A High-Capacity Reversible Watermarking Technique Using Bit-Level Expansion and Pixel Shifting
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Keywords:
Reversible watermarking, bit-level expansion, data hiding, pixel-level modification, adaptive embedding
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Abstract
This paper proposes a high-capacity reversible watermarking method using adaptive bit-level expansion and pixel-class-guided shifting. Pixels are classified into expandable (P0) and non-expandable (P1) according to their 2-bit LSB patterns, and a lightweight reversible transformation converts P1 into P0 with minimal distortion. A shifting map enables exact recovery and avoids overflow/underflow. Secret data are embedded through a 2-bit LSB expansion rule that ensures full reversibility. Experiments on common and medical images demonstrate a consistent embedding capacity of 1.0 bpp, achieving PSNR values above 46 dB and SSIM above 0.97. In addition, the scheme exhibits low computational overhead (<0.7s per image, >380 kbps) while preserving the original histogram distribution. These results demonstrate that the proposed scheme provides an effective balance between embedding capacity, visual quality, and computational efficiency for secure medical imaging and authenticated reversible data embedding.
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Arham, A., Alfarozi, S. A. I., & Nugroho, H. A. (2025). A High-Capacity Reversible Watermarking Technique Using Bit-Level Expansion and Pixel Shifting. Communications in Science and Technology, 10(2), 477–492. https://doi.org/10.21924/cst.10.2.2025.1856
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
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2. J. Tian, Reversible data embedding using a difference expansion, IEEE transactions on circuits and systems for video technology 13 (2003) 890– 896.
3. M. S. Hossen, T. Ahmad, N. J. De La Croix, Data hiding scheme using difference expansion and modulus function, in: 2023 2nd International conference for innovation in technology (INOCON), IEEE, 2023, pp. 1–6.
4. P. Maniriho, T. Ahmad, Information hiding scheme for digital images using difference expansion and modulus function, Journal of king saud university-computer and information sciences 31 (2019) 335–347.
5. A. Arham, H. A. Nugroho, Enhanced reversible data hiding using difference expansion and modulus function with selective bit blocks in images, Cybersecurity 7 (2024) 61.
6. F. Li, L. Zhang, C. Qin, K. Wu, Reversible data hiding for jpeg images with minimum additive distortion, Information Sciences 595 (2022) 142– 158.
7. F. Wu, J. Sun, S. Zhang, N. Xiong, H. Zhong, Efficient reversible data hiding via two layers of double-peak embedding, Information Sciences 644 (2023) 119264.
8. A. Arham, H. A. Nugroho, T. B. Adji, Multiple layer data hiding scheme based on difference expansion of quad, Signal Processing 137 (2017) 52– 62.
9. M. H. A. Al Huti, T. Ahmad, S. Djanali, Increasing the capacity of the secret data using depixels blocks and adjusted rde-based on grayscale images, in: 2015 International Conference on Information \& Communication Technology and Systems (ICTS), IEEE, 2015, pp. 225–230.
10. Z. Syahlan, T. Ahmad, Reversible data hiding method by extending reduced difference expansion, International Journal of Advances in Intelligent Informatics 5 (2019) 101–112.
11. S. M. Abdullah, A. A. Manaf, Multiple layer reversible images watermarking using enhancement of difference expansion techniques, in: International Conference on Networked Digital Technologies, Springer, 2010, pp. 333–342.
12. Z. Zhang, M. Zhang, L. Wang, Reversible image watermarking algorithm based on quadratic difference expansion, Mathematical Problems in Engineering 2020 (2020) 1806024.
13. T.-S. Nguyen, V.-T. Huynh, P.-H. Vo, A novel reversible data hiding algorithm based on enhanced reduced difference expansion, Symmetry 14 (2022) 1726.
14. B. Ou, Y. Zhao, High capacity reversible data hiding based on multiple histograms modification, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology 30 (2019) 2329–2342.
15. W. Qi, X. Li, T. Zhang, Z. Guo, Optimal reversible data hiding scheme based on multiple histograms modification, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology 30 (2019) 2300–2312.
16. W. He, G. Xiong, Y. Wang, Reversible data hiding based on adaptive multiple histograms modification, IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security 16 (2021) 3000–3012.
17. H. Wu, X. Li, X. Luo, X. Zhang, Y. Zhao, General expansion-shifting model for reversible data hiding: Theoretical investigation and practical algorithm design, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology 32 (2022) 5989–6001.
18. W. He, Z. Cai, Y. Wang, High-fidelity reversible image watermarking based on effective prediction error-pairs modification, IEEE Transactions on Multimedia 23 (2020) 52–63.
19. W. He, Z. Cai, Reversible data hiding based on dual pairwise prediction error expansion, IEEE Transactions on Image Processing 30 (2021) 5045–5055.
200. Q. Chang, X. Li, Y. Zhao, R. Ni, Adaptive pairwise prediction-error expansion and multiple histograms modification for reversible data hiding, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology 31 (2021) 4850–4863.
21. F. Aziz, T. Ahmad, A. H. Malik, M. I. Uddin, S. Ahmad, M. Sharaf, Reversible data hiding techniques with high message embedding capacity in images, PLoS One 15 (2020) e0231602.
22. X. Wang, X. Wang, B. Ma, Q. Li, Y.-Q. Shi, High precision error prediction algorithm based on ridge regression predictor for reversible data hiding, IEEE Signal Processing Letters 28 (2021) 1125–1129.
23. W. He, Z. Cai, An insight into pixel value ordering prediction-based prediction-error expansion, IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security 15 (2020) 3859–3871.
24. A. Roy, R. S. Chakraborty, Toward optimal prediction error expansion-based reversible image watermarking, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology 30 (2019) 2377–2390.
25. P.-H. Kim, K.-W. Ryu, K.-H. Jung, Reversible data hiding scheme based on pixel-value differencing in dual images, International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks 16 (2020) 1550147720911006.
26. T. Zhang, X. Li, W. Qi, Z. Guo, Location-based pvo and adaptive pairwise modification for efficient reversible data hiding, IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security 15 (2020) 2306–2319.
27. M. Fan, S. Zhong, X. Xiong, Reversible data hiding method for interpolated images based on modulo operation and prediction-error expansion, IEEE Access 11 (2023) 27290–27302.
28. A. Mohammadi, M. Nakhkash, M. A. Akhaee, A high-capacity reversible data hiding in encrypted images employing local difference predictor, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology 30 (2020) 2366–2376.
29. Y. Wang, Z. Cai, W. He, High capacity reversible data hiding in encrypted image based on intra-block lossless compression, IEEE Transactions on Multimedia 23 (2020) 1466–1473.
30. Y. Wang, W. He, High capacity reversible data hiding in encrypted image based on adaptive msb prediction, IEEE Transactions on Multimedia 24 (2021) 1288–1298.
31. K.-M. Chen, High capacity reversible data hiding based on the compression of pixel differences, Mathematics 8 (2020) 1435.
32. P. Puteaux, W. Puech, A recursive reversible data hiding in encrypted images method with a very high payload, IEEE Transactions on Multimedia 23 (2020) 636–650.
33. C. Yu, X. Zhang, X. Zhang, G. Li, Z. Tang, Reversible data hiding with hierarchical embedding for encrypted images, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology 32 (2021) 451–466.
34. USC-SIPI, 2025. URL: https://sipi.usc.edu/database/database.php? volume=misc.
35. Partners Infectious Disesase Images, Emicrobes Digital Library., 2025. URL: http://www.idimages.org/images/browse/ImageTechnique/.