Method for Identifying the Source of a Single-Tone Image Capture

Resumen

Capturing digital images is currently very simple due to the ease with which one can access a device with a camera, such as digital cameras, tablets, computers, laptops, webcams, and smart devices. Likewise, distributing captured images with or without the owner's authorization is straightforward. In the case of image distribution without the owner's authorization, or, failing that, taking photographs of individuals without their permission, it becomes vital to identify the device from which the images were captured, as this allows the owner of that device to be identified. This work proposes a method for identifying the source of single-tone image capture (images with flat colors and textures). The process consists of a single-tone image (disputed image) whose capture source is to be determined, a set of average images (fingerprint), and a dataset with the fingerprints of the possible devices that could have captured the disputed image. Each fingerprint is composed of a set of images captured by each device, which are used to obtain an average of the statistical distribution of the Photo Response Non-uniformity (PRNU) noise in those images. The comparison between the possible fingerprints and the disputed image is performed by computing the similarity between the two variables using the Mahalanobis distance. The results obtained indicate effective identification of the device that captured the disputed image.