Special Issue on Digital Holographic 3D Imaging: Capture, Display, and Evaluation

Holography has been fascinating people for almost 70 years (since Gabor's invention in 1947) as a true three‐dimensional (3D) imaging technology that can replicate 3D scenes in free space. Holography has also led to important developments in physics and technology as manifested by fundamental ideas proposed by renowned scientists and holographers, such as Emmeth Lieth (off‐axis holography), Yuri Denisyuk (reflection holography), Stephen Benton (rainbow holography), and Adolf Lohmann (computer‐generated holograms). Their ideas have been established as essential concepts and have advanced considerably the field of optical and digital holography during the past fifty years. The 21st century is the age of digital technology and tremendous progress in optoelectronics and micro/nanotechnology has been accomplished. This progress has opened the doors for true holographic applications in important areas such as holographic 3D displays with photorealistic visualization, 3D quantitative imaging in biomedicine, optical metrology using digital holographic interferometry, microscopy, and tomography. Successful applications and true holographic products in the market have advanced holography to a level at which standards setting organizations must be involved to guarantee interoperability between devices and applications.