Patent ID: 6992726

Claim:
A method for calculating signal hiding optimization values for a frame of a video signal, the frame having a first field and a second field, the first field and the second field of the frame each having a plurality of scan lines, each of the plurality of scan lines having a plurality of pixels, the method comprising: generating a three dimensional signal hiding matrix; transforming the three dimensional signal hiding matrix into a two dimensional signal hiding matrix, the two dimensional signal hiding matrix having a plurality of signal hiding positions that correspond to the plurality of pixels of the first field, each signal hiding position having a signal hiding value indicating a maximum amount of intensity that may be added to or subtracted from each of the corresponding plurality of pixels of the first field; generating a three dimensional signal limiting matrix; transforming the three dimensional signal limiting matrix into a two dimensional signal limiting matrix, the two dimensional signal limiting matrix having a plurality of signal limiting positions that correspond to the plurality of pixels of the first field, each signal limiting position having a signal limiting value indicating a ceiling on the amount of intensity that may be added to or subtracted from each of the corresponding plurality of pixels of the first field; and generating a real encoding value matrix by selecting for each of a plurality of real encoding value positions the corresponding signal hiding value from each of the plurality of signal hiding positions subject to the ceiling of the corresponding signal limiting value from each of the plurality of signal limiting positions.