Robust Watermarking of H.264-Encoded Video: Extension to SVC

In this paper we extend a framework for robust watermarking of H.264-encoded video to scalable video coding (SVC) as defined in Annex G of the standard. We focus on spatial scalability and show that watermark embedding in the base resolution layer of the video is insufficient to protect the decoded video of higher resolution. This problem is mitigated by a proposed up sampling technique of the base layer watermark signal when encoding the enhancement layer. We demonstrate blind watermark detection in the full- and low-resolution decoded video and, surprisingly, can report bit rate savings when extending the base layer watermark to the enhancement layer.