Enhanced Embedding Capacity for Data Hiding Approach Based on Pixel Value Differencing and Pixel Shifting Technology

Abstract

Data hiding algorithms can achieve the issue of information security when secret data are transmitted via the public network. This paper proposes a novel data-hiding scheme based on pixel value differencing and pixel shifting to increase embedding capacity and visual quality. In the proposed method, the cover image is first divided into nonoverlapping blocks, and eight groups of different values are generated with the center pixel as the reference pixel to embed the secret message. The pixel shifting strategy is applied to adjust the stego image to improve its quality. Experimental results show that the proposed method has an embedding capacity of 740,000 bits with a peak signal-to-noise ratio value greater than 35 dB. Therefore, it is undetected by the human eye. Other compared state-of-the-art schemes have embedding capacities of 51,219 bits, 70,217 bits, and 104,055 bits, which are lower than the proposed methods’ 740,000 bits. The RS, chi-square, and rotation attack analyses prove that the proposed method can withstand security attacks. Thus, the proposed method performs better than other state-of-the-art methods with respect to embedding capacity and ability to withstand attacks.