An image forming apparatus includes an embedding device and an image output device. The embedding device is configured to embed a pair of identical electronic information in a pair of electronic embedment areas outside a print guarantee area and within a printable area of a recording medium. The pair of electronic embedment areas is along a pair of opposite sides of the recording medium. The image output device is configured to print out an image with the pair of identical electronic information embedded on the recording medium.

The present invention relates generally to digital watermarking. One aspect of the disclosure includes a method comprising: obtaining data representing imagery; using one or more configured processors, analyzing a plurality of portions of the data to detect a redundantly embedded watermark signal, the analyzing producing detection statistics for each of the plurality of portions, the detection statistics comprising a payload signature, a rotation angle and a scale factor for each portion of the plurality of portions; accumulating payload signatures based on compatible rotation angles and scale factors, said accumulating yielding an accumulated payload signature; and decoding a plural-bit payload from the accumulated payload signature. Of course, many other aspects and disclosure are provided in this patent document.

This disclosure relates to advanced signal processing technology including signal encoding and digital watermarking. Image areas are selected in an encoded digital design, and corresponding areas from a printed version of the encoded digital design are evaluated to determined signal robustness after printing. One claim recites an image processing method for selecting image areas to test for robustness of encoded signals, the method comprising: obtaining digital artwork comprising a plurality of colors, the digital artwork comprising multiple instances of an encoded signal; selecting a set encoding tiles, and for each encoding tile determining encoding detectability measure associated therewith; creating a bin for each encoding technology used to encode the encoded signal; for each bin, removing any encoding tile having a detectability measure below a predetermined threshold; for each bin, prioritizing remaining encoding tiles; selecting an encoding tile based on the prioritization per bin, and spatially locating the selected encoding tile relative to the digital artwork. Other technology is described in this patent document.

An image forming apparatus includes an embedding device and an image output device. The embedding device is configured to embed a pair of identical electronic information in a pair of electronic embedment areas outside a print guarantee area and within a printable area of a recording medium. The pair of electronic embedment areas is along a pair of opposite sides of the recording medium. The image output device is configured to print out an image with the pair of identical electronic information embedded on the recording medium.

The present invention relates generally to digital watermarking. One aspect of the disclosure includes a method comprising: obtaining data representing imagery; using one or more configured processors, analyzing a plurality of portions of the data to detect a redundantly embedded watermark signal, the analyzing producing detection statistics for each of the plurality of portions, the detection statistics comprising a payload signature, a rotation angle and a scale factor for each portion of the plurality of portions; accumulating payload signatures based on compatible rotation angles and scale factors, said accumulating yielding an accumulated payload signature; and decoding a plural-bit payload from the accumulated payload signature. Of course, many other aspects and disclosure are provided in this patent document.

A digital watermarking system and method are disclosed. In one respect, the disclosed digital watermarking includes generating an extracted signal by applying a watermark extractor to an original image, generating a mixed signal by mixing the first signal with a periodic watermark signal using a local weighting factor for the periodic watermark signal that attenuates a strength of the watermark signal in proportion to a pixel luminance level, and replacing the extracted signal in the original image with the mixed signal to generate a marked image, wherein the watermark signal is extractable from the marked image using the watermark extractor.

Methods, apparatus, and systems use embedded watermarks to determine whether the segments of a multimedia content has been rearranged. The embedded watermarks are recovered from the content and one or more attributes associated with the recovered watermarks are identified. A continuity of the content can then be assessed in accordance with the one or more attributes. The continuity assessment may be based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to a determined heartbeat of the recovered watermarks, a density, separation, location, or extent, of the recovered watermarks, as well as information associated with the watermarks, such as a stego key, channel bits, packet numbers, a fingerprint, or the like.

An example method for forming a data-bearing medium in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure includes setting variables associated with the data-bearing medium, the variables comprising a bit length of a codeword, identifying a phase-invariant codeword based on the variables, and arranging rows of the data-bearing medium with the phase-invariant codewords.

The present disclosure relates to digital watermarking. One claim recites a method to detect two or more different digital watermarks in media. The method includes: receiving captured imagery of the media, the captured imagery comprising a plurality of image frames; for a first image frame applying a first watermark detector to search for a first digital watermark hidden within the first image frame, in which an electronic processor is programmed as the first watermark detector; and for a second image frame applying a second, different watermark detector to search for a second, different watermark hidden within the second image frame, in which an electronic processor is programmed as the second watermark detector. Other claims and combinations are provided too.

Methods, apparatus, and systems use embedded watermarks to determine whether the segments of a multimedia content has been rearranged. The embedded watermarks are recovered from the content and one or more attributes associated with the recovered watermarks are identified. A continuity of the content can then be assessed in accordance with the one or more attributes. The continuity assessment may be based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to a determined heartbeat of the recovered watermarks, a density, separation, location, or extent, of the recovered watermarks, as well as information associated with the watermarks, such as a stego key, channel bits, packet numbers, a fingerprint, or the like.