variation of α n with μ n
As we see in the above figure the scaling factor α n increases from a

value of 0.955 at low values of mean gray level to a maximum of 0.98 at mid
values of mean gray level and then decreasing back to 0.955 at higher values
of mean gray level.
Fig 3.4: variation of β n with μ n
As we see in the above figure the embedding factor β n decreases from a

value of 0.17 at low values of mean gray level to a minimum of 0.07 at mid
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values of mean gray level and then increasing back to 0.17 at higher values of
mean gray level.
Thus from the four figures we can see that the values of scaling and
embedding factors conform to the ranges that were discussed above.
Fig 3.5 gives the schematic representation of the insertion process.
Fig 3.5: Watermark insertion process
The original image is divided into blocks of size 8x8 each. The DCT of
each block is taken. We analyze the properties of these blocks to find the
scaling and embedding factors. The watermark image is similarly divided into
8x8 blocks and DCT of each block is taken. Finally we add the corresponding
elements of the original image times the scaling factor and the watermark
image times the embedding factor to obtain the watermarked image.
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Flowchart
The original image IM and the watermark image WM are divided into blocks of size
8x8. Depending on the properties of IM, the scaling and embedding factors are found using
the above mentioned algorithm. Finally we add the corresponding elements of the
original image times the scaling factor and the watermark image times the
embedding factor to obtain the watermarked image XM. This is shown in Fig
3.6.
Start
The original image IM and the watermark

image WM are divided into blocks of
size 8x8.
N=size (IM)/8*8
n=1
No
Is L
n<=N 1
Yes
Let Wij(n) be 8x8 blockwise DCT of the

watermark image, n representing the block
n=n+1
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L
1
n=1, sumdc=0
No
Is L
n<=N 2
Yes
Let Cij(n) be the 8x8 blockwise

DCT of the original image
Sumdc=sumdc+ C00 (n)
Let maxdc be the maximum DC

component among all the 8x8 blocks
Find the average of all values in each 8x8

block. Let this be blk_meanac(n)
Find the variance of each 8x8 block. Let this

be blk_acvar(n). Then find the maximum
among these as maxvar.
n=n+1
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L
2
Find the normalized mean dc of the entire image

Im_meandc=sumdc / (N * maxdc)
n=1
If
No
Is L
n<=N 3
Yes
Find the normalized mean dc of the

entire image
blk_meandc(n)=C00 (n)/maxdc
Find the normalized variance of each 8x8 block :-

blkn_acvar(n) = log(blkn_acvar(n))
log(maxvar)
temp(n)=exp(-((blk_meandc(n)-im_meandc)^2) )
scalef(n)=blkn_acvar(n)*temp(n)
embedf(n)=(1-temp(n))/blkn_acvar(n)
Add the two images blockwise as follows :-

Xij (n)=scalef(n)*Cij (n)+ embedf(n)*Wij (n)
L
4
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L
4
Take IDCT of each 8x8 block in Xij (n) to get

the watermarked image XM
n=n+1
If
L
3
Output the resultant

watermarked image
XM
Stop
Fig 3.6: Flowchart for visible watermarking algorithm
3.1.2 Processing colour images
The above algorithm cannot be applied to colour images directly as

colour images are stored in a 3-d array, each dimension representing red,
green and blue (R G B) components .Hence the 3-d array is converted into 2-d
array so that the R G B components can be processed separately using the
above algorithm. In the end the outputs corresponding to each component are
combined to get the watermarked colour image.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3.2 Invisible watermarking
Invisible watermarking is a technique in which a watermark is

embedded into an image without varying its visual representation, such that
the watermark is perceptually invisible and watermarked image is very much
indistinguishable from original image. The quality of the image as well as the
watermark can be varied by changing the robustness constant. By increasing
this factor the quality of the watermark can be increased but deteriorating the
host image to some extent and vice versa.
Mid-band Coefficient Exchange algorithm [9] is implemented to

achieve invisible watermarking. This algorithm uses the properties of DCT,
and along with them features of Human Visual System are used to achieve
quality invisible watermarking. The implementation has been divided into 2
sections namely,
a. Embedding watermark
b. Extracting watermark
In the first section watermark is inserted in the image suitably by using

DCT. In the second section the inserted watermark is retrieved back. The
original image is not needed in the extraction process but the original
watermark has to be provided .
3.2.1 Description
Mid frequency bands of 2 dimensional DCT
Using 2 dimensional DCT an image can easily be split up in pseudo

frequency bands, making it much easier to embed watermarking information
into the appropriate frequency bands of an image. We define the middle-band
frequencies (FM) of an 8x8 DCT block as shown below in Fig 3.7.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Fig 3.7 Definition of DCT Regions
FL is used to denote the lowest frequency components of the block,

while FH is used to denote the higher frequency components. FM is middle
frequency components. FM is chosen as the embedding region as to provide
additional resistance to lossy compression techniques [10], while avoiding
significant modification of the cover image. The low frequency band carries
the most important visual parts of the image. On the other hand, the high
frequency band is exposed to removal through compression and noise attacks.
The middle frequency bands avoid the removal through compression as well
as don’t contain important visual information. To prevent an expert from
extracting the hidden information directly from the transform domain, the
watermarks are embedded by modifying the relationship of the neighboring
blocks of mid frequency coefficients of the original image instead of
embedding by an additive operation. Therefore, the middle frequency bands
are the suitable region of watermark insertion.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Human visual model (HVS) and JPEG quantization table
Invisible watermarking of an image leads to some loss of original data

in the watermarked image compared to original image in order to inherit the
watermark. The data loss must be done selectively and the guiding principle
is to lose data for which the human visual system is not sensitive. The
sensitivity of the HVS to the DCT basis images has been extensively studied,
which resulted in the recommended JPEG (Joint Pictures Experts Group, one
of the most commonly used standards for image compression. The JPEG
quantization table is shown below in Fig 3.8. This table can be used for
predicting and minimizing the visual impact of the distortion caused by the
watermark [10].
Fig 3.8 Quantization values used in JPEG compression scheme
The quantization matrix is the 8x8 matrix of step sizes (also called
quantums) one element for each DCT coefficient. JPEG uses this quantization
table to compress images, in brief different parts of the images are
compressed unequally depending on the quantization values given in the
quantization matrix which was obtained by exploiting HVS. Based on the
table, we can observe that coefficients (4, 1) and (3, 2) or (1, 2) and (3, 0)
would make suitable candidates for comparison, as their quantization values
are equal. The swapping of such coefficients should not alter the watermarked
image significantly, as it is generally believed that DCT coefficients of
middle frequencies have similar magnitudes.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
The human eyes are more sensitive to noise in a lower frequency

range than its higher frequency counterpart, but the energy of most natural
images is concentrated in the lower frequency range. The robustness of a
watermark can be improved by increasing the energy of the watermark.
Increasing the energy, however, degrades the image quality. By exploiting the
properties of the HVS, the energy can be increased locally in places where
the human eye will not notice it. As a result, by exploiting the HVS, one can
embed perceptually invisible watermarks that have higher energy than if this
energy were to be distributed evenly over the image.
Design parameters
• Maximum size of watermark
N x M is the dimension of the cover image, Size of 2D DCT block is

Blocksize. Then maximum size (Z) of the watermark that can be embedded in
this cover image can be given by
• Selection of DCT coefficients.
The two DCT coefficients selected for in the algorithm should be in the
mid frequency band of a 8x8 DCT block. Coefficients corresponding to (4,1)
and (3,2) are selected as both lie in the mid frequency band and have same
quantization values in the JPEG quantization table .
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
• Watermark strength constant (k)
Watermark strength constant is used to make watermark more robust.

But robustness is obtained at the cost of increased degradation of
watermarked image quality. A reasonable value of k=50 is selected. The
value of ‘k’ should be always positive and can either be increased or
decreased as per the requirements .
3.2.2 Algorithms and flow charts
The algorithms and flowcharts for embedding and extracting the

watermark in invisible watermarking are described in this section.
Algorithm for embedding invisible watermark
1. The cover image (original image) is obtained and its size (i.e.
number of pixels) is calculated.
2. The cover image is divided into 8x8 sub blocks.
3. For each 8x8 block two dimensional DCT block is obtained.
4. The watermark image is obtained and is reshaped in one dimensional

message array.
5. Obtain the size of the message array and check if it is possible to

embed this watermark into the cover image. If possible proceed further
or terminate by flagging a suitable message for the user.
6. The values of the message array are in the range of 0 – 255 since the
image is bit map image represented using 8 bits. The message array is
normalized by dividing entire message array by 255 and rounding off
the values to obtain either 0s or 1s.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
7. If the size of the message array is less than maximum size of the
watermark that can be embedded in given cover image then message
array is appended with either 0s or 1s to maximum size.
8. For a 8x8 DCT block two coefficients B (u 1 , v 1 ) and B (u 2 , v 2 ) (u ,v

= 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7) are chosen from the FM region of the 8x8 DCT block
for comparison. These two coefficients are selected on the basis of
JPEG quantization table.
9. To embed a ‘1’ from the message array the coefficients are varied
accordingly to obtain B (u 1 , v 1 ) > B (u 2 , v 2 ). The coefficients are
swapped if the relative size of each coefficient does not agree with the
bit that is to be encoded.
10. Similarly to embed a ‘0’ from the message array the coefficients are
varied accordingly to obtain B (u 2 , v 2 ) > B (u 1 , v 1 ).
11. The robustness of the watermark can be improved by introducing a

watermark “strength” constant k, such that |B (u 1 , v 1 ) - B (u 2 , v 2 )| > k.
This is obtained by using B (u 1 , v 1 ) = B (u 1 , v 1 ) - k/2 and B (u 2 , v 2 ) = B
(u 2 , v 2 ) + k/2
12. Now this 8x8 block is converted back to spatial domain by performing
2 dimensional Inverse DCT.
13. Steps no.8 to step no.12 are applied to all the 8x8 blocks of the cover
image.
14. The resulting image obtained is the watermarked image which is saved
and then displayed.
Flowchart for embedding invisible watermark

The flowchart for embedding the watermark using the above algorithm
is shown below in Fig 3.9.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Start
Input the cover image

and the watermark
Size of cover image= N1x M1

Size of watermark = N2x M2
No
Can watermark of
this size be A
embedded
Yes
Convert 2D watermark to 1D message array and

normalize and round the values to either 1 or 0
Divide cover image to 8x8 blocks and perform 2

dimensional DCT for each block.
C
Select a 8x8 block and 2 coefficients in mid

frequency band
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Yes Is No
message
bit =’1’
B(u1,v1) B(u2,v2)
>B(u2,v >
No B(u1,v1) No
2
)
Yes Yes
Swap both
Swap both coefficients
coefficients
No
|B(u1,v1)- | B(u2,v2)- B(u1,v1)|
B(u2,v2)| < k <k
Yes Yes
B(u1,v1)= B(u1,v1)-k/2 B(u2,v2)= B(u2,v2)-k/2
________________________________________________________________________
B(u2,v2)= B(u2,v2)+k/2 B(u1,v1)= B(u1,v1)+k/2
________________________________________________________________________
Yes Is No
message
bit =’1’
B(u1,v1) B(u2,v2)
>B(u2,v >
No B(u1,v1) No
2
)
Yes Yes
Swap both
Swap both coefficients
coefficients
No
|B(u1,v1)- | B(u2,v2)- B(u1,v1)|
B(u2,v2)| < k <k
Yes Yes
B(u1,v1)= B(u1,v1)-k/2 B(u2,v2)= B(u2,v2)-k/2
B(u2,v2)= B(u2,v2)+k/2 B(u1,v1)= B(u1,v1)+k/2
Perform 2D IDCT
for this 8x8 block
Have all 8x8 No

blocks C
operated
Yes
Store watermarked image and display

A
Stop
Fig 3.9 Flowchart for embedding invisible watermark
Algorithm for extracting invisible watermark

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
1. The watermarked image is obtained and its size is calculated.
2. Calculate the maximum size of watermark that could have embedded in

the watermarked image.
3. Obtain the original watermark from the user and calculate its
dimensions.
4. Check if it was feasible to embed watermark of this size in the cover

image, if no, flag an error message to the user else proceed further with
the remaining steps.
5. The watermarked image is divided into 8x8 blocks.
6. For each 8x8 block two-dimensional DCT block is obtained.
7. For a 8x8 DCT block two locations B (u 1 , v 1 ) and B (u 2 , v 2 )

(u ,v = 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7) are chosen from the FM region of the 8x8 DCT
block for comparison. These two coefficients must be same that were
used in the embedding process.
8. A ‘1’ is extracted if B (u 1 , v 1 ) > B (u 2 , v 2 ) else B(u 2 , v 2 ) > B(u 1 , v 1 ) so

‘0’ is extracted and stored in a one dimensional message array.
9. Step no.7 to step no.8 are applied to all the 8x8 blocks of the
watermarked image.
10. Using the dimensions of the original watermark the extracted

watermark is reconstructed, saved and then displayed.
Flowchart for extracting invisible watermark

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
The flowchart for extracting the watermark using the above algorithm
is shown below in Fig 3.10.
Start
Input the watermarked image

and the original watermark
Size of watermarked image= N1x M1

Size of watermark = N2x M2
Can watermark of No
this size be present in B
watermarked image
Yes
Divide watermarked image to 8x8 blocks and

perform 2 dimensional DCT for each block.
Select a 8x8 block and same 2 coefficients in

mid frequency band used in embedding
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Yes Is No
B (u1,v1) > B (u2,v2)
Bit ‘1’ is extracted and stored Bit ‘0’ is extracted and stored
in 1D message array in same 1D message array
Using N2, M2 extracted watermark

is reconstructed and stored
Display watermark
Stop
Fig 3.10 Flowchart for extracting invisible watermark
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 4
RESULTS
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
RESULTS
The algorithms were successfully implemented on the MATLAB

platform. We discuss the results obtained for both visible and invisible
watermarking implementations in this chapter.
The algorithm for visible watermarking was implemented using Fig 4.1
and Fig 4.4 as the cover images and Fig 4.2 and Fig 4.5 as the watermarks.
Fig 4.3 and Fig 4.6 shows the resultant watermarked images. The scaling
factor has been reduced and embedding factor has been increased
considerably for increasing perceptibility.
Fig 4.1 Original image Fig 4.2 Watermark image
Fig 4.3 Watermarked image

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Fig 4.4 Original colour image Fig 4.5 Watermark colour image
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Fig 4.6 Watermarked colour image
The algorithm has been implemented using the original image shown in
Fig 4.7 and watermark image shown in Fig 4.8. The watermark strength
constant (k) has been varied, and watermarked image obtained for different
cases for k = 0, 1, 50, 100 has been shown in Fig 4.9 to Fig 4.12 respectively.
The original and watermarked images shown in below figures are

scaled to 50% of the original size whereas the original size of watermark and
recovered watermark is retained for proper display.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Fig 4.7 Original image Fig 4.8 Watermark image
Case 1: K=0
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Fig 4.9a Watermarked image Fig 4.9b Recovered watermark
Case 2: K=1
Case 3: K=50
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Case 4: K=100
Chapter 5
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
CONCLUSION AND FUTURE

SCOPE
CONCLUSION AND FUTURE SCOPE

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
The algorithms were implemented and satisfactory results were

obtained. This chapter deals with the applications, merits and demerits, and
scope for future work [7,9].
The advantages and disadvantages of the visible watermarking

algorithm we implemented are given below.
The advantages are

1. Resistant to lossy compression, the watermark does not get
altered even if the watermarked image undergoes compression.
2. It is fairly robust.
3. Fidelity is fairly high.
The disadvantages are

1. Susceptible to image cropping
2. As the watermark is perceptible the commercial value of the image is
reduced.

The advantages and disadvantages of the invisible watermarking
algorithm we implemented are given below [10].
The advantages are

1. The watermark can be extracted from the watermarked image without
reference to original image.
2. Resistant to lossy compression like JPEG, the watermark does not get
altered even if the watermarked image undergoes compression.
3. Can withstand filtering attacks.
The disadvantages are
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
1. Susceptible to image cropping and geometric distortions like scaling
and rotation.
2. Grey levels in watermark image should preferably be at max (255)
or min (0) limits for better results.
3. Cannot be applied to colour images.
5.3 Applications
• Fingerprinting. This application allows acquisition devices (such as

Digital cameras) to insert information about the specific device (e.g.,
an ID number) and date of creation. This can also be done with
conventional digital signature techniques but with watermarking it
becomes considerably more difficult to excise or alter the signature
[1,7,8].
• Authentication. Watermarking has two major benefits as compared to

cryptography. First, the watermark becomes embedded in the message,
secondly, it is possible to create ‘soft authentication‘ algorithms that
offer a multivalued measure that accounts for different (un)intentional
transformations that the data may have suffered (like compression with
different levels), instead of the yes/no answer given by cryptography-
based authentication..
• Copy and Playback Control. The message carried by the watermark

may also contain information regarding copy and display permissions.
Then, a secure module can be added in copy or playback equipment to
automatically extract this permission information and block further
processing if required. In order to be effective, this protection
approach requires agreements between content providers and consumer
electronics manufacturers to introduce compliant watermark detectors
in their digital cameras and other displays.
• Signaling . In case of invisible watermarking, the imperceptibility

constraint is helpful when transmitting signaling information in the
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
hidden channel. The advantage of using this channel is that no
bandwidth increase is required.
• Broadcast monitoring. Watermarking can be used for broadcast

monitoring by putting a unique watermark in each image prior to
broadcast. Automated monitoring stations can then receive broadcasts
and look for these watermarks, identifying when and where each
watermarked image appears. Thus advertisers, musicians, actors,
copyright owners are sure that their property is not illegally
rebroadcast by pirate stations. Commercial systems have been deployed
using this approach for a number of years.
• Proof of ownership. Multimedia owners can use watermarks not just to

identify copyright ownership, but to actually prove ownership.
Traditionally, the image has to be registered with the Copyright Office
by sending a copy to them. The Copyright Office archives the image,
together with information about the rightful owner. When the disputes
occur the Copyright Office can be contacted to obtain prove ownership.
But when not registered, it is possible to use a watermark embedded in
the image to prove ownership.
5.4 Scope for future work
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
The project has a considerable scope for improvement in many

dimensions. A few are listed below:
1. The algorithm can be implemented in real-time by targeting on to a

DSP/FPGA with reduced delay.
2. The fidelity of the watermarked image can be improved by using other

transforms such as wavelets, as HVS can be closely analyzed by them.
3. Multiresolution watermarking can be done using wavelets.
Chapter 6
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
BIBLIOGRAPHY
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Papers
1. Ingemar J. Cox, Matt L. Miller and Jeffrey A. Bloom, Watermarking

applications and their properties , published in the International
Conference on Information Technology’2000, Las Vegas, 2000.
2. Frank Hartung, student member, IEEE, and Martin Kutter, Multimedia

Watermarking Techniques, Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol. 87, No. 7,
July 1999.
3. Fernando Perez-Gonzalez and Juan R. Hernandez, A Tutorial on Digital

Watermarking.
4. Syed Ali Khayam, The Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT): Theory and
Applications.
5. Johnson C. Lee, Student Member IEEE, Analysis of Attacks on Common

Watermarking Techniques.
6. Saraju P. Mohanty, K.R. Ramakrishna and Mohan S Kankanhalli , A

DCT Domain Visible Watermarking Technique for Images.
7. Pei_Chun Chen, On the Study of Watermarking Application in

WWW_Modeling_ Performance Analysis_ and Applications of Digital
Image Watermarking Systems, Master Thesis of Department of
Electrical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University May 1999.
8. Raymond B. Wolfgang and Edward J. Delp, A Watermark for Digital

Images.
9. H. I. Saleh, M. E. Elhadedy, M. A. Ashour, M. A. Aboelsaud .

Comparison of DCT-based and DWT-based watermarking technique.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
10. Gerhard C. Langelaar, Iwan Setyawan, and Reginald L. Lagendijk,

Watermarking Digital Image and Video Data, IEEE signal processing
magazine SEPTEMBER 2000.
11. Robert B. Sweig , Copyright Protection of Digital Still Images Using

Invisible Watermarking Techniques
12. Koch, E., & Zhao, J. (1995), Towards robust and hidden image
copyright labeling, Proceeding of IEEE Nonlinear Signal Processing
Workshop, (pp. 452-455).
Books
13. Ze-Nian Li and Mark S. Drew; Fundamentals of Multimedia,

PEARSON Prentice Hall, 2004.
14. Rafael C. Gonzalez and Richard E. Woods; Digital Image Processing,

PEARSON Prentice Hall, 2 n d edition 2005.
________________________________________________________________________

Digital Image Watermarking Using Discrete Cosine Transform

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Information is becoming widely available via global networks. These

An important factor that slows down the growth of multimedia

Moreover, the future development of networked multimedia systems, in

The concept of digital watermarking arose while trying to solve

Digital watermarking is a form of data hiding or Steganography.

Digital image watermarking is a technique which allows an individual

Digital watermarking techniques derive from Steganography, which

Thus both Steganography and watermarking belong to a category of

Watermarking cannot be compared to encryption although they were

Digital image watermarking is a technique which allows an individual

Digital watermarking offers several advantages. The details of a good

A simple block diagram of a watermarking algorithm is shown in Fig

Original Watermarking Watermarked

Fig 1.1: Block diagram of a watermarking algorithm

Fig 1.2: Block diagram of a watermark detection algorithm

Some of the properties desirable in a watermark are discussed below.

A watermark is said to have high fidelity, if the degradation it causes is

It is desired that watermarks survive image-processing manipulations

Watermarked images are often subjected to attacks in order to remove

In practice, it is probably impossible to design a watermarking system

Some of the most general classifications of image watermarks are

Visible and Invisible Watermarks

Digital watermarking can be divided into two main categories: visible

Spatial domain and Transform domain watermarks

In the transform domain, we transform the spatial image into the

Watermarking Embedding Domain

Spatial Domain Transform Domain

Modification of Least Cosines transform

Fig 1.3: Classification of watermarking based on embedding domain

As shown in the above figure we can further classify spatial domain

1.3.4 Discrete cosine transforms

One of the most commonly used transforms in image processing is the

The One-Dimensional DCT

The most common DCT definition C(u) of a function f(x) which is a 1-

Similarly, the inverse transformation is defined as

for x= 0,1,2,…,N− 1 and the

It is clear from (1) that for:

The Two-Dimensional DCT

The inverse transform is defined as

The 2-D basis functions can be generated by multiplying the

Here we discuss some of the properties of DCT that make it highly

The principle advantage of image transformation using DCT is the

Efficacy of a transformation scheme can be directly gauged by its

Sub image size selection

Another important factor affecting the transform coding and

1.4 Brief results

We have successfully implemented both visible and invisible

MATLAB is a high-performance language for technical computing. It

Typical uses include Math and computation, Algorithm development,

MATLAB is an interactive system whose basic data element is an array

MATLAB features a family of add-on application-specific solutions

2.1 What is the Image Processing Toolbox?

The Image Processing Toolbox is a collection of functions that extend

• Spatial image transformations

MATLAB 7.0 with inbuilt toolboxes was used in WINDOWS XP environment

3.1 Visible watermarking

In visible watermarking of images, a secondary image (the watermark)

Some of the characteristics of visible watermarks are

1. A visible watermark should be visible in both color and monochrome

3.1.1 Algorithms and flow charts

The algorithm we have followed for visible watermarking is discussed