Data hiding in inter and intra prediction modes of H.264/AVC

In H.264/AVC, many block types are employed to conduct inter and intra coding for determining the best one to achieve good coding efficiency. Accordingly, watermark data can be effectively embedded in these block types that are classified into three groups representing '1,' '0' and no datum. In inter coding, the block types of 16times16, 8times8 and 4times4 represent the watermark bit '1,' and the block types of 16 times 8, 8 times16, 8times4 and 4times8 denote the watermark bit '0.' In intra coding, the block type of 8 times 8 is the watermark bit '1,' and the block types of 16 times16 and 4times4 represent the watermark bit '0.' Other block types in inter and intra coding are treated as no datum. In the abovementioned grouping, the hierarchical and interleaving correlations of block types in the same and different groups, respectively, are adopted to minimize the performance distortion. Particularly, each frame is also pre-defined by a watermarking area to preserve coding performance and increase watermarking robustness. The computer simulations demonstrate that the proposed watermarking scheme can effectively hide data at a little increasing bit rate and almost no quality degradation.