Digital image watermarking based on parameters amelioration of parametric slant-Hadamard transform using genetic algorithm

Abstract

In this paper, digital image watermarking based on parameters amelioration of parametric slant-Hadamard transform using genetic algorithm is presented. In image watermarking procedure, the image is divided into separate blocks and the parametric slant-Hadamard transform is applied on each block individually. Then, the watermark is embedded in the transform domain and the inverse transform is carried out. The main advantage of the selecting parametric slant-Hadamard transform is the availability of transform parameters which could be used to ameliorate the fidelity and robustness. In general, the fidelity and robustness properties of watermarking schemes are in conflict. Here, a genetic algorithm is introduced to ameliorate the transform parameters to improve both the fidelity and robustness simultaneously. Additionally, to increase the security of our algorithm, different sets of parameters are sought for each block individually. Experimental results show that the introduced watermarking scheme produces remarkably high fidelity with highly robust watermark against various attacks. © 2012 ICIC International.