11,483 research outputs found
Spread spectrum-based video watermarking algorithms for copyright protection
Merged with duplicate record 10026.1/2263 on 14.03.2017 by CS (TIS)Digital technologies know an unprecedented expansion in the last years. The consumer can
now benefit from hardware and software which was considered state-of-the-art several years
ago. The advantages offered by the digital technologies are major but the same digital
technology opens the door for unlimited piracy. Copying an analogue VCR tape was certainly
possible and relatively easy, in spite of various forms of protection, but due to the analogue
environment, the subsequent copies had an inherent loss in quality. This was a natural way of
limiting the multiple copying of a video material. With digital technology, this barrier
disappears, being possible to make as many copies as desired, without any loss in quality
whatsoever. Digital watermarking is one of the best available tools for fighting this threat.
The aim of the present work was to develop a digital watermarking system compliant with the
recommendations drawn by the EBU, for video broadcast monitoring. Since the watermark
can be inserted in either spatial domain or transform domain, this aspect was investigated and
led to the conclusion that wavelet transform is one of the best solutions available. Since
watermarking is not an easy task, especially considering the robustness under various attacks
several techniques were employed in order to increase the capacity/robustness of the system:
spread-spectrum and modulation techniques to cast the watermark, powerful error correction
to protect the mark, human visual models to insert a robust mark and to ensure its invisibility.
The combination of these methods led to a major improvement, but yet the system wasn't
robust to several important geometrical attacks. In order to achieve this last milestone, the
system uses two distinct watermarks: a spatial domain reference watermark and the main
watermark embedded in the wavelet domain. By using this reference watermark and techniques
specific to image registration, the system is able to determine the parameters of the attack and
revert it. Once the attack was reverted, the main watermark is recovered. The final result is a
high capacity, blind DWr-based video watermarking system, robust to a wide range of attacks.BBC Research & Developmen
Invertible Orientation Scores of 3D Images
The enhancement and detection of elongated structures in noisy image data is
relevant for many biomedical applications. To handle complex crossing
structures in 2D images, 2D orientation scores were introduced, which already
showed their use in a variety of applications. Here we extend this work to 3D
orientation scores. First, we construct the orientation score from a given
dataset, which is achieved by an invertible coherent state type of transform.
For this transformation we introduce 3D versions of the 2D cake-wavelets, which
are complex wavelets that can simultaneously detect oriented structures and
oriented edges. For efficient implementation of the different steps in the
wavelet creation we use a spherical harmonic transform. Finally, we show some
first results of practical applications of 3D orientation scores.Comment: ssvm 2015 published version in LNCS contains a mistake (a switch
notation spherical angles) that is corrected in this arxiv versio
Sky reconstruction from transit visibilities: PAON-4 and Tianlai Dish Array
The spherical harmonics -mode decomposition is a powerful sky map
reconstruction method suitable for radio interferometers operating in transit
mode. It can be applied to various configurations, including dish arrays and
cylinders. We describe the computation of the instrument response function, the
point spread function (PSF), transfer function, the noise covariance matrix and
noise power spectrum. The analysis in this paper is focused on dish arrays
operating in transit mode. We show that arrays with regular spacing have more
pronounced side lobes as well as structures in their noise power spectrum,
compared to arrays with irregular spacing, specially in the north-south
direction. A good knowledge of the noise power spectrum
is essential for intensity mapping experiments as
non uniform is a potential problem for the
measurement of the HI power spectrum. Different configurations have been
studied to optimise the PAON-4 and Tianlai dish array layouts. We present their
expected performance and their sensitivities to the 21-cm emission of the Milky
Way and local extragalactic HI clumpsComment: 20 pages, 18 figures - Submitted to MNRAS ( the appendix A,B are not
included in the accepted version
Systematic errors in cosmic microwave background polarization measurements
We investigate the impact of instrumental systematic errors on the potential
of cosmic microwave background polarization experiments targeting primordial
B-modes. To do so, we introduce spin-weighted Muller matrix-valued fields
describing the linear response of the imperfect optical system and receiver,
and give a careful discussion of the behaviour of the induced systematic
effects under rotation of the instrument. We give the correspondence between
the matrix components and known optical and receiver imperfections, and compare
the likely performance of pseudo-correlation receivers and those that modulate
the polarization with a half-wave plate. The latter is shown to have the
significant advantage of not coupling the total intensity into polarization for
perfect optics, but potential effects like optical distortions that may be
introduced by the quasi-optical wave plate warrant further investigation. A
fast method for tolerancing time-invariant systematic effects is presented,
which propagates errors through to power spectra and cosmological parameters.
The method extends previous studies to an arbitrary scan strategy, and
eliminates the need for time-consuming Monte-Carlo simulations in the early
phases of instrument and survey design. We illustrate the method with both
simple parametrized forms for the systematics and with beams based on
physical-optics simulations. Example results are given in the context of
next-generation experiments targeting tensor-to-scalar ratios r ~ 0.01.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures; Minor changes to match version accepted by MNRA
Interaction of Phonons and Dirac Fermions on the Surface of Bi2Se3: A Strong Kohn Anomaly
We report the first measurements of phonon dispersion curves on the (001)
surface of the strong three-dimensional topological insulator Bi2Se3. The
surface phonon measurements were carried out with the aid of coherent helium
beam surface scattering techniques. The results reveal a prominent signature of
the exotic metallic Dirac fermion quasi-particles, including a strong Kohn
anomaly. The signature is manifest in a low energy isotropic convex dispersive
surface phonon branch with a frequency maximum of 1.8 THz, and having a
V-shaped minimum at approximately 2kF that defines the Kohn anomaly.
Theoretical analysis attributes this dispersive profile to the renormalization
of the surface phonon excitations by the surface Dirac fermions. The
contribution of the Dirac fermions to this renormalization is derived in terms
of a Coulomb-type perturbation model
Exotic spin-dependent forces from a hidden sector
New dynamics from hidden sectors may manifest as long-range forces between visible matter particles. The well-known case of Yukawa-like potentials occurs via the exchange of a single virtual particle. However, more exotic behavior is also possible. We present three classes of exotic potentials that are generated by relativistic theories: (i) quantum forces from the loop-level exchange of two virtual particles, (ii) conformal forces from a conformal sector, and (iii) emergent forces from degrees of freedom that only exist in the infrared regime of the theory. We discuss the complementarity of spin-dependent force searches in an effective field theory framework. We identify well-motivated directions to search for exotic spin-dependent forces
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