Holography is an imaging technique which accurately can record both the amplitude and the phase of the scattered light from an object. However, to obtain a hologram in which both the 3D shape and the color of the object are required to be accurately reproduced, the recording of the hologram has to be performed by using at least three laser wavelengths. A mathematical model has been generated in order to simulate the holographic color rendering process by assuming ideal laser recording and reconstruction conditions which ignores the influence caused by the recording material and the processing. Based on this mathematical model a computer program with appropriate graphical user interface was implemented. The required amount of laser wavelengths and their distribution within the visible electromagnetic spectrum has been investigated in order to obtain the best possible color rendering. Simulations using three to seven laser wavelengths have been performed to better understand the sampling nature of color holography and by performing multiple simulations for all possible laser selections the optimum wavelengths have been obtained. We have found that three wavelengths are only sufficient if chosen carefully, but for improved color rendering four to five wavelengths are recommended.

Date Published: 21 April 2005
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 5742, Practical Holography XIX: Materials and Applications, (21 April 2005); doi: 10.1117/12.583224

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 5742:
Practical Holography XIX: Materials and Applications
Tung H. Jeong; Hans I. Bjelkhagen, Editor(s)