Reversible data embedding in Golomb-Rice code

A generic reversible data embedding method that is applicable in any bitstream consists of GRC (Golomb-Rice code) is proposed. To proof the concept, the bitstream is generated by coding an image by GRC´s according the PoO (probability of occurrence) of intensity levels such that pixels of intensity levels of high PoO´s are assigned with short GRC´s, and vice versa. The set GRC´s that each consists of at least one bit in reminder part is considered. Then, GRC´s have three or more bits in reminder part are manipulated to embed a payload, by flipping the MSB and one following zero according to value of the payload which is of amount determined by computing logarithmic value of the length of reminder part. Results show that the embedding capacity of proposed method reaches up to 132.43KB with the ability to remove, extract, re-write, control accessibility and secure the payload without decoding the original image.