Digital Watermarking using LSB, DCT and DWT

techniques
information as a means of covert
communication between individuals.

Abstract – Organizations using

propriety

Digital watermarking is the process of LSB substitution algorithm

embedding information into a digital
signal in a way that is difficult to
for image watermarking
remove. The signal may be audio,
LSB (Least Significant Bit)Substitution
pictures or video, for example. If the
is the process of modifying the least
signal is copied, then the information is
significant bit of the pixels of the carrier
also carried in the copy. A signal may
image. Blocking works by breaking up
carry several different watermarks at the
an image into “blocks” and using
same time.
Discrete Cosine Transforms (DCT).
Each block is broken into 64 DCT
In visible watermarking, the information
coefficients that
is visible in the picture or video.
approximate luminance and color—the
Typically, the information is text or a
values of which are modified for hiding
logo which identifies the owner of the
messages. Palette Modification replaces
media. The image on the right has a
the unused colors within an image’s
visible watermark. When a television
color
broadcaster adds its logo to the corner of
palette with colors that represent the
transmitted video, this is also a visible
hidden message.
watermark.
We have chosen to implement LSB
Substitution in our project because of its
In invisible watermarking, information is
ubiquity
added as digital data to audio, picture or
among carrier formats and message
video, but it cannot be perceived as such
types. With LSB Substitution we could
(although it may be possible to detect
easily
that some amount of information is
change from Image Steganography to
hidden). The watermark may be intended
Audio Steganography and hide a zip
for widespread use and is thus made
archive
easy to retrieve or it may be a form of
instead of a text message. LSB
Steganography, where a party
Substitution lends itself to become a
communicates a secret message
very powerful
embedded in the digital signal. In either
Steganographic method with few
case, as in visible watermarking, the
limitations.
objective is to attach ownership or other
descriptive information to the signal in a
way that is difficult to remove. It is also
possible to use hidden embedded
LSB Substitution works by iterating
through the pixels of an image and
extracting
the ARGB values. It then separates the
color channels and gets the least
significant
bit. Meanwhile, it also iterates through
the characters of the message setting the
bit
to its corresponding binary value.
LSB Disadvantages:
As presented, LSB Embedding has the
advantage that it is simple to implement.
This is especially true in the 24-bit
bitmap case. It also allows for a
relatively high payload, carrying one bit
of the secret message per byte of pixel
data. In addition, it is also seemingly
undetectable by the average human if
done right. However, the assumption
has been that the stego-image is
indistinguishable from the original cover
image by the human eye. There have
been many statistical techniques
developed to determine if an image has
been subjected to LSB Embedding.
In addition to being vulnerable to
detection techniques, LSB is extremely
vulnerable to corruption. That is, the
integrity of the hidden message can
easily be destroyed. All the attacker
must do is to randomize the LSBs of the
image. The attacker may not even know
that it is a stego-image, but such actions
would destroy the secret message.
Due to these possible attacks,
LSB Embedding is relatively insecure, at
least in its primitive form. However,
due to its advantages, it is useful for
applications where security is desired,
but not necessary. It is also a good
foundation to build more secure
steganographic techniques.
Discrete Wavelet Transform:
Wavelet transform is used to convert a
spatial domain into frequency domain.
The use of wavelet in image
stenographic model lies in the fact that
the wavelet transform clearly separates
the high frequency and low frequency
information on a pixel by pixel basis.
A one dimensional DWT is a repeated
filter bank algorithm, and the input is
convolved with high pass filter and a
low pass filter. The
result of latter convolution is smoothed
version of the input, while the high
frequency part is captured by the first
convolution. The reconstruction involves
a convolution with the synthesis filter
and the results of this convolution are
added. In two dimensional transform,
first apply one step of the one
dimensional transform to all rows and
then repeat to all columns. This
decomposition results into four classes
or band coefficients.
The four bands obtained are approximate
band (LL), Vertical Band (LH),
Horizontal band (HL), and diagonal
detail band (HH).The process can then
be repeated to computes multiple "scale"
wavelet decomposition, as in the 2 scale
wavelet transforms shown in figure 1.
Figure 1. 2 Scale 2-Dimensional
Discrete Wavelet Transform
One of the many advantages over the
wavelet transform is that that it is
believed to more accurately model
aspects of the HVS as compared to the
FFT or DCT. This allows us to use
higher energy watermarks in regions that
the HVS is known to be less sensitive to,
such as the high resolution detail bands
{LH, HL, HH). Discrete Wavelet
Transform(DWT) is preferred over
Discrete Cosine Transforms (DCT)
because image in low frequency at
various levels can offer corresponding
resolution needed.

Extracting Watermark from carrier

image:
Invisible Watermarking using DWT:
The Extraction process begins by
DWT is applied to an image and the four
applying DWT to the watermarked
bands are obtained. DWT is again
image. The four filtered bands of the
applied on the approximate band(LL) to
image are obtained. DWT is again
get the next four bands. The length of
applied to the approximate
the watermark image is scaled down to
component(LL) of the watermarked
1/8th of the length of the original image.
image. The alternate pixels of the
DWT is applied to the scaled down
obtained Horizontal band(HL) are
watermark image. Every alternate pixel
stored. These pixels form the watermark.
of the horizontal band (HL) of the carrier
image is substituted with a pixel from
the approximate band(LL) of the
watermark image.
Inverse DWT is applied to the four
bands of the carrier image which results
in the approximate image. Again,
inverse DWT is applied to this
approximate image along with the other
three bands to get the carrier image with
invisible watermark.
Conclusion:
The disadvantages of LSB algorithm for
image watermarking are overcome using
Discrete Wavelet Transform(DWT).A
method of invisible watermarking and
extraction of watermark using DWT is
proposed in this paper. When embedding
the watermark into the carrier image, the
method successfully works for
watermark with length scaled to 1/8th of
the length of the carrier image .

References:
[1]http://www.mathworks.com/access/he
lpdesk/help/toolbox/wavelet/idwt2.html
[2]