Class of 4 + 1-phase algorithms with error compensation

It is well known that phase-shifting interferometry suffers from inaccuracy in the presence of phase-shifting errors. We have proved the limitation of using a 4-phase algorithm to reduce the phase-measurement error in the presence of the phase-shifting error. A class of 4 + 1-phase error compensating algorithms is formulated. It is shown that the proposed algorithms can effectively minimize the effects of the constant phase-shifting error and possess a superior performance than existing error-compensating algorithms. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated by computer simulations and experiments.