The State-of-the-art Technique for Determining the Identity and Uniqueness of Common Color Laser Printouts by Coded Dot Matrix Patterns

Abstract

Recently, in forensic science studies, identification of the source of color laser printouts is one of the most challenging issues that hinder forensic document examiners. Although various methods for establishing the identity of the source of color laser printouts are currently available worldwide, none of those methods approaches an accuracy and precision of 100%. The coded dot matrix patterns are state-of-the-art prototypes of steganography based on the active technique. Upon tracking the coded dot matrix patterns of all investigated color laser printouts, the identity and uniqueness can be determined, respectively. In the current paper, nineteen variant brands of color laser printer machines were selected. The advanced security features embedded in their printouts have steganalysis and grouped them into two broad categories. A direct model of hyperspectral analysis integrated with video spectral comparator Regula® 4307 was applied. The complete identification of the investigated color laser printouts was achieved. The decisive degree of the results reached one hundred percent for the investigated color laser in this study. Moreover, the novel classification scheme of coded dot matrix patterns presents for completing the individual characteristics.

Keywords

• forensic science
• forensic document analysis
• color laser printouts
• coded dot matrix patterns
• hyperspectral analysis