12^th Estonian Winter School in Computer Science (EWSCS)
XII Eesti Arvutiteaduse Talvekool

Palmse, Estonia, March 4-9, 2007

under the auspices of European Educational Forum

Ingemar Cox

Dept. of Computer Science
University College London
United Kingdom

Principles of Digital Watermarking

Abstract

1. Introduction and Applications

The watermarking literature appears to be concentrating on techniques appropriate for a limited set of applications (proof of ownership, copy control, etc.). This part of the tutorial will introduce basic watermarking concepts and discuss a wide variety of potential watermarking applications.

• Concepts and Important Definitions
• Broadcast Monitoring
• Owner Identification
• Proof of Ownership
• Transaction Tracking
• Content Authentication
• Copy Control
• Device Control

2. Properties

Every watermarking technique has specific properties and every watermarking application places different demands on those various properties. A formal approach to understanding and evaluating these properties will facilitate the development of new watermarking technologies, the comparison of available technologies, and the selection of appropriate technologies for a particular application.

• Embedding Effectiveness
• Blind or Informed Detection
• False Positive Rates
• Cipher and Watermark Keys
• Robustness
• Security
• Fidelity and the Use of Perceptual Models
• Data Payload and Message Coding

3. Informed Watermarking

Informed watermarking refers to exploitation of all available knowledge during the coding and embedding processes. This knowledge often includes knowledge about the work being watermarked, knowledge about probable distortions introduced by the communications channel, and knowledge about the detection process. Many watermarking researchers are beginning to pursue these informed techniques and the instructors believe that introduction to this topic is essential for future watermarking research.

• Informed Embedding
• Informed Coding

Course materials

• I. J. Cox, M. L. Miller and J. A. Bloom. Principles of digital watermarking. Slides. [ppt]
• I. J. Cox. Introduction to JPEG and MPEG. Slides. [ppt]

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