Abstract
One of the container media that is available and popular is the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) format image. This article aims to determine the effect of Quality Factor on the secret message capacity of JPEG image steganography and stego image quality. The quality of an image can actually be seen subjectively with the human eye, but this is relative between each individual. Because the assessment of the human eye varies from person to person. In addition, the effect of Quality Factor on secret message capacity is not yet known whether it has an impact. Therefore, in this study the Quality Factor is used to objectively see the secret message capacity of the JPEG image steganography and the quality of the stego image. The parameter used to determine the quality of an image is the Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR). PSNR will compare the quality of the original image (before steganography) with the stego image. The test results show that the Q Factor effect can affect the secret message capacity of the JPEG image steganography and the stego image quality. The bigger the Q Factor, the more the message capacity is generated. The greater the Q factor, the better the quality of the resulting stego image.