Patent ID: 8861781

Claim:
A digital watermark embedding apparatus comprising: an image input unit which obtains input of images in time series constituting a video image; a digital watermark information input unit which obtains input of digital watermark information; a digital watermark pattern generator which generates a digital watermark pattern including a plurality of pixels having a predetermined first value, with an area of the digital watermark pattern changing in a constant cycle, and, a phase of cyclical change of the area changing based on a value of a symbol included in the digital watermark information; a flicker suppressing pattern generator which generates a flicker suppressing pattern including a plurality of pixels having a predetermined second value, with an area of the flicker suppressing pattern changing with a frequency characteristic that is different from the cycle of change of the area; and a pattern combination unit which superimposes the digital watermark pattern and the flicker suppressing pattern into each image area of the images in time series to correct a value of each pixel in an image area to which the digital watermark pattern or the flicker suppressing pattern is superimposed according to the first value and the second value.