Adaptive Video Watermark Luma Control for Robust, Low-Visibility Embedding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing video watermarking systems face a tradeoff between robustness and visual quality, with Bit1 luma values being too visible in certain scenes, particularly in modern TVs that display full frames, leading to user annoyance.
Innovation Solution
Implement psycho-visual-model based video watermark gain adaptation by dynamically adjusting Bit1 luma levels based on surrounding brightness and using Human Visual System models to optimize watermark strength, ensuring robustness and minimizing visibility in areas of poor visual quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If Bit1 luma value is increased to improve watermark detection robustness, then watermark robustness is improved, but watermark visibility increases causing user annoyance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by adjusting the Bit1 luma value dynamically based on the specific scene characteristics. Instead of using a fixed high luma value throughout, the system modifies the watermark strength locally according to the visual quality of each frame region, making the watermark less visible in areas where it would be noticeable while maintaining robustness where it matters for detection
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamics by making the Bit1 luma value adaptive rather than static. The watermark gain is adjusted dynamically based on scene brightness and visual quality metrics, allowing the system to respond to changing video content and optimize the balance between robustness and visibility in real-time
2Reliability
If watermark strength is increased to ensure robustness in all scenes, then watermark robustness is improved, but visual quality deteriorates in bright and dark scenes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by adjusting the watermark strength according to the specific characteristics of different scene regions. In bright and dark scenes where the watermark would be more visible or distracting, the Bit1 luma value is reduced locally, while in mid-tone scenes the full watermark strength is applied, thus preserving video quality where needed while maintaining robustness where appropriate
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements parameter changes by modifying the Bit1 luma value based on scene brightness and visual quality metrics. The system dynamically adjusts this critical parameter to optimize the trade-off between watermark robustness and video quality, changing it according to the local content characteristics rather than using a fixed value
Data Source
AI summary
A method for embedding video watermarks. Areas of poor visual quality in a video content having embedded watermarks ar determined. The watermark symbols replace pixels in the video content with pixels in which the luma values are modulated such the luma value for a 0 bit renders as black and the luma value for a 1 bit renders a shade of gray. The luma value for the 1 bit level is reduced in those areas determined to have poor visual quality. Areas of poor visual quality may be determined by analyzing the luma values of pixels of the video content immediately adjacent to and below a particular watermark symbol to derive an adjacent brightness parameter that represents the perceptual brightness of the surrounding video content. The reduction of the luma value may be achieved by setting the 1 bit luma for a particular watermark symbol to be perceptually less bright than the adjacent brightness parameter.