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An improved reversible data hiding scheme using layered embedding

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Abstract

Reversible data hiding (RDH) embeds data into the original image content, and it can also losslessly recover the original image content after the embedded data is extracted. Some previous RDH algorithms, such as the algorithm proposed by Luo et al., generate a large amount of overhead information, which may affect data extraction and image recovery in the following phase. In this paper, we solve this problem by designing layered embedding, cyclic embedding and bidirectional embedding, as a result of which an improved scheme of Luo et al.’s algorithm is proposed. The proposed scheme can reduce the amount of overhead information by dozens of times, which is beneficial for increasing the embedding rate and PSNR value. Experimental results show that the performance of the improved scheme outperforms the algorithm proposed by Luo et al. and other previous RDH algorithms.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the basic scientific research project of the central university of Northwest Minzu University (Project ID: 31920150085).

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  1. School of Mathematics and Computer Science, Northwest Minzu University, Lanzhou, 730030, China

    Zi-Long Liu & Guangrong Shan

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  1. Zi-Long Liu
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  2. Guangrong Shan
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Correspondence to Zi-Long Liu.

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Liu, ZL., Shan, G. An improved reversible data hiding scheme using layered embedding. Multimed Tools Appl 78, 16311–16328 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-018-6958-5

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