Embedding QR Code in the Wavelet Domain of Image for Metadata Hiding

Background/Objectives: The most image watermarking techniques has nearly always been implemented in red, green and blue color space. This paper provides a method for inserting the QR code in the CIEXYZ color space to store metadata information. Methods/Statistical Analysis: This paper provides new QR code watermarking technique that is included in the low-frequency sub-bands through the haar wavelet transformation to CIE XYZ color space of the color image. Independent Component Analysis was applied to the watermark signal and to insert the QR code to the low frequency band of the host image. In the QR code extraction process, QR code was to be detected even without the image. Findings: The results of several experiments indicate that the proposed method provides unambiguous detection, imperceptibility, security, and robustness against JPEG compression, median filtering, different noise and image cropping attacks. Application/Improvements: This method can be utilized to insert the metadata into the digital content. The proposed method will be developed to be more robust to various attacks in the future.