An Innovative Interpolation Based Reversible Steganographic Technique

Image steganography involves concealing information within a cover image to make the hidden data undetectable to human observation. This paper explores advanced steganographic techniques that aim to maintain the quality of image during data hiding capacity effectively. We present an innovative approach to image steganography using reversible data hiding by incorporate the interpolation process. Traditional interpolation methods typically employ a fixed scale, but this research introduces a novel variable scale interpolation method. Additionally, a threshold mechanism is proposed to determine the number of bits used for data hiding from each interpolated pixel. This approach significantly increases data hiding capacity while maintaining a high Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR). Experimental results demonstrate that regardless of the interpolation scale or threshold values used, the PSNR for each test image remains consistently above 40, indicating the robustness of the proposed technique in preserving high image quality. Moreover, a notable enhancement in data hiding capacity is observed with an increased interpolation scale, while maintaining stable PSNR values. The results are promising compared to existing methods discussed in this paper. For an interpolation scale of 4, an average increase of 67% in hiding capacity is observed compared to the best previously existing method, while also maintaining a higher PSNR value. The incorporation of thresholds introduces randomness, thereby enhancing the security of embedded data.