Abstract
Since visual cryptography scheme (VCS) was introduced by Naor and Shamir, contrast has been always regarded as an evaluation standard of visual quality of the revealed secret image. However, its original definition only reflects the relative difference between white area and black area of the revealed secret image so that it is incapable to access actual visual quality. Although other definitions of contrast were also proposed, researchers have not reached consensus on the definition of contrast until now. In this paper, a novel method is proposed to obtain recognition result of the revealed character secret image through simulating the recognition procedure of our human eyes. Recognition rate is adopted to evaluate the clearness of the revealed secret image. Experimental results and comparisons demonstrate that recognition rate can be regarded as a new visual evaluation criterion of VCS for character secret image. Finally, a construction of VCS with optimized overall pixel expansion is provided, in which the pixel expansion is thoroughly determined by recognition rate, rather than contrast.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Blundo C, D’ Arco P, De Santis A, Stinson DR (2003) Contrast optimal threshold visual cryptography schemes. SIAM J Discrete Math 16:224–261
Blundo C, De Bonis A, De Santis A (2001) Improved schemes for visual cryptography. Des Codes Crypt 24:255–278
Blundo C, De Santis A (1998) Visual cryptography schemes with perfect reconstruction of black pixels. Comput Graph 22:449–455
Blundo C, De Santis A, Stinson DR (1999) On the contrast in visual cryptography schemes. J Cryptology 12:261–289
Chen T, Tsao K (2011) Threshold visual secret sharing by random grids. J Syst Software 84:1197–1208
Chen Y, Chan Y, Huang C, Tsai M, Chu Y (2007) A multiple-level visual secret-sharing scheme without image size expansion. Inform Sci 177:4696–4710
Cimato S, De Prisco R, De Santis A (2005) Optimal colored threshold visual cryptography schemes. Des Codes Crypt 35:311–335
Cimato S, De Prisco R, De Santis A (2006) Probabilistic visual cryptography schemes. Comput J 49(1):97–107
Cimato S, Yang C (2011) Visual Cryptography and Secret Image Sharing. CRC Press-Taylor & Francis, Boca Raton
Droste S (1996) New results on visual cryptography. In: Advances in Cryptography. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1109. Springer, Berlin, pp 401–415
Eisen PA, Stinson DR (2002) Threshold visual cryptography schemes with specified whiteness levels of revealed pixels. Des Codes Crypt 25:15–61
Fu Z, Yu B (2014) Optimal pixel expansion of deterministic visual cryptography scheme. Multimed Tools Appl 73(3):1177–1193
Guo T, Liu F, Wu C (2013) Threshold visual secret sharing by random grids with improved contrast. J Syst Software 86(8):2094–2109
Hou Y, Tu S (2005) A visual cryptographic technique for chromatic images using multipixel encoding method. J Res Pract Inf Tech 37:179–191
Ito R, Kuwakado H, Tanaka H (1999) Image size invariant visual cryptography. IEICE T FUND ELECTR E82-A(10):2172–2177
Koga H (2002) A general formula of the threshold visual secret sharing scheme. In: Advances in Cryptology. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 2501. Springer, Berlin, pp 328–345
Li P, Ma P, Li D (2012) Aspect ratio invariant visual cryptography scheme with optional size expansion. In: Eighth International Conference on IIH-MSP, pp 219–222
Liu F, Guo T, Wu C, Qian L (2012) Improving the visual quality of size invariant visual cryptography scheme. J Vis Commun Image R 23:331–342
Liu F, Guo T, Wu C, Yang C (2014) Flexible visual cryptography scheme and its application. In: Transactions on Data Hiding and Multimedia Security IX, pp 110–130
Liu F, Wu C, Lin X (2010) A new definition of the contrast of visual cryptography scheme. Inform Process Let 110:241–246
Liu F, Yan W (2014) Visual Cryptography for Image Processing and Security: Theory Methods and Applications. Springer, Berlin
Naor M, Shamir A (1995) Visual cryptography. In: Advances in Cryptography. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 950. Springer, Berlin, pp 1–12
Shyu S (2007) Image encryption by random grids. Pattern Recogn 40:1014–1031
Shyu S (2015) Visual cryptograms of random grids for threshold access structures. Theoretic Comput Sci 565:30–49
Shyu S, Chen M (2011) Optimum pixel expansions for threshold visual secret sharing schemes. IEEE Trans Inf Forensics Secur 6(3):960–969
Shyu S, Chen M (2015) Minimizing pixel expansion in visual cryptographic scheme for general access structures. IEEE Trans Circuits Syst Video Technol 25(9):1557–1661
Tzeng W, Hu C (2002) A new approach for visual cryptography. Des Codes Crypt 27:207–227
Verheul ER, Van Tilborg HCA (1997) Constructions and properties of k out of n visual secret sharing schemes. Des Codes Crypt 11:179–196
Weir J, Yan W (2010) A comprehensive study of visual cryptography. Transactions on Data Hiding and Multimedia Security V 6010:70–105
Wu X, Sun W (2013) Improving the visual quality of random grid-based visual secret sharing. Signal Process 93:977–995
Yang C (2004) New visual secret sharing schemes using probabilistic method. Pattern Recogn Let 25:481–494
Yang C, Chen P, Shih H, Kim C (2013) Aspect ratio invariant visual cryptography by image filtering and resizing. Pers Ubiquit Comput 17(5):843–850
Yang C, Chen T (2005) Aspect ratio invariant visual secret sharing schemes with minimum pixel expansion. Pattern Recogn Let 26(2):193–206
Yang C, Chen T (2006) Reduce shadow size in aspect ratio invariant visual secret sharing schemes using a square block-wise operation. Pattern Recogn 39(7):1300–1314
Yang C, Lin C (2015) Almost-aspect-ratio-invariant visual cryptography without adding extra subpixels. Inform Sciences 312:131–151
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China grant No. 61671448 and the Scientific Research Project of Beijing Municipal Educational Committee grant No.KM201611232016.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ren, Y., Liu, F., Yan, W. et al. A new visual evaluation criterion of visual cryptography scheme for character secret image. Multimed Tools Appl 78, 25299–25319 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-019-7698-x
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-019-7698-x