Fourier fringe analysis: the two-dimensional phase unwrapping problem

A new phase unwrapping algorithm is described that uses local phase information to mask out those parts of the field that cause inconsistencies in the unwrapping. Unlike earlier techniques, which produce only a consistent unwrapping of the phase in the presence of discontinuities, this technique can produce an approximately correct unwrapping. The technique is tolerant of discontinuities and noise in the phase and is fast, efficient, and simple to implement. In the absence of discontinuities an rms signal-to-noise ratio in the wrapped phase of <2:1 can be tolerated.