A Proposed Robust Video Watermarking Algorithm:
Enhanced Extraction from Geometric Attacks
R. Maharajan1, Abeer Alsadoon1, P.W.C. Prasad1, A. M. S. Rahma2, A. Elchouemi3, SMN Arosha Senanayake4
1
School of Computing and Mathematics, Charles Sturt University, Sydney, Australia
2
Computer Science Department, University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq
3
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
4
Faculty of Science, Universiti Brunei Darussalam
Abstract: This paper proposes a new integrated system based on a
video watermarking algorithm with high imperceptibility,
improved security, robust against common image and video
processing attacks and geometric attacks. The proposed
algorithm is based on the features of a selected best algorithm by
Agilandeeswari and Ganesan and its limitations. The advantages
of the hybrid transform techniques of Nonsubsampled
Contourlet Transform, Discrete Wavelet Transform and
Singular Value Decomposition are utilized for high robustness
against common attacks. The features of angle invariance and
distance invariability of Log Polar Transform and Inverse Log
Polar Transform are used in the extraction process only to resist
geometric attacks without affecting the imperceptibility of
watermark and watermarked video. Modified Arnold
Transformation is introduced to improve the security of the
watermark. The experiment shows that the algorithm is
extremely robust in terms of most common attacks and geometric
attacks with high imperceptibility and improved security.
Keywords Video Watermarking; Authentication; Robustness;
Imperceptibility; Payload; Security; Key Frames; Non Key Frames;
Modified Arnold Transform;
I. INTRODUCTION
The fast paced advancement in multimedia and internet
technology has significantly enhanced the level and speed of
knowledge exchange. Due to this evolution, people nowadays
can easily share or watch videos through the internet [1].
However, this evolution has equally generated copyright and
authentication issues with videos. Therefore, the need for
protecting the authenticity and integrity of videos is the focus
of this research. Digital Video Watermarking Technique is one
of the solutions for copyright protection which is the process of
embedding digital watermarks so as to hide the copyright
information in the video and protect its ownership [1].
According to [2], the digital watermarking process has certain
factors such as robustness, imperceptibility, security, capacity
and computational time that are required to be considered.
There are several video watermarking schemes proposed by
researchers focusing on providing high robustness against
image and video processing attacks, temporal attacks and
geometric attacks. It is a significant challenge to provide
robustness against almost all kinds of attacks specially in the
case of geometric attacks. Hence, most of the existing
algorithms have failed to provide robustness against one type
of attack while focusing on others. The algorithm proposed by
[3], has provided high levels of robustness against most attacks.
Moreover, this algorithm has provided high imperceptibility,
dual security and high payload.
However, this algorithm has some limitations regarding
robustness against geometric attacks and security provided by
traditional Arnold Transform. To overcome these limitations,
the proposed algorithm focuses on providing robustness against
geometric attacks without affecting other types of attacks or
imperceptibility and improves security by introducing modified
Arnold Transformation.
This paper is organized as follows: Section I introduces the
project, and section II reviews existing research into face
detection. This is followed by a description of the methodology
used in the proposed solution, in section III, together with an
analysis and overview of implementation strategies. Results of
the current research into the proposed solution are discussed in
section IV and results and discussions are presented in section
V. The conclusion is covered under section VI, which also
considers possible future work.
II. RELATED WORK
A significant amount of research has been carried out related
to video watermarking. In order to provide an effective and
robust video watermarking algorithm, [4] focused on
distortion resistance based on an additive spread spectrum and
a periodic watermark concept to protect against piracy of the
video files. However, it is less resistant to noise attacks and
also the use of the spread spectrum is computationally
complex. [5] proposed a new video watermarking algorithm
based on Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) and slope-
based embedding technique focusing on temporal dimension
attacks. However, this algorithm has provided less robustness
against most of the common attacks.
Similarly, [6] fused dual transform domains 2D Discrete
Wavelet Transform (DWT) and 3D Discrete Cosine
Transform (DCT) with Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) in
order to improve the robustness of the watermark in the video
watermarking. [7] introduced an adaptive video watermarking
using a human visual system with a fuzzy interference model
to provide high robustness and imperceptibility. However, it is
less resistant to geometric attacks.
The algorithm proposed by [8] used shot boundary detection
which reduces the computational time and provides robustness
against temporal attacks and classifying blocks of the
compressed video. However, this method is less robust against
geometric attacks and other noise attacks. [3] proposed a algorithm and to a much lesser extent on security which,
robust video watermarking scheme using hybrid techniques of however, is also of high importance.
Contourlet Transform (CT) and DWT for enhancing the
robustness and the visual perception. This algorithm has I. PROPOSED WORK
maintained the security using Arnold transform and has A Proposed Robust Video Watermarking Algorithm: Enhanced
achieved high imperceptibility and payload using a bit plane Extraction from Geometric Attacks (PRVWA-EEfGA) is based
slicing. However, CT basically lacks the property of the shift on the existing video watermarking algorithm by [3] with
invariance. Furthermore, the Arnold transformation used in reduction of its limitations.
this scheme is the traditional one which is less secure. [9]
proposed a robust watermarking scheme based on The proposed system has utilized the features of this existing
nonsubsampled contourlet transform (NSCT) which is algorithm by using scene change detection for reducing
computational time, hybrid transform techniques for the
multidirectional as well as shift invariant. However, the
purpose of high robustness against image and video processing
robustness against geometric attacks has not significantly
attacks, temporal attacks and other common attacks, bit plane
improved.
slicing in watermark for high imperceptibility and capacity and
Among all the image and video processing attacks, the most
challenging attacks to be considered when providing a robust finally Arnold Transform and Eigen Vector for dual security.
video watermarking algorithm are geometric attacks, also To reduce the limitation caused by lack of robustness against
known as RST (Rotation, Scaling and Translation) attacks. geometric attacks, the proposed algorithm utilizes a scaling
The schemes presented by [10] and [11] have focused on invariance feature of Nonsubsampled Contourlet Transform in
robustness against geometric attacks using Discrete Fourier the embedding process and distance and angle invariability
Transform (DFT) and Log Polar Mapping (LPM) for images. features of Log Polar and Inverse Log Polar transforms in the
The algorithm used for images can also be applied for video extraction process. Due to the interpolation and discretization
frames. [10] focused on providing a RST invariant property of Log Polar Transform and distortion property of
watermarking for image using approximate Inverse LPM to Inverse Log Polar Transform, this system significantly
get the location to be the watermarked image. However, this enhances robustness against major geometric attacks of
scheme also had drawbacks in the form of ILPM which rotation, scaling and transition. To improve the limitation of
introduces interference distortion. To overcome this drawback, less secure traditional Arnold Transform, modified Arnold
[11] introduced a new scheme which reduces the distortion Transform is introduced. There are two main stages in this
caused by ILPM. However, this scheme failed by not being algorithm, the embedding stage and the extraction stage.
able to extract in the case of fractional angles of rotation
attacks. To reduce this limitation, [12] presented color
watermarking for image using Fourier transform and improved
ULPM. However, improved inverse LPM still provides
distortion effects. Furthermore, although these schemes
focused on geometric attacks, they are all based on DFT which
is less robust and more complex than other transform domains.
Similarly, to provide robustness against RST attacks, Wang et
al. [13] proposed a compressed video watermarking algorithm
focusing on resistance to geometric attacks with invariance of
a Histogram Shape in DWT Domain and the real time
performance by using a fast inter transformation between
Block DCTs and One-Level DWT. However, it is less
resistant against temporal attacks and the video quality is also
degraded. Likewise, to achieve high robustness against
geometric attacks, [14] has used a zero watermarking
algorithm based on PM with 2D DWT and 3D DCT.
However, this algorithm is fixed for authentication only rather
than extracting the original watermark.
From the above research, it is evident that achieving high
robustness against geometric attacks while maintaining the
imperceptibility and robustness against other common attacks Fig. 1. Proposed PRVWA-EEfGA Diagram
represents one of the most challenging features of any video
watermarking algorithm. Most schemes failed to consider The block diagram in fig 1 illustrates the transition between
geometric attacks whereas others did not maintain the two stages of the proposed system. It shows how the
imperceptibility in the case of other common attacks. Most of embedding and extraction occurs. Though embedding and
these proposed solutions have focused on robustness of the extraction are two separate stages, the extraction stage occurs
only after the embedding stage. Fig1 charts the flow from an
input video sample and a watermark sample via obtaining the
watermarked video to finally achieving the extracted
watermark from the watermarked video. Table 1 shows one of
the video frame samples and the watermark sample with its
size and format which is going to be tested during
implementation.
Table 1. Test Video Frame Sample of suzie.avi and Test Watermark
Sample of csulogo.png
Sample Video Sample
Videos Forma
Video
Watermar
Watermar Watermar
Size k Format k Size
Frame t k
avi
176x14
png 80x80
4 descrambling, modified Arnold Transform is used. The
A. Proposed Video Watermark Embedding Algorithm
(Embedding Stage)
In the embedding stage, the flow starts with the input video
sample and the watermark sample. There are further sections
which are video pre-processing, watermark pre-processing and
the embedding process with video post-processing. In video
pre-processing, there are sub-sections such as scene change
detection, frame color conversion, Nonsubsampled Contourlet
Transform, Discrete Wavelet transform and Singular Value
Decomposition. In video pre-processing, the tasks are
performed with the original input video sample and are related
to reducing the computational time and providing high
robustness. In watermark pre-processing, there are sub-
sections such as bit plane slicing, modified Arnold transform,
and Singular Value Decomposition which are done for the
purpose of enhancing the imperceptibility and the payload.
Using modified Arnold Transform, a key is obtained which is
used to scramble the watermark while embedding and which is
later used to descramble while extracting.
Table 2. Watermarked Video Frame Sample with its PSNR Value
Watermarked Imperceptibility
Video Frame (PSNR)
64dB
In the embedding process with video post-processing, a
watermark embedding process is performed where watermark
slices and Eigen Vector of the watermark are embedded using
components of transformed domains of the video and all the
reversals are carried out so as to obtain the final watermarked
video. Table 2 shows that the watermarked video frame
sample with its PSNR value.
B. Proposed Video Watermark Extraction Algorithm
(Extraction Stage)
In the extraction stage, similar processes such as video pre-
processing and watermark pre-processing are carried out along
with watermark detection, extraction and post-processing.
However, video-preprocessing is performed in the
watermarked video and the original video sample. While
performing this task, the additional sub-sections Log Polar
Transform and Inverse Log Polar Transform are applied to the
videos together with other transform techniques. In watermark
detection, extraction and post-processing, the watermark
scrambled slices and embedded Eigen Vector are obtained
after which processes related to descrambling and
reconstructing the watermark are performed. While
authentication is done based on comparing Eigen Vector of
extracted watermark and extracted Eigen Vector. Table 3
shows the extracted watermark with its NCC value which
shows that high robustness of the watermark has been
maintained against attacks.
Table 3. Extracted watermark with its NCC value
Extracted Robustness
Watermark (NCC)
0.9973
C. Modified Arnold Transform (mAT)
The main limitation of using the traditional Arnold
Transformation is that the transform coefficients used are all
fixed and once it becomes known that traditional Arnold
Transform has been used, then one can somehow descramble
the image using these fixed coefficients [15]. Based on the
theory provided by [16], modified Arnold Transformation is
introduced in our proposed algorithm. The feature of a matrix
determinant has been utilized to modify this algorithm,
extracting the transform coefficients of Arnold transform in
such a way that the determinant of the matrix coefficients is 1.
a00* a11 a10 * a01 = 1
where a00, a11, a10 and a01 are the transform coefficients
I. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
This section tests the implementation of the proposed video
watermarking algorithm in different attack situations. The
tests were carried out using Matlab R2015b on 10 sample
videos and 10 color images with watermarks of different sizes
and formats. The sample videos and watermarks were
collected from a Google database.
Since our proposed system has a strong focus on improving the
robustness against geometric attacks without affecting the
robustness against other attacks, the results and discussions
presented below are centered on the comparisons of robustness
of the current and proposed system in different attack situations
such as several image processing, video processing and
geometric attacks. The quality metrics used are peak signal to
noise ratio (PSNR) which is used to measure the
imperceptibility or quality of the watermarked video frame
against the original video frame and a normalized correlation
coefficient (NCC) is used to evaluate the correlation of the
extracted watermark with the original watermark.
Table 4 shows NCC value for one of the sample videos with a
sample watermark without any attacks. The table shows that in
the absence of attacks, nearly 99% of the watermark can be
extracted. According to table 5, comparing the proposed
system with the current algorithm, 80% to 99% of the
watermark has been extracted from different image processing
and temporal attacked watermarked videos from both of them
which show that the robustness against image processing
attacks and temporal attacks are similar.

Table 4. Result of Extracted watermark with NCC value applied in one of the Fig. 2. Comparison of NCC values for different degrees of rotation between
10 sample watermarked video frames with no attacks current algorithm and proposed algorithm

Proposed Algorithm (PRVWA-EEfGA) : No attacks

Sample
Sample Watermarked Extracted Robustness
Videos
Watermark Video Frame Watermark (NCC)
Frame

0.9973

To evaluate performance of our proposed algorithm in terms of

robustness, three main geometric attacks, rotation attack,
scaling attack and transition attack have been tested. From the
table 6 and fig 2, the resulting values of NCC clearly show that
our proposed algorithm is able to extract 93% to 99% of the
watermark for the rotated watermarked videos. However, the
NCC values of the current algorithm ranged from only 20% to
88% for all tested angles except 1800.
According to table 7 and fig 3, the resulting values of NCC
clearly show that our proposed algorithm is able to extract Fig. 3. Comparison of NCC values for scaling attack and transition attack
between current algorithm and proposed algorithm
97% to 99% of the watermark for the scaled watermarked
videos, whereas, for the scaled watermarked video of the II. CONCLUSION
current algorithm, the NCC values only ranged from 68% to
In conclusion, the need for digital video watermarking in
84%. Similarly, according to table 8 and fig 3, the resulting
todays evolving technological environment is high and
values of NCC clearly show that our proposed algorithm is
development of robust mechanisms is a priority in terms of
able to extract 94% to 99% of the watermark for the translated
copyright protection and authentication. A significant number
watermarked videos, whereas, for the translated watermarked
of algorithms have been introduced in order to provide the
video using the current algorithm, the NCC values only ranged
best possible features required for video watermarking
from 38% to 80%. Furthermore, while increasing the
purposes. Our proposed system is based on the current
robustness of video watermarking algorithm, we have
algorithm provided by [3]. The main contribution of our
maintained the computational time as low as possible. Table 9
proposed system is through the use of Log Polar Transform
shows the computational time for watermark embedding and
and its inverse during extraction only, since the level of
extraction for the current and the proposed algorithms which
watermarked video degradation that occurs does not matter
clearly show that only a slight increase in extraction time has
during extraction. Furthermore, this system provides dual
occurred which is negligible. The comparison table clearly
security with more secure features than the existing algorithm
shows that our proposed algorithm has significantly enhanced
by using modified Arnold transform and authentication with
robustness against rotation attack for all degrees of rotations,
Eigen Vector. Based on a detailed comparison between the
scaling attack and translation attack without affecting other
current and the proposed system, the latter has maintained
factors.
higher imperceptibility, payload, and achieved higher levels of
robustness against several types of attacks, particularly against
 Table 5. Result for robustness against different image processing and temporal attacks for current algorithm and proposed algorithm

Robustness for Image Processing Attacks and Temporal Attacks (NCC value)

Sample Sample Frame

Video Water Salt & Pepper Poisson Median Swappi
Gaussian Noise Contrast Histogram Frame Dropping Attack
Frame mark Attack noise Filtering ng
Attack Adjustment Attack 21%,58%,96%
(var=0.03,0.01) Attack Attack Attack
(var=0.1,0.01)
25%

Current Algorithm Agilandeeswari, L., & Ganesan, K. (2015)

0.8438 0.9557 0.7025 0.7497 0.9822 0.9852 0.9993 0.9678 0.9525 0.9368 0.8200 0.9622

Proposed Algorithm (PRVWA-EEfGA)

0.9972 0.9973 0.9968 0.9974 0.9974 0.9974 0.9975 0.9976 0.9405 0.9259 0.7999 0.9622

Table 6. Result for Robustness Against Different Rotation Attacks for Current Table 7. Result for Robustness Against Scaling Attack for Current Algorithm
Algorithm and Proposed Algorithm and Proposed Algorithm: (Resized by Width-100, Height-100 and then resized
to its original size)
Current Algorithm
Proposed Algorithm
Agilandeeswari, L., &
Angle of Sample (PRVWA-EEfGA) Current Algorithm
Ganesan, K. (2015) Proposed Algorithm
Rotation Rotated Agilandeeswari, L., & Ganesan,
(In Video (PRVWA-EEfGA)
K. (2015)
Degree) Frames Extracted Robustness Extracted Robustnes
Watermark (NCC) Watermark s (NCC) Sample Extracted Robustne Sample Extracted Robustne
Videos Waterma ss Videos Waterma ss
Frame rk (NCC) Frame rk (NCC)
1 0.8635 0.9972
0.6815 0.9973

5 0.3013 0.9968
Table 8. Result for Robustness Against Transition Attack for Current
Algorithm and Proposed Algorithm
10 0.3249 0.9970 Transition Value = x=10.3, y=-10.1

Current Algorithm Agilandeeswari, Proposed Algorithm (PRVWA-

L., & Ganesan, K. (2015) EEfGA)
45 0.4057 0.9971

Sample Sample
Extracted Robustnes Extracted Robustnes
Transite Transite
Watermar s Watermar s
135 0.5310 0.9967 d Video d Video
k (NCC) k (NCC)
Frames Frames

0.7266 0.9977
180 0.9999 0.9968

main geometric attacks than the current algorithm.

Furthermore, the proposed system has achieved this without
affecting computational time to any marked degree and also
enhanced the security features by modifying the traditional
Arnold Transformation. There are plans to conduct further
research to reduce computational time while maintaining all
the acquired features.
 Table 9. Result for Computational time taken by each frame for embedding [13] L. Wang, H. Ling, F. Zou and Z. Lu, "Real-Time Compressed- Domain
and extraction by Current Algorithm and Proposed Algorithm Video Watermarking Resistance to Geometric Distortions," MultiMedia, vol.
19, no. 1, pp. 70 - 79, 2012.
Embedding and Extraction Time [14] D. Li, L. Qiao and J. Kim, "A video zero-watermarking algorithm based
on LPM," Multimedia Tools and Applications, pp. 1-14, 2015.
Sample [15] G. V. Artist and M. K. Porwal, "Dual Layer Image Scrambling Method
Sample Current
Video Algorithm Using Improved Arnold Transform," American International Journal of
Watermark Proposed Algorithm Research in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics, vol. 9, no. 3,
Frame Agilandeeswari,
(PRVWA-EEfGA) pp. 258-264, 2015.
L., & Ganesan,
K. (2015) [16] Z. Shang, H. Ren and . J. Zhang, "A Block Location Scrambling
Algorithm of Digital Image Based on Arnold Transformation," International
Conference for Young Computer Scientists, pp. 2942-2947, 2008.
0.07s 0.07s
0.06s 0.093s

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Table 6. Result for Robustness Against Different Rotation Attacks for Current
Algorithm and Proposed Algorithm

Current Algorithm
Proposed Algorithm
Angle of Agilandeeswari, L., &
Sample (PRVWA-EEfGA)
Rotatio Ganesan, K. (2015)
Rotated
n
Video
(In Extracted Robustnes Extracted
Frames Robustnes
Degree) Watermar s Watermar
s (NCC)
k (NCC) k

1 0.8635 0.9972

5 0.3013 0.9968

10 0.3249 0.9970

45 0.4057 0.9971

135 0.5310 0.9967

180 0.9999 0.9968

7
8