Reconstructing Video Images in Color Exploiting Compromising Video Emanations

This paper reveals for the first time the possibility of extracting the color information from leaking emanations originating from a video display unit (VDU). First, the video image is reconstructed in grayscale colors by capturing the video leaking emissions without prior knowledge of the leaking VDU. Then, a method is presented which recovers the video colors with an acceptable error margin. Several VDUs are tested for their leakage response which are placed at a distance of 5 to 10 meters from two receiving antennas. Further, a concept is proposed which gives new insights and understandings in why the color can be recovered. A focus is laid on the leakage phenomenon of the LVDS (low-voltage differential signaling) cable and the TMDS (transition-minimized differential signaling) technology employed by most video signaling cables such as the HDMI (high-definition multimedia interface) and DVI (digital visual interface) cable.