Two-dimensional phase unwrapping algorithms for fringe pattern analysis: a comparison study

Phase unwrapping is a process to reconstruct the absolute phase from a wrapped phase map whose range is (−π, π]. As the absolute phase cannot be directly extracted from the fringe pattern, phase unwrapping is therefore required by phasemeasure techniques. Currently, many phase unwrapping algorithms have been proposed. In this paper, four popular phase unwrapping algorithms, including the Goldstein’s branch cut method, the quality-guided method, the Phase Unwrapping via Max Flow (PUMA) method, and the phase estimation using adaptive regularization based on local smoothing method (PERALS), are reviewed and discussed. Detailed accuracy comparisons of these methods are provided as well.