Media Mark Embedding for Robust Digital Watermarking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current digital watermarking technologies are vulnerable to distortions, easy to remove, and lack robustness against compression and filtering, making them ineffective in securely identifying and tracking digital media usage.
Innovation Solution
The system embeds a Media Mark by combining rendered information with selected portions of the carrier media in a way that is imperceptible to humans, using techniques such as pseudo-random geometric variations and perceptual masking, allowing the mark to be repeatedly embedded and difficult to remove, even after quality degradation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If visible overlay images are used to mark media, then the mark is robust and easy to read, but the quality of the marked video is reduced and the mark is easy to identify and remove
Solution Approach 1:
The patent embeds watermark information locally within the video data structure (in headers, footers, or between frames) rather than as visible overlays. This allows the mark to be present throughout the media without degrading visual quality, as the watermark exists in non-display portions of the data stream
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses an intermediary data structure (such as video headers, footers, or timing information) to carry watermark data. This intermediary layer allows identification information to be embedded without directly interfering with the visual content, thus maintaining video quality while providing robust marking
2Object-affected harmful factors
If digital watermarking with machine readable manipulations is used, then the mark can be embedded imperceptibly, but the mark becomes vulnerable to distortion and difficult to detect
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the watermark information into multiple segments distributed throughout the media file (in headers, footers, and between frames). This segmentation allows the watermark to be robust against distortion, as the complete identification can be reconstructed from multiple distributed segments even if some are damaged or distorted
Solution Approach 2:
The patent embeds synchronization markers and timing information in advance within the media structure. This preliminary action allows the detection system to anticipate and compensate for potential distortions, maintaining reliability even when the media undergoes compression or transformation
3Quantity of substance
If lossy compression is applied to reduce file size, then the media size is reduced, but the watermark information is removed or degraded
Solution Approach 1:
The patent embeds watermark data in multiple segments distributed throughout the media file structure. This segmentation ensures that even when lossy compression removes some data, sufficient watermark segments remain to reconstruct the complete identification information
Solution Approach 2:
The patent places watermark information in predetermined locations within the media structure (headers, footers, timing fields) before compression. This preliminary positioning ensures that critical identification data is preserved through compression processes that might otherwise remove it
4Ease of operation
If annotations are added to the digital media file format, then the mark can be read from unmodified files, but the information is lost if the file is re-recorded or converted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the watermark information with the essential media data structure itself (headers, footers, timing information). This merging ensures that the mark is read with the media file and persists through re-recording and format conversion, as the watermark becomes an integral part of the media container rather than a separate annotation
Data Source
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AI summary
Systems and methods are described for repeatedly embedding information in media that is recoverable by emphasizing subtle variations between the media. In many embodiments perceptual models are used to identify portions of the media in which the embedded information is unlikely to be apparent to a human observer. One embodiment of the invention includes rendering the information in the form of a media, selecting a plurality of portions of media from the carrier media, combining at least part of the rendered media with each of the selected portions of the carrier media to form modified media portions, where the modifications to the modified media portions are not apparent to a human observer and creating a modified carrier medium using the modified media portions.