PVO-based reversible data hiding using bit plane segmentation and pixel expansion

The existing pixel value ordering (PVO)-based reversible data hiding (RDH) approaches have been investigated; however, the functions of these techniques are weak when embedded in rough image regions. Therefore, a novel PVO-RDH method is proposed herein. This method performs ‘bit-plane segmentation low bit-plane weighted-pixel expansion’ on an image, which improves the original PVO-RDH method’s embedding performance in rough image regions. Pixel expansion increases the number of image chunks, thereby improving the maximum embedding capability of the carrier image. After preprocessing, the expanded picture is chunked using the original PVO-RDH strategy, and the maximum value in the chunk is modified via prediction. In contrast to the results of previous studies, the current experimental findings indicate that the proposed strategy improves the average PSNR by at least 2.97 dB when the embedding data are 10000 bit. The experimental findings show a significant improvement in the embedding volume and PSNR of the proposed algorithm.