Scaling independent technique for watermarking images with recorder shut-off

A method to provide watermarked video, comprising:

• a) providing a video stream;
• b) providing a watermark;
• c) in a first time period, embedding the watermark having a first scale in the video stream;
• d) in a second subsequent time period, embedding the watermark having another second scale in the video stream without scaling the video stream by the second scale;
• e) in a third subsequent time period, embedding the watermark having another third scale in the video stream without scaling the video stream by the third scale;
• and
• f) repeating steps (c), (d), and (e) a predetermined number of times;
• whereby upon playback of the video stream with the embedded watermarks, a scaling of the video stream results in at least one of the embedded watermarks being restored to a predetermined size and location in the video stream;
• whereby at the predetermined size and location the watermark is detectable by a typical watermark detector at least the predetermined number of times.

A record carrier storing video content and further comprising:

• a watermark embedded in the video content at different scales such that in a first time period of the video content the watermark is embedded in the video content having a first scale;
• in a second subsequent time period of the video content the watermark is embedded in the video content having another second scale, without the video content in the second period being scaled by the second scale;
• and
• in a third subsequent time period of the video content the watermark is embedded in the video content having another third scale, without the video content in the second period being scaled by the third scale, whereby upon playback of the video content, a scaling of the video content results in at least one of the embedded watermarks being restored to a predetermined size and location;
• whereby at the predetermined size and location the watermark is detectable by a typical watermark detector at least the predetermined number of times.

A method of embedding a plurality of watermarks in a video signal, comprising:

• a) embedding a watermark having a first scale selected from a range of scales in the video signal for a first time period;
• b) during or at the end of the first time period, embedding a watermark having another scale selected from the range of scales in the video signal for a second time period;
• c) repeating step (b) using a different scale until a predetermined number of scales is reached;
• and
• d) repeating steps (a), (b) and (c) a predetermined number of times.