DWT-DCT Image Watermarking with Quantum-inspired Optimization
International journal of intelligent engineering and systems · 2024
This study presents a robust and imperceptible image watermarking method combining Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT), Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT), and quantum-inspired optimization.The approach applies DWT to decompose the image into subbands and embeds the watermark in the low-frequency subband.DCT is used to identify Alternating Current (AC) coefficients, with Quantum-Inspired Annealing (QIA) optimizing their selection and Quantum Variational Circuits (QVC) dynamically adjusting the embedding intensity (𝛼) for each block.The novelty of this study lies in integrating QIA and QVC to optimize both the embedding position and intensity, enabling a more adaptive and robust watermarking mechanism compared to existing quantum-inspired methods.Experimental results in standard images show high imperceptibility, with average Peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and Structural Similarity Index Measurement (SSIM) values of 46.93 dB and 0.9979, respectively.The method demonstrates strong robustness, achieving an average Normalized Correlation (NC) of 0.9752 across various attacks, including JPEG compression, noise addition, and cropping.Compared to existing methods, the proposed approach performs better in maintaining watermark quality and robustness.This study highlights the potential of quantum-inspired techniques in watermarking, offering a promising direction for further research and real-world applications.