The Color Image Watermarking Algorithm Based on Quantum Discrete Wavelet Transform and Chaotic Mapping

Quantum watermarking is a technique that embeds specific information into a quantum carrier for the purpose of digital copyright protection. In this paper, we propose a novel color image watermarking algorithm that integrates quantum discrete wavelet transform with Sinusoidal–Tent mapping and baker mapping. Initially, chaotic sequences are generated using Sinusoidal–Tent mapping to determine the channels suitable for watermark embedding. Subsequently, a one-level quantum Haar wavelet transform is applied to the selected channel to decompose the image. The watermarked image is then scrambled via discrete baker mapping, and the scrambled image is embedded into the High-High subbands. The invisibility of the watermark is evaluated by calculating the peak signal-to-noise ratio, Structural similarity index measure, and Learned Perceptual Image Patch Similarity, with comparisons made against the color histogram. The robustness of the proposed algorithm is assessed through the calculation of Normalized Cross-Correlation. In the simulation results, PSNR is close to 63, SSIM is close to 1, LPIPS is close to 0.001, and NCC is close to 0.97. This indicates that the proposed watermarking algorithm exhibits excellent visual quality and a robust capability to withstand various attacks. Additionally, through ablation study, the contribution of each technique to overall performance was systematically evaluated.