Patent · US Expired

Spectral watermarking for motion picture image data

US6809792B1 · kind B1 · utility

50Cited by
12References
33Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 9, 2000
Grant dateOct 26, 2004
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 19, 2022

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04N2005/91392
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

An apparatus and method for forming a substantially invisible watermark or copy-deterrent pattern within a motion picture frame that utilizes spectral image data in order to apply a pattern that is not objectionable to a viewer, but that can be sensed and recorded by a video camera device. A digital watermark or copy deterrent pattern, message, animation, or obscuring effect can be formed to identify a legally distributed copy, degrade the quality of an illegally recorded copy, or expand the storage requirements for an illegally recorded copy using this technique. The pattern is applied using some combination of UV and IR light sources just outside the visible range, displayed on the movie screen. An illegally recorded copy may bear a visible watermark or copy-deterrent pattern which can be detected upon playback. A copy-deterrent pattern can also be used to make video compression techniques less effective, requiring that an illegally recorded copy require excessive amounts of storage media.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.