Mobile Terminal Camera Watermarking for Source Identification
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing use of camera-equipped mobile terminals poses challenges in preventing illegal photography, as users often take pictures secretly in private settings, necessitating a method to identify the source of images to regulate and protect privacy.
Innovation Solution
A mobile terminal with a camera module that inserts watermark data, such as the device's electronic serial number, into image data, allowing the source to be identified when the image is decoded, using a camera module to convert optical images into analog electric data, encoding this data with the source information, and storing it securely.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If watermark data is inserted into image data to identify the source, then the ability to trace image origin is improved, but the image data structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent embeds watermark data within the image data structure itself, nesting the source identification information inside the image file. This allows the image to contain both visual content and metadata about its origin, enabling traceability without requiring separate storage systems. The watermark is integrated into the image data stream, allowing extraction of source information when needed.
2Adaptability or versatility
If camera functions are added to mobile terminals to provide additional user expectations, then the functionality and versatility are improved, but the risk of illegal photography increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the camera system automatically embeds identification information into captured images. This feedback loop ensures that every image contains metadata about its source (mobile terminal identifier), creating an automatic tracking system that provides feedback about the image's origin without requiring additional manual intervention or external monitoring systems.
3Reliability
If image data is encoded with watermark information to prevent illegal usage, then the reliability of image source tracking is improved, but the processing time and energy consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs the watermark encoding action during the initial image capture and processing stage, rather than requiring separate post-processing steps. By embedding the watermark data into the image structure as part of the standard image processing workflow, the system avoids additional energy-consuming operations later in the pipeline. The source identification is established preliminarily when the image is first captured and encoded.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution effectively prevents illegal photography by enabling the identification of the source of images, protecting privacy and allowing authorities to trace the origin of images, thus deterring misuse while maintaining the image's display quality.
Implementation Method 1
a camera module for obtaining an image and converting the image into analog electric image data
Data Source
AI summary
The mobile terminal for inserting watermarking data into image data and the method thereof are disclosed. The mobile terminal includes a first storage for storing watermark data of an image; a camera module for obtaining an image and converting the image into an analog electric image data; an image data encoder for encoding the analog electric image data into digital image data and inserting the watermark data stored in the first memory into the digital image data; a second storage for storing the encoded image data having the watermark data of the image; and a controller for controlling the image data encoder to encode the image data obtained through the camera module with inserting the watermark data of the image data stored in the first storage.