Comparison of carrier removal methods in the analysis of TV holography fringes by the Fourier transform method

Carrier removal is a key step in the Fourier transform method (FTM) of fringe pattern analysis because it can give rise to significant errors in the recovered phase. The existing methods of fringe carrier removal in the FTM are reviewed and a comparison of three different methods, translation of the sidelobe to the frequency origin, leastsquares fit and subtraction of the phase of the undeformed carrier fringes, are presented. Computer-generated fringe patterns are used to determine the differences between the original and the retrieved phase distributions. Several figures of merit are proposed to assess the performance of the mentioned methods. Experimental fringe patterns, obtained by double-pulsed-subtraction TV holography, are analyzed by the methods considered here, and the retrieved phase distributions are also compared.