Lights, Volume 1, Issue 1 (December 2025) – 2 articles

Computer holography enables precise modulation of optical fields, facilitating advanced applications such as optical manipulation, micro-/nanofabrication, and high-resolution three-dimensional displays. However, noise remains one of the most critical challenges, as it significantly reduces the accuracy and visual quality of the reconstructed optical fields. Over the past decades, substantial research has been devoted to identifying noise sources and developing a wide range of suppression techniques. In this article, we present a systematic analysis of the origins and characteristics of noise in computer holography, structured based on computational methods, device characteristics, and system configurations. The representative suppression strategies aimed at enhancing holographic reconstruction quality are investigated. This study aims to deepen the understanding of noise characteristics and provide valuable insights and guidance for future developments in hologram optimization, system integration, and high-performance holographic reconstruction techniques. Full article

Three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction has become a fundamental technology in applications ranging from cultural heritage preservation and robotics to forensics and virtual reality. As these applications grow in complexity and realism, the quality of the reconstructed models becomes increasingly critical. Among the many factors that influence reconstruction accuracy, the lighting conditions at capture time remain one of the most influential, yet widely neglected, variables. This review provides a comprehensive survey of classical and modern 3D reconstruction techniques, including Structure from Motion (SfM), Multi-View Stereo (MVS), Photometric Stereo, and recent neural rendering approaches such as Neural Radiance Fields (NeRFs) and 3D Gaussian Splatting (3DGS), while critically evaluating their performance under varying illumination conditions. We describe how lighting-induced artifacts such as shadows, reflections, and exposure imbalances compromise the reconstruction quality and how different approaches attempt to mitigate these effects. Furthermore, we uncover fundamental gaps in current research, including the lack of standardized lighting-aware benchmarks and the limited robustness of state-of-the-art algorithms in uncontrolled environments. By synthesizing knowledge across fields, this review aims to gain a deeper understanding of the interplay between lighting and reconstruction and provides research directions for the future that emphasize the need for adaptive, lighting-robust solutions in 3D vision systems. Full article