Reversible Data Hiding in JPEG Images Based on Negative Influence Models

摘要

Reversible data hiding (RDH) can be used to imperceptibly embed data into images in a reversible manner. Many RDH schemes have been developed for uncompressed images. However, JPEG compressed images are more widely used in our daily lives. The existing RDH techniques for JPEG images may cause significant distortion or a large increase in the file size of marked images. In this paper, a novel RDH scheme for JPEG images is proposed. First, the negative influence models of data embedding, including image visual distortion model and file size change model, are mathematically established. Then, a negative index for each frequency is defined as the weighted sum of the normalized average image visual distortion and the normalized average file size change per 1-bit hidden data, and the frequencies with small negative indices will be used for data embedding with a high priority. The weighting factor can be adjusted according to the user's preference for less image distortion or smaller file size. Lastly, secret data is embedded into non-zero quantized AC coefficients of the selected frequencies in ascending order of zero-run length. Extensive experiments conducted on typical images and a well-known image database show that the presented negative influence models are effective, and the proposed RDH scheme based on the models can achieve low image distortion and small increase in the file size of marked images.