Watermark detection algorithm using statistical decision theory

Watermark detection plays a crucial role in multimedia copyright protection and has traditionally been tackled using correlation-based algorithms. However, correlation-based detection is not actually the best choice, as it does not utilize the distributional characteristics of the image being marked. Accordingly, an efficient watermark detection scheme for DWT coefficients is proposed as optimal for non-additive schemes. Based on the statistical decision theory, the proposed method is derived according to Bayes´ decision theory, the Neyman-Pearson criterion, and the distribution of the DWT coefficients, thereby minimizing the missed detection probability subject to a given false alarm probability. The proposed method has been tested in the context of robustness, and the results confirm the superiority of the proposed technique over conventional correlation-based detection methods.