Optical encryption in a JTC encrypting architecture without the use of an external reference wave

In practical optodigital encrypting architectures, the use of a reference wave is always necessary. In this paper, we present a protocol for image encryption and decryption by the use of a JTC architecture without the need of an external reference wave. We describe the practical implementation of this architecture, along with computer simulation results that support the proposal. We also find that image retrieved by our approach owns a better quality compared with that by the conventional method. Besides, some other advantages of the proposed protocol are discussed. (c) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.