A feature-based robust digital image watermarking scheme using bandelet transform

Desynchronization attacks are among the most difficult attacks to resist, for it can desynchronize the location of the watermark and hence cause incorrect watermark detection. The design of an image watermarking scheme that is robust against desynchronization attacks is challenging. Based on a multi-scale SIFT (scale invariant feature transform) detector and Bandelet transform theory, we propose a new content based image watermarking algorithm with good visual quality and reasonable resistance toward desynchronization attacks. Firstly, the stable image feature points are extracted from the original host by using the multi-scale SIFT detector, and the local feature regions (LFRs) are constructed adaptively according to the feature scale theory. The Bandelet transform is then performed on the LFRs. Finally, the digital watermark is embedded into the LFRs by modifying the significant Bandelet coefficients. By binding the watermark with the geometrically invariant image features, the watermark detection can be done without synchronization error. Experimental results show that the proposed image watermarking is not only invisible and robust against common signal processing such as sharpening, noise adding, JPEG compression, etc., but also robust against the desynchronization attacks such as rotation, translation, scaling, row or column removal, cropping, etc.