Patent ID: 6968072

Claim:
A method for hiding information in images, the method comprising the operations of: providing information sought to be hidden; preparing the information sought to be hidden for insertion into an image; providing image data configured as a plurality of bit planes wherein one of the bit planes defines a most significant bit plane and another one of the bit planes defines a least significant bit plane; selecting a suitable bit plane from among the plurality of bit planes for the insertion of the information; and inserting the information sought to be hidden into the image, wherein the operation of selecting a suitable bit plane comprises: selecting an initial bit plane that is not the most significant bit plane and that is not the least significant bit plane; introducing the information sought to be hidden into a suitable site in the initial bit plane and generating a modified image; determining if the modified image is of satisfactory quality compared to an unmodified image; and if the modified image is of satisfactory quality, inserting the information into the image, and if the modified image is not of satisfactory quality, choosing another bit plane and repeating the steps of selecting, introducing, and determining until an image of satisfactory quality is obtained; and if an image of satisfactory quality can not be obtained, discarding the image as unsatisfactory for containing the information sought to be hidden.