Optical image hiding under framework of computational ghost imaging based on an expansion strategy

A novel optical image hiding scheme based on an expansion strategy is presented under the framework of computational ghost imaging. The image to be hidden is concealed into an expanded interim with the same size as the host image. This is implemented by rearranging the measured intensities of the original object after the process of ghost imaging. An initial Hadamard matrix is used to generate additional matrices by shifting it circularly along the column direction, so that enough 2D patterns are engendered to retrieve phase-only profiles for imaging. Next, the frequency coefficients of the host image are modified with that of the expanded interim by controlling a small weighting factor. After an inverse transform, the host image carrying the hidden information can be obtained with high imperceptibility. Security is assured by considering optical parameters, such as wavelength and axial distance, as secret keys due to their high sensitivity to tiny change. Importantly, differing from other computational ghost imaging based schemes, many phase-only profiles are used to collect the measured intensities to enhance the resistance against noise and occlusion attacks. The simulated experiments illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed scheme.