Reversible data hiding of JPEG images based on block sorting and segmented embedding

Ningxiong Mao, Hongjie He, Fan Chen, Paolo Bellavista, Yaolin Yang

Abstract: Highlights•Novel block sorting method. In this paper, the smoothness of the block is evaluated by using the number of zeros in the EOB and the sum of squares of the differences between the DC (Direct current, DC) coefficients of the block and the four neighborhoods of the context.•Segmented data embedding. The sequence of blocks is divided into three segments. The first and second segments expand peak points (−1, 1) and (−1, 0) to embed data, respectively. The blocks in the third segment are kept unchanged.•Dynamic allocation solution method. The approximate optimal segmentation of the DCT block sequence can be quickly solved by the dynamic allocation solution method. This method reduces the solution space by setting the dynamic allocation step size.