Image analysis – Applications
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-14
2003-12-23
Patel, Jayanti K. (Department: 2625)
Image analysis
Applications
C382S250000, C380S203000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06668068
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image attribute altering device based on electronic watermark data, and particularly to an image attribute altering device based on electronic watermark data and an electronic watermark embedding device for embedding (inserting) electronic watermark data in which copyright owner ship is authenticated, infringement of copyright is easily searched, and electronic watermark (which is also referred to as digital watermark) which is used for audio, images video, multimedia, etc. is applied to provide specific attribute to electronically watermarked audio, images, etc., thereby restricting the copies of the audio, images, or so like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, electronified media such as audio, images, video, multimedia, etc. have been increased, and also there has been required a guarantee system which can easily check intellectual proprietary rights such as copyright, etc. and data sources. An encryption system in which data are temporarily enciphered and only a proprietor can decipher the enciphered data is effective as a simple checking method as described above, and a method of subjecting original media to electronic watermarking has been known as an encryption system as described above
Further, from the viewpoint of protecting the copyright, there has been generalized that an attribute is provided to an original image to prohibit the original image from being copied or allow the original image to be copied only once or specific several times.
In order to alter the attribute of the image as described above, an attribute to be embedded during a vertical blanking period is generally altered. If the alteration of the attribute is allowed to be easily performed, the protection of the copyright cannot be sufficiently achieved. Accordingly, it has been required to prevent unjust copy of digital images on the basis of specific restricting conditions.
With respect to the attribute inserted during the vertical blanking period, it has been proposed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Hei-8-275127 that an identification signal to be inserted during the vertical blanking period (which is referred to as “VBI signal”, “video ID” or the like. In the following description, it is referred to as “VBI signal”) is used to prohibit or allow the copy of analog video signals of 525 line/60 field. The VBI signal is inserted into each of 20-th (first field) and 283
rd
(second field) horizontal periods (1H) during a vertical blanking period in video signals of one frame, and 20-bit reference and 20-bits digital signal are inserted into an effective video signal area after a horizontal synchronous signal and a color burst signal. CGMS (Copy Generation Management System) information representing copy allowance/prohibition is transmitted by 2 bits of the 20-bit digital signal.
The method of transmitting the CGMS information by using the VBI signal described above is applicable to analog signals such as 525-line standard video signals in NTSC system, 625-line standard video signals in PAL system or high-definition video signals such as high-vision signals or the like. However, the VBI signal is inserted to a predetermined place, and it can be easily removed by image processing such as filtering or the like, so that unjust copying of data cannot be prevented.
Therefore, there has been considered a method of embedding (inserting) electronic watermark data into an original image to prevent unjust use and unjust copy of the digital image.
Two kinds of watermark data, that is, visible electronic watermark data and invisible electronic watermark data are proposed as electronic data to digital images.
The visible electronic data is obtained by synthesizing special characters or symbols for images so that the characters or symbols are visible. It induces deterioration of image quality, however, has such an effect that it makes a visible appeal to users of digital images to prevent unjust flow of the images.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Hei-8-241403 discloses an embedding (inserting) manner of visible electronic watermark data. This publication discloses a method of forming a electronic watermarked image, which comprises a step of supplying a digital original image, a step of supplying a digital watermark image, a step of forming a watermarked image by superposing the watermark image on the original image without altering chromaticity of pixels of the original image when the watermarking is carried out, thereby placing the visible watermark on the digital image. The electronic watermarked image forming step contains a step of correcting pixels corresponding to the original image by altering the brightness (not color) for each of pixels which are not “transparent” in the watermarked image. In this method, when the visible electronic watermark data are combined with the original image in this method, the electronic watermark data are combined with the original image so that only the brightness of the pixels corresponding to the opaque portion of the electronic watermark data are varied and no color component is varied. At this time, the scaling value of the variation of the brightness component of the pixels is determined in accordance with the color component, random number, the pixel value of the electronic watermark data. The conspicuousness of the watermark is determined by the scaling value.
Further, the invisible electronic watermark data are embedded into the original image so that much attention is paid to prevention of deterioration in image quality, and it is visually insensible because it has little deterioration in image quality.
As described above, if specific information with which the identification of a copyright holder is enabled is embedded as the electronic watermark data, the copyright holder can be identified by detecting the electronic watermark data even after an unjust copying is carried out. Further, if copy prohibiting information is embedded, when a reproducing device detects the copy-prohibiting information, a user may be made to be informed of the fact that the data are copy-prohibited data, or a copy preventing mechanism in the reproducing device may be drive to restrict the copy of the data to VTR or the like.
In order to embed the invisible electronic watermark data into digital images, there is known a method of embedding specific information as electronic watermark data into a portion having little effect on the image quality, such as LSB (Lease Significant Bit) of pixel data. However, even when the above method is used, it is still easy to remove the electronic watermark data from images. For example, the information of LSB of pixels would be lost if a low pass filter is used, and also the image compression processing aims to reduce the total data amount by omitting the information amount of such a portion having little effect on image quality. Therefore, the electronic watermark data are lost by the image processing, and thus there is such a problem that it is difficult to re-detect the electronic watermark data.
A method of subjecting an image to frequency conversion and embedding electronic watermark data into an area where the frequency component of a video signal after the frequency conversion is strong has been also proposed as another example of the method of subjecting an image to frequency transformation by using a low pass filter (“Nikkei Electronics”, 1996. 4. 22 (no. 66), p 13). According to this paper, as a method of installing ID information into a digital work, inherent ID information is installed every purchaser of a work (moving pictures, still pictures, photographs and sounds are targeted), and the ID information is used to expose works (publications, etc.) which were unjustly copied by persons other than the purchasers, and the electronic watermark data are embedded into the frequency components of the original works. Therefore, the electronic watermark data are not lost through the image processing such as compression processing, filte
Chawan Sheela
NEC Corporation
Patel Jayanti K.
Scully Scott Murphy & Presser
LandOfFree
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