Video fingerprinting using watermarks

• US 20070092103A1
• Filed: 10/21/2005
• Published: 04/26/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Harmanci, Oztan, Mihcak, Mehmet
• Granted Patent: US 7,702,127 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/100
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/0028 Adaptive watermarking, e.g. Human Visual System [HVS]-based watermarking
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2201/0202 whereby the quality of watermarked images is measured; Measuring quality or performance of watermarking methods; Balancing between quality and robustness
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/467 characterised by the embedded information being invisible, e.g. watermarking
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8358 involving watermark protecting executable software by watermarking G06F21/16; image watermarking in general G06T1/0021; watermarks inserted in still images for transmission purposes H04N1/32144; inserting watermarks during video coding H04N19/467

Abstract

Video fingerprinting using watermarks is described herein. A watermark encoder embeds a watermark into an input video to produce a watermarked video. The watermark encoder can choose particular regions of the video that are sufficiently complex for watermarking. Spatial and temporal complexity analyses can be performed on a per-pixel basis to locate suitable regions of the video. The watermarks can be embedded using a unique codeword associated with a given user. A watermark decoder can receive the watermarked video. In some instances, the watermarked video may have been attacked in some way after being output by the watermark encoder. In these instances, the watermark decoder can extract the watermark from the watermarked video. In turn, the watermark decoder can extract the codeword from the watermark, and compare the extracted codeword to a plurality of known codewords associated with respective users.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a watermark encoder adapted to receive as input at least one video and at least one watermark, and to embed the watermark into the video, wherein the watermark encoder is adapted to perform a complexity analysis on at least one region of the video; and

a watermark decoder adapted to receive the watermarked video and to extract the watermark therefrom.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the watermark encoder is adapted to perform a pixel-wise complexity analysis on at least one region of the video.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the watermark encoder is adapted to compare at least one region of the video to at least one complexity threshold to determine whether the region is sufficiently complex to embed the watermark therein.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the watermark encoder is adapted to perform a spatial complexity analysis on at least one region of the video.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the watermark encoder is adapted to perform a temporal complexity analysis on at least one region of the video.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the watermark encoder is adapted to combine at least one temporal complexity measure and at least one spatial complexity measure for at least one region of the video into a final per-pixel complexity measure for the region.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the watermark encoder is adapted to define at least one motion vector associated with a pixel in a frame of the video, wherein the motion vector represents an estimate of the movement of the pixel as the video is played either forward or backward at least one further frame.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the watermark encoder is adapted to define at least one cumulative motion vector associated with a pixel in a frame of the video, wherein the motion vector represents an estimate of the movement of the pixel as the video is played either forward or backward a plurality of further frames.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the watermark encoder is adapted to partition the video into respective scenes, and to define at least one candidate region for embedding the watermark based on the respective scenes of the video.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the watermark encoder is adapted to populate side information related to at least one region of the video, and to pass the side information to the watermark decoder.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the watermark encoder is adapted to define a hash value for at least one frame of the video, and to pass this hash value to the watermark decoder as side information.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the frame for which the hash values is defined is chosen based at least in part on how distinct the frame is relative to at least one neighboring frame.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the video decoder is adapted to traverse the watermarked video, to extract hash values for a plurality of frames of the watermarked video, and to match the hash values with further hash values received as side information from the watermark encoder.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the watermark decoder is adapted to extract a codeword from the watermark, to compare the codeword to a plurality of known codewords associated with respective users, and to estimate which user is associated with the extracted codeword based on the comparison.

15. A method comprising:

receiving an input video and an input watermark;

performing a complexity analysis on at least one region of the input video; and

embedding the input watermark into the input video.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein performing the complexity analysis includes comparing a complexity of the region to at least one complexity threshold.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein embedding the input watermark includes embedding the input watermark into at least one region of the input video based upon the complexity analysis.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein performing a complexity analysis includes performing at least one of a spatial complexity analysis and a temporal complexity analysis on at least one region of the input video.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein performing a spatial complexity analysis includes defining a spatial neighborhood of at least one pixel in the region.

20. A video watermarked using the method of claim 15.