Nowadays, everything has turned digital: books, economy, social life—and even holography. The downside is that digital holograms have lost their 3D visual appeal. This book deals with attempts to at least partially restore that visual appeal by presenting algorithms used to efficiently calculate the hologram of an arbitrary object and reconstruct it in three dimensions.
In the book, the use of phase-only information and noise reduction methods is emphasized, and corresponding experimental configurations are discussed. In contrast to older books, where computer-generated holograms (CGHs) were produced by lithographic techniques or printing, this book mostly deals with spatial light modulators (SLM) and their ability to reconstruct CGHs dynamically. The book is a quick introduction to the field, starting with the basics of holography and ending with selected applications for display and cryptography. It is also general enough to be used in other fields (e.g., cell micromanipulation or neural cell stimulation).
MATLAB programs, scattered throughout the book, might be the starting point for further research and be used as an educational tool (there are exercises at the end of each chapter). References are adequate, useful and up-to-date, while the index improves readability. The book is specialized, and I recommend it to those who actively use SLMs for holographic manipulation of light, but it can be useful to a more general community dealing with digital holography.
Review by Review by Dejan Pantelić, Institute of Physics Belgrade, Serbia.
The opinions expressed in the book review section are those of the reviewer and do not necessarily reflect those of OPN or OSA.