For eliminating the zero-order image in digital holography, a new method using the differential of the hologram intensity instead of the hologram itself for numerical reconstruction is proposed. This method is based on digital image processing. By analyzing the spatial spectrum of the off-axis digital hologram, it theoretically proves that the zero-order image can be effectively eliminated by differential before reconstruction. Then, the detected hologram is processed in the program with differential and reconstruction. Both the theoretical analysis and digital reconstruction results show that it can effectively eliminate the large bright spot in the center of the reconstructed image caused by the zero-order image, improve the image quality significantly, and render a better contrast of the reconstructed image. This method is very simple and convenient due to no superfluous optical elements and requiring only one time record.
