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Steganography Capacity Calculator

Work out steganography capacity instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Steganography Capacity Calculator

Least-significant-bit steganography replaces the lowest bit of each colour channel, so capacity is width times height times channels times bits per channel, divided by eight for bytes. A full-HD RGB image holds about 777 KB at one bit per channel. Using more bits multiplies capacity but introduces banding and posterisation that both the eye and statistical steganalysis detect readily.

Formula

LSB capacity

capacity bits = width x height x channels x bits per channel; bytes = bits / 8

Worked example

With the default values below, Steganography Capacity Calculator returns Hidden payload capacity of 759.38 KiB. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Image widthminimum 1 px
1,920 px
Image heightminimum 1 px
1,080 px
Colour channels usedaccepts 1–4
3
Least significant bits used per channelaccepts 1–4
1

Results

Hidden payload capacity
759.38 KiB
Capacity in bits
6,220,800 bits
Payload as a share of carrier size
12.50%
Detectability
One LSB per channel is hard to spot visually but detectable by statistical steganalysis

Step by step

  1. 1Values used
  2. 2LSB capacity
  3. 3Hidden payload capacity= 777,600
  4. 4Capacity in bits= 6,220,800 bits
  5. 5Payload as a share of carrier size= 12.50
  6. 6Detectability= One LSB per channel is hard to spot visually but detectable by statistical steganalysis

Assumptions and limits

  • The result is derived only from the 4 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
  • In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
  • Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does saving as JPEG destroy the payload?

Yes. Lossy compression rewrites pixel values, so LSB payloads survive only in lossless formats such as PNG or BMP. JPEG steganography must operate on DCT coefficients instead.

Is steganography a substitute for encryption?

No. It hides the existence of a message but provides no confidentiality if found. Encrypt the payload first, then hide the ciphertext.

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