EXPERIMENTAL DEMONSTRATION OF THE RANDOM-PHASE ENCODING TECHNIQUE FORIMAGE ENCRYPTION AND SECURITY VERIFICATION

Optical image encryption and security using random phase encoding tech niques have been proposed recently. We present optical experimental re sults for image encryption and security. The results show that for the image encryption, the image can be well encrypted using random phase masks with a limited number of pixels. We also tested the performance of the optical system for security verification in the presence of dif ferent types of input noise and distortions such as scratches, fingerp rint marks, and bending of the phase mask. The experimental results in dicate that for the severity of the noise and the degree of distortion tested here, the system provides good performance in verifying the ph ase code. (C) 1996 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.