• Producing a Hologram
• Types of Lasers
• Still Holograms v. Stereograms

'Still' Holograms v. Stereogram or 'Animated' Holograms

The holographic stereogram, used in our LitiGraph system, is one of the most exciting developments in holography today. It allows holographers to incorporate a wide range of visual effects in the images, especially animation, hence the term ‘animated' holograms. A Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screen is attached to a computer and cinematic, video, and still images can be scanned into a computer, manipulated and displayed electronically on the LCD screen. The picture on the LCD is the object that is recorded on the hologram. Recording a sequence of related pictures produces a three-dimensional animated image on the master hologram that can then be transferred to the transfer hologram for viewing with regular white light.

The hardware that mechanically records the sequence of images onto the master hologram is called a holographic printer. It is called a holographic printer because an optical image on the LCD, as opposed to a physical object, is being holographed and 'printed' on the film. Building a sophisticated, high quality holographic printer is technologically difficult and few successful printers have been built. Liti Holographics is in the process of building a high-resolution, full color printer able to produce life-like, three-dimensional, full color, animated holograms of custom-created subjects. As mentioned earlier, Liti Holographics, has a ‘one of a kind' full color continuous wave laser specially built for it by Spectra-Physics, Inc., which will be used to produce stereogram holograms.

Several other attractive features of the animated stereogram hologram include the fact that the video of the subject can be filmed anywhere, not just in the studio, and the size of the stereogram hologram can be adjusted optically unlike the 'still' pulsed hologram which is identical in size to the subject being holographed.

Still Holograms: Liti Uses Pulsed Laser Technology for Highest Quality
‘Still' holograms are three-dimensional holograms that have no animation in the hologram. Still holograms can be produced using either a continuous wave laser or a pulsed laser. However, if a continuous wave laser is utilized, the subject must be perfectly immobile and the process must take place on a vibration isolation table. This usually means that a small inanimate model is the subject of the hologram.

On the other hand, if a pulsed laser is utilized, the subject can be a person, animal, or moving object because no significant movement can be detected in the split second it takes to expose the film. Liti Holographics has a high quality pulsed ruby rod laser which enables it to produce still holograms of people (i.e., portraits), animals, business logos, and advertising, as well as any other subject that can be physically brought to Liti Holographics’ studio. These custom-created still holograms are three-dimensionally life-like.

Want to learn more about holography, and how LitiGraphs are produced? Read more in the other Technology sections we've prepared: Producing a Hologram, Types of Lasers.

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