Archival characteristics of Fourier color holograms.

The archival characteristics of Fourier color holograms (FCH) have been analyzed. The color registrations are not affected by film binding, shrinkage, and wavefront deviation of the reconstruction beam. The image contrast has been analyzed using a simple Fourier decomposition model. This model predicts that the image contrast is preserved if films of low negative gamma (-2 </= gamma < 0) are used. The exact value of gamma is unimportant. The image distortions have been determined. The optimum wavelengths for FCH recording are suggested. It appears that the FCH is nearly ideal for archival color image storage applications.