Digital watermarking definition
Digital watermarking is the use of a marker discreetly embedded in a digital medium, such as music, video, or a picture, to allow individuals to determine the source of the copyright or the owner of the copyright. This method is also used to track down copyright violations on social media.
Types of digital watermarking:
- Visible digital watermarks. They can be observed by the naked eye. Logos or transparent images and text are two common types of watermarks used to protect digital media. They are extremely easy to create.
- Invisible digital watermarks. They can’t be observed by the naked eye. They are code hidden in digital media to protect copyright and ownership. Invisible watermarks make it difficult to distinguish watermarked media from its original.
- Fragile digital watermarks. Whenever a watermark undergoes a change, it becomes a “fragile watermark,“ which means it is no longer reliable. Digital watermarks can be removed by processes like resizing and compression. As a result, they can be used to check for changes in digital media.
- Robust digital watermarks. They can endure being changed and tampered with. They can withstand being sheared, filtered, resampled, or rotated without being damaged. Protecting intellectual property in digital media is their primary application.
- Spatial digital watermarks. Spatial (domain) watermarking embeds digital watermarks into cover images or video pixels. This method inserts code into pixels by changing color or intensity. Least significant bit and additive spatial domain watermarking are the primary types.
- Frequency digital watermarks. They put codes into digital media frequency bands. Watermarks appear when image frequencies are separated. This method is more complicated and effective than the spatial digital watermark.
Benefits of digital watermarking:
- Protects original images. This is crucial for sellers of pictures. Artists lose money if others sell their work.
- Marketing. The watermark is spread when someone shares a photo they like. This introduces new customers to the watermark brand.
- Tracking abilities. Copies can be monitored to see how they're performing, whether they're being used commercially, and if you need to become involved to collect your share of the profits.
- Verification. Most huge photo agencies watermark everything to safeguard their revenue sources.
- Advertising. If you have enough followers, you can utilize a digital watermark to promote other businesses for a price. This provides brand exposure and pays the digital image maker upfront.
- Secure process. Keys embed watermarks. Watermark removal requires knowledge of embedding keys.
Limitations of digital watermarking:
- Visible watermarks can be removed or covered by other watermarks.
- Watermarking techniques need improvement. For example, watermarked photos can be cropped and resized, thus removing the watermark.
- The watermark can be distracting, making it hard for the viewer to focus on the image's intended subject.
