Information hiding technique with double phase encoding

We propose a technique for information hiding using double phase encoding. The proposed method uses a weighted double phase-encoded hidden image added to a host image referred to as the transmitted image. We develop an analytical presentation for the system performance using the statistical properties of double phase encoding. The peak signal-to-noise-ratio metric is used as a measure for the degradation in the quality of the host image and the recovered hidden image. We test, analytically, the distortion of the hidden image that is due to the host image and the effect of occlusion of the pixels of the transmitted image (that is, the host image containing the hidden image). Moreover, we discuss the effect of using only the real part of the transmitted image to recover the hidden image. Computer simulations are presented to test the system performance against these types of distortion. The simulations illustrate the system ability to recover the hidden image under distortions and the robustness of the hidden image against removal trials. (C) 2002 Optical Society of America.