Free-View Watermark Detection via Light Field Rendering

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Solution Overview

Problem

In free-view televisions, existing technologies fail to detect embedded invisible watermarks in virtual views generated for arbitrary camera angles, making it difficult to identify copyright ownership and prevent illegal transmission of content.

Innovation Solution

A method that uses Arbitrary View Generation and Free-view Watermark Detection to embed and extract watermarks in virtual views by interpolating light field images, employing high pass filtering and correlation-based schemes to determine the virtual camera's position and orientation, and correlating rendered watermarks with the rendered image to detect their existence.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If virtual views are generated by interpolating multiple camera views for free-view television, then user viewing flexibility and adaptability are improved, but watermark detection capability deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveuser viewing flexibilityVSAvoidwatermark detection capability
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSDifficulty of detecting and measuring

Solution Approach 1:

Watermarks are embedded in the original multi-view video content before transmission to the user. This preliminary embedding ensures that watermark information is already present in the source material, allowing for later detection even after the content is processed through virtual view generation and interpolation operations.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs watermark detection on the received multi-view video content and uses the detection results to identify the source of illegal transmissions. This feedback mechanism enables copyright protection by tracing back to the original transmitting device through detected watermark patterns.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

2Measurement precision

If watermarks are embedded on recorded views from multiple cameras, then copyright identification capability is improved, but detection capability on virtual views deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecopyright identification capabilityVSAvoiddetection capability on virtual views
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDifficulty of detecting and measuring

Solution Approach 1:

Watermarks are embedded in the original multi-view video content before transmission to the user. This preliminary embedding ensures that watermark information is already present in the source material, allowing for later detection even after the content is processed through virtual view generation and interpolation operations.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The watermark embedding and detection system is designed to work across multiple camera views and virtual views simultaneously. The same watermarking approach is applied to all views, creating a universal solution that maintains copyright identification capability whether the content is displayed as original camera views or generated virtual views.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

3Adaptability or versatility

If set-top-box creates virtual views using interpolation algorithms, then user choice and adaptability are improved, but watermark detection reliability deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveuser choiceVSAvoidwatermark detection reliability
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

Watermarks are embedded in the original multi-view video content before transmission to the user. This preliminary embedding ensures that watermark information is already present in the source material, allowing for later detection even after the content is processed through virtual view generation and interpolation operations.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs watermark detection on the received multi-view video content and uses the detection results to identify the source of illegal transmissions. This feedback mechanism enables copyright protection by tracing back to the original transmitting device through detected watermark patterns.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentEP2070328B1Watermark detection method for broadcasting
Publication Date: 2011.02.16 VESTEL ELEKTRONIK SANAYI & TICARET ANONIM SIRKETI
  • EP2070328B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP2070328B1 patent drawingFigure 2~4
  • EP2070328B1 patent drawingFigure 5~6

AI summary

It is known that TV-viewers might record personal videos for their arbitrarily selected views in the upcoming consumer electronic product, free-view TV, it is apparent that solutions for copyright and copy protection problems should be proposed for the free-view TV against misusing such content. The proposed method embeds the same watermark into the transmitted multiple-views of the free-view TV by exploiting the spatial masking properties of the Human Visual System. Extraction of the watermark from any virtual view is achieved after correlating this view by a 'rendered watermark', which is obtained through Light Field Rendering, after determining the unknown location of the virtual camera through a homography between focal and image planes.