The present disclosure relates generally to digital watermarking for retail product packaging. A digital watermark can be carried in different color channels, and at with different signal polarities. Detection can utilize different illumination sources or image sensors with various filters to highlight signal in one or more of the channels.

Systems and methods are provided for document classification and digitization. One or more physical documents may have a classification code applied thereon. The classification code may be a unique identifier for the document and/or page of the document. The classification code may utilize ink outside the visible spectrum for the purpose of being machine readable. A digital version of the physical document may be created. The digital version may include a visible reproduction of the document without showing the classification code.

A process for authenticating a painting includes determining whether a posterized HSV model of a digital photograph contains one or more steganographic symbols. A process for preparing a painting for authentication, includes providing a digital photograph of the painting in the RGB color model, converting the digital photograph to a CMYK color model, converting the CMYK model of the digital photograph to an HSV color model of the digital photograph and posterizing the HSV model of the digital photograph. A system for preparing a painting for authentication includes a processor and a computer-readable memory component containing a digital photograph of the painting in the RGB color model. The processor is configured to convert the digital photograph to a CMYK color model, convert the CMYK model of the digital photograph to an HSV color model of the digital photograph and posterize the HSV model of the digital photograph.

We present a method for hiding images in synthetic videos and reveal them by temporal averaging. We developed a visual masking method that hides the input image both spatially and temporally. Our masking approach consists of temporal and spatial pixel by pixel temporal variations of the frequency band coefficients representing the image to be hidden. These variations ensure that the target image remains invisible. In addition, by applying a temporal expansion function derived from a dither matrix, we allow the video to carry a visible message that is different from the hidden image. The image hidden in the video can be revealed by software averaging, or with a camera, by long exposure photography. The method finds applications in the secure transmission of digital information.

The present disclosure relates to advanced image processing and encoded signal processing. One claim recites an image processing method comprising the acts: receiving a digital representation of product packaging artwork, comprised of pixels; defining a guard band region surrounding text characters included in the artwork, in which a first region encloses the guard band region, and a second region encloses the first region; and altering the artwork to redundantly encode a machine-readable plural-bit payload across different regions of the artwork. The altering only alters the artwork outside of the guard band region, wherein a strength of the encoding has a first value in the first region, and has a second, stronger, value in the second region. Of course, other claims and combinations are described as well.

Provided is an image forming system that prevents leakage of confidential data. In the image forming system, a terminal includes a confidential-data-transmitting unit, a code-image-acquiring unit, and a confidential-document-data-creating unit. The confidential-data-transmitting unit transmits confidential data specified for confidentiality inside a document of document data to a server. The code-image-acquiring unit acquires a code image for outputting the confidential data from the server. The confidential-document-data-creating unit creates confidential-document data in which the code image is added to the document data. A server includes a confidential-data-acquiring unit, a code-image-creating unit, a code-image-transmitting unit, and a code-confidential-data-transmitting unit. The confidential-data-acquiring unit acquires the confidential data that is transmitted from the terminal. The code-image-creating unit creates the code image for outputting the confidential data. The code-image-transmitting unit transmits the code image to the terminal. The code-confidential-data-transmitting unit transmits the confidential data to an image forming apparatus. An image forming apparatus includes a decoding unit, a code-confidential-data-acquiring unit and an output-data-creating unit. The decoding unit decodes the code image from the confidential-document data that includes the code image. The code-confidential-data-acquiring unit acquires the confidential data from the code-confidential-data-transmitting unit according to the contents of the code image. The output-data-creating unit creates output data in which the confidential data is included in the confidential-document data.

A process for authenticating a painting includes determining whether a posterized HSV model of a digital photograph contains one or more steganographic symbols. A process for preparing a painting for authentication, includes providing a digital photograph of the painting in the RGB color model, converting the digital photograph to a CMYK color model, converting the CMYK model of the digital photograph to an HSV color model of the digital photograph and posterizing the HSV model of the digital photograph. A system for preparing a painting for authentication includes a processor and a computer-readable memory component containing a digital photograph of the painting in the RGB color model. The processor is configured to convert the digital photograph to a CMYK color model, convert the CMYK model of the digital photograph to an HSV color model of the digital photograph and posterize the HSV model of the digital photograph.

This disclosure describes a distributed reader architecture for a mobile computing device such as cellular telephone handset. One claim recites a portable computing device including: memory for storing a library of processing components, the library including a signal detector component and an audio fingerprinting component; a microphone for capturing ambient audio; one or more processors configured for: invoking the audio fingerprinting component for processing captured audio to produce an audio fingerprint, wherein the audio fingerprinting component comprises a filtering process, in which the filtering process produces components of the captured audio that are used to produce the audio fingerprint; and invoking the signal detector component, in which the signal detector component comprises a fast detect process for analyzing the captured audio to determine the presence of an auxiliary signal within the captured audio, and when the presence of the auxiliary signal is detected, controlling the signal detector component for detecting the auxiliary signal to yield a detected auxiliary signal. The device further includes a communications output for communicating the audio fingerprint and the detected auxiliary signal to a remotely located server. Of course, other claims and combinations are provided as well.

Systems and methods for display content currentness validation are disclosed. An example method may include accessing, by a validation module executed by a processing device of a computer system, memory associated with a rendering module executed by a graphics processing unit of the computer system to verify that the rendering module renders up to date content on a display device of the computer system, retrieving, from the memory by the validation module, a timestamp embedded in content rendered by the rendering module on the display device, comparing, by the validation module, the timestamp to a current time of the computer system, and responsive to determining that the timestamp does not correspond to the current time of the computer system, determining that the content rendered by the rendering module on the display device is outdated.

Provided are techniques for the placement of a code on an object that does not interfere and is not displayed in a captured visual image of the object. Also provided are techniques for capturing a first image of an object in the visual light spectrum; capturing a second image of the object in a non-visual light spectrum; extracting metadata, stored in the non-visual light spectrum corresponding to the object from the second image; and storing the first image in conjunction with the metadata. Also provided are techniques for storing the metadata in conjunction with the object in the non-visual light spectrum, wherein the metadata is stored in a quick response (QR) code or a bar code and the non-visible light spectrum is ultraviolet light or infrared light.