Robust, Secure and High Capacity Watermarking Technique based on Image Partitioning-Merging Scheme

This paper presents secure and high capacity watermarking technique using novel approach of Image Partitioning-Merging Scheme (IPMS). The IPMS is used as reduction method to reduce the size of watermark logically and increases security levels of proposed watermarking technique. The technique effectively uses special properties of Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT), Fast Walse Hadamrd Transform (FWHT), Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) and proved strongly robust to 14 noise addition and filtering attacks. Fibonacci Lucas Transform (FLT) is used as effective scrambling technique to scramble the watermark to provide additional security in embedding process. Many researchers failed to achieve imperceptibility and robustness under high watermark embedding scenario with strong security provision as these quality parameters conflict each other. The novel technique presented here archives imperceptibility, high capacity watermark embedding, security and robustness against 14 noise addition and filtering attacks. The technique is non-blind and tested with grey scale cover images of size 512x512 and watermark images of size 512x512. The experimental results demonstrate that Lena image gives 75.8446dBs imperceptibility which is measured in terms of Peak signal to noise ratio. The robustness is measured in terms of normalized correlation (NC) equals to 1 showing exact recovery of watermark. The method is found strongly robust against noise addition and filtering attacks with compared to existing watermarking methods under consideration.