J-UNIWARD + Cost Polarization is an adaptive JPEG-domain approach that extends J-UNIWARD by using estimated side information. In HStego >= 0.4 this is implemented with Wiener filtering before applying cost polarization.

Quick Summary

Domain:
JPEG.
Type:
adaptive method with estimated side information.
Tools:
HStego >= 0.4 and a research implementation in StegoLab.
Main reading:
it is the least detectable JPEG entry in the current comparison, under the evaluated protocol.

Use in tools

In the current comparison, this method appears through HStego >= 0.4. This should be read as a method-level result implemented by those tool versions, not as a separate algorithm named “HStego”.

A separate J-UNIWARD + Cost Polarization research implementation is available in StegoLab. Unlike plain J-UNIWARD, this entry is represented in the current comparison through HStego >= 0.4 rather than through a generic Aletheia simulator.

Detectability results

In the evaluated setting, J-UNIWARD + Cost Polarization through HStego >= 0.4 is the least detectable JPEG method shown in the current comparison.

Results based on research implementations or simulators should be interpreted as method-level results. They can be slightly harder to detect than real end-user tools when they embed close to the theoretical limit and do not include all practical constraints of a complete tool.

Original paper