LSB-based Bit Flipping Methods for Color Image Steganography

Abstract

Abstract Imperceptibility is one of the most important aspects of the steganography method. Specifically, for steganography in images, embedded messages must not be felt by the human visual system. Humans have a higher sensitivity in color images compared to grayscale images, therefore the method that is still being tested on grayscale images needs to be retested on color images. Previous research has shown that the bit flipping method can increase imperceptibility to around 9dB in grayscale images. In this research the bit flipping method is tested on color images in the RGB format, the message capacity embedded in the image is 1 bit per pixel. The results of the imperceptibility test turned out to result in a more varied increase due to the greater number of layers in the color image. However, the bit flipping method is also proven to work well on color images, and even a maximum PSNR increase of more than 13dB. At the extraction stage, the message image can also be extracted perfectly, namely with the value NC = 1.