Visual Content Scrambling via Pixel Pattern Rearrangement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods fail to effectively prevent unauthorized access and viewing of sensitive visual information, despite efforts in image watermarking and encryption, as existing techniques are often easily bypassed or impractical for securing digital visual content.
Innovation Solution
The method involves repositioning equal-sized patterns of pixels in a visual image to encrypt it, creating a new shape while maintaining the same area, and generating a key for decryption, which is stored with the image file, allowing only authorized access through a corresponding decoder.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional encryption techniques are used to protect visual content, then security is improved, but the techniques are easily bypassed and do not effectively prevent unauthorized viewing
Solution Approach 1:
The visual content is divided into multiple blocks, and each block is further segmented into patterns of pixels. These segmented patterns are then independently repositioned according to encryption keys, making the content unreadable without the proper decryption key while maintaining a relatively simple overall system structure
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms the encryption approach from conventional pixel-level or block-level operations to pattern-level repositioning across two-dimensional space. Patterns of pixels are cut and repositioned to new locations based on encryption keys, creating a spatial transformation that effectively prevents unauthorized viewing while maintaining system simplicity
2Ease of operation
If simple filter-based channel blocking is used to prevent unauthorized access, then ease of operation is improved, but the method becomes impractical as the number of channels increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using complex filter systems to block channels, the patent extracts and repositions specific patterns of pixels from the visual content based on encryption keys. This extraction and repositioning approach provides effective access control without requiring impractical filter systems, especially for satellite television with numerous channels
3Reliability
If analogue scrambling techniques are used to encrypt visual signals, then security is improved, but the techniques are easily defeated and do not provide reliable protection
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces analogue scrambling techniques with a digital pattern repositioning system. Instead of using analogue signal manipulation that can be easily defeated, the system uses digital cutting and repositioning of pixel patterns according to encryption keys, providing reliable security protection while remaining easy to implement in modern digital television systems
Data Source
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AI summary
A method and system for scrambling visual information are, described. An image, preferably in an incompressed format, is divided in to n number of patterns having a different aspect ratio. Each pattern is mapped on a matrix i.e positioned on X and Y-axis. The patterns are then arranged in a different and new shape for e.g. a rectangle, preferably, fitting the size of manoblocks in a MPEG video, to that of the original shape of the image but having the same number of patterns or same area. The patterns of pixels are then relocated in the new shape and a matrix is again mapped for the new arrangement of patterns. A key is then generated comprising the information of the encrypted and earlier image. The player decrypts the encrypted visual content or image by means of the information provided by the key.