Hologram Manufacturers Association of India

HOLOGRAMS ARE THE MOST COST-EFFECTIVE

A modest computation for the first year

GOVERNMENTS & COMPANIES USE HOLOGRAMS

• Tamilnadu Excise Dept is using 7 Crores holograms every month on their Liquor Excise labels since April 1999 - 15×19mm size in spool form, 24 microns metalised polyester coated with heat activated hot-melt adhesive for in-line automatic application.
  Noticed an increase in sales by 15% in the 1st year alone.
• U P Excise Dept. is using 12 Crores (per month) Security holograms on liquor bottle sizes of 180 ml, 375ml and 750ml since March 2001.
  Holographic Shrink Sleeve (15 mm width) in roll form and Security Holograms in Spool form (15 x 30 mm) for application / automatic application.
• The Chhattisgarh and Uttranchal State Excise Deptts. have also recently begun to use Holographic Shrink Sleeves on their Liquor Excise labels.
• The Indian Music Industry have decided to issue a series of very advanced holograms (with built-in features visible only under the UV light) on all the cassettes manufactured by about 60 Indian music companies under the IMI umbrella to check piracy, to enable the buyers to differentiate a genuine from a pirated one and to provide them a better product.
• ITPO noticed a: 40-45% increased sale of Entry Tickets after using authentication holograms on them.
• Several States Cricket Control Boards have experienced higher sale of entry tickets to their organized matches
• Over 2500 genuine producers in the Pharmaceutical/ FMCG/ Liquor/ Automotive components/ Music/ Consumer Electronics/ Apparel/ Sports Goods/ Software/ Educational Institutions (certificates/ degrees)/…. and other industry segments
  are successfully using holograms and have noticed manifold increase in sales.

INTERNATIONAL COMPANIES & GOVERNMENTS USE HOLOGRAMS

• Credit card companies began using the hologram in 1981 and now save US $200 millions yearly.
• Glaxo-U.K. started using hologram as a tamper-evident closure seal for packages of ulcer-treatment drug, Zantac, and noticed a 12% increase in sales.
• In Mexico, 5 different holograms are being used on inspection stickers as proof that taxes are paid, and emission control systems meet standards, etc.
  - Their holograms incorporate 18 security devices in each image and have eliminated counterfeit inspection stickers.
• Hologram banderols on Hungarian excise tax seals brought counterfeits from 25% to 1% and an additional tax revenue of US$60m - a 20,000% Return On Investment.
• Several South American Banks are using holograms on their checks to eliminate fraudulent duplication.
• Holographic Postage Stamps of high value or for souvenir editions have proved very successful in many countries
  - Australia, Austria, Bhutan, Brazil, Canada, China, Finland, Grenada-Grenadines, Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, Isle of Man, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mongolia, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, Poland, San Marino, Thailand, Tonga, United States
• L.A. bus system new passes feature a different full-face hologram each month.
• A mail order catalogue company that provides ‘give-aways’ to dentists and medical facilities is using holograms on their catalogue cover. Their sales have been phenomenal since.
• An international confectionery company started using holographic stickers as in-pack premiums for their bubble-gum. The kids’ response was excellent. The hologram stickers gained so much popularity that nearly 200 different images for this project were originated and embossed over 2.5 billion holograms. Their market share doubled and they expanded into two new markets!
• In 1995, Caykur tea brand in Turkey incorporated the holograms into the packaging.
  It cost them US$ 1.3 m/ year, but they sold an extra 20000 tonnes of tea with a value of US$ 70 m in 3 years - since the hologram was introduced.
  - In the first year of use Caykur reversed their decline in sales with a 13.3 per cent increase and there was a further 10 per cent in 1997.
• Microsoft uses complex designed holographic protection of their software CDs to protect multi-billion earnings.

VULNERABLE PRODUCTS TO PROTECT

Holograms have a wide area of application and have found a niche market in Security Printing, Brand Authentication, Packaging, Giftware, Stationery, and PromotionSome of the current applications are on:

SECURITY DOCUMENTS

• Bank cheques, bank drafts and guarantees,
• Certificates - mark sheets, degrees and diplomas, and gift etc.
• Credit cards, Voter’s and other ID cards, Social security cards, Membership cards, Stored value phone cards
• Financial & Surety instruments, Bonds and share certificates
• Higher value Postage stamps
• Passports and visas
• Tickets — sports events, concerts, lottery
• Travellers cheques, Currency notes
  – 33 countries are already using holograms on their currencies
• Valuable / Secret / Confidential/ Legal/ Government documents and envelopes,
• Vehicle registration and driving licenses, fare charts

USE HOLOGRAMS TO PROTECT YOUR BRAND PRODUCTS & CUSTOMERS.

You need a hologram if :

• Your product is successful, frequently bought & much in demand, and highly advertised
• Your market-share or the market for your product is growing.
• Your product is vulnerable to counterfeiting
  - of High Value-to-Cost Ratio, expensive to create and easy to copy - a big incentive for the counterfeiter.
• Duplicates of your product have been found in the market - by over 5% of your genuine products

Otherwise,

• Soon the counterfeiter will spoil your name & you’ll no longer be the king. Counterfeiter will make, sell and pocket the profit and move on to the next leader,
• And you will get only the complaints - all at your expense

HOLOGRAMS TYPES,� RANGE & TENCHNIQUES

TYPES OF HOLOGRAMS

• 2D/3D HOLOGRAMS are generated from conventional line artwork and give spatial effects with a vibrant colour change. 2D/3D holograms can be produced with two or three levels of depth and are ideal for corporate identity items, brand logos, slogans and symbols, and digitally-created illustrations
• 3D HOLOGRAMS: Laser-originated from models, still-life objects or living subjects, they give full-depth renderings of products, popular icons (e.g. cartoon characters and religious figures), symbols, logos, campaign mascots, rare artifacts, and small technical parts
• DOT MATRIX HOLOGRAM: The holographic image is made up of a series of dots or pixels. Each pixel or dot can diffract coloured light at a different angle. The image seems to be kinetic as it is moved and different regions of the image are illuminated. This is probably the fastest growing commercial use of holography today. The images made with this technique can be seen in any lighting conditions. Multi-layered and 3-dimensional effects are now possible.
• STEREOGRAM: Created from a film or video sequence, these animation holograms show full-colour, depth, and movement of living things, sceneries, computer-generated graphics or technical processes.

RANGE OF HOLOGRAPHIC LABELS TO SUIT ANY APPLICATION

• Tamper Evident,tamper proof & pressure-sensitive self-adhesive (or without adhesive) metalised & laminated polyester film (23-50 microns) or foil labels supplied in the form of pre cut sizes/shape in sheet or roll form. It’s a perfect marking, which self-destructs on being removed.
• Tamper Resistant Label for automatic in line application.
• Hot Stamping Foil for marking onto paper labels, board, plastic caps, documents, licenses, certificates, etc. - with different adhesives
• Induction Wads with hologram for authenticity & tamper resistance.
• Holographic Aluminum Foil: Ultimate in tamper resistance packaging for the pharma industry.
• Shrink Sleeve: Tamper resistant shrink sleeve with holographic stripe.

HOLOGRAPHIC PACKAGING (in roll/ pouch form in multi-layers)

• Holographic Film - for printing/ lamination and other flexible packaging applications - in a striking range of uniform repeating patterns in different weights & gauges
• Paper & Board - from ultra light 15gsm to 220gsm board, supplied in rolls or sheeted, with or without adhesive
• Polypropylene - in several gauges and widths, heat - seal grade, single/ sandwich layer lamination
• Polyester - from 12 micron for lamination to 50 micron for wet-glue and self-adhesive labels, twist wrap, ridged or flexible packaging, gift-wrap and display applications - pre-treated for easy handling and supplied in custom originated patterned and designs.
• Aluminum Foil.

PROMOTIONAL HOLOGRAMS ARE USED:

• for advertising & sales or brand promotion
• as give-away in trade fairs,
• on magazine/ brochure cover, and greeting cards etc.
• as mementoes/ keepsakes/ tokens,
• multi-coloured 3-dimensional images of gods/ goddesses/ deities, places of worship, monuments/ palaces/ edifices/ structures/ buildings of historical or archaeological importance

• Full-colour holograms on plate glass as exquisite exhibition pieces and presentation plaques.

  TECHNIQUES IN HOLOGRAPHY
  Dynamic holography
  The discussion above describes static holography, in which recording, developing and reconstructing occur sequentially and a permanent hologram is produced.
  There exist also holographic materials which don’t need the developing process and can record a hologram in a very short time. This allows to use holography to perform some simple operations in an all-optical way. Examples of applications of such real-time holograms include phase-conjugate mirrors (”time-reversal” of light), optical cache memories, image processing (pattern recognition of time-varying images), and optical computing.
  The amount of processed information can be very high (terabit/s), since the operation is performed in parallel on a whole image. This compensates the fact that the recording time, which is in the order of a µs, is still very long compared to the processing time of an electronic computer. The optical processing performed by a dynamic hologram is also much less flexible than electronic processing. On one side one has to perform the operation always on the whole image, and on the other side the operation a hologram can perform is basically either a multiplication or a phase conjugation. But remember that in optics, addition and Fourier transform are already easily performed in linear materials, the second simply by a lens. This enables some applications like a device that compares images in an optical way [3].
  The search for novel nonlinear optical materials for dynamic holography is an active area of research. The most common materials are photorefractive crystals, but also in semiconductors or semiconductor heterostructures (such as quantum wells), atomic vapors and gases, plasmas and even liquids it was possible to generate holograms.
  A particularly promising application is optical phase conjugation. It allows to remove the wavefront distortions a light beam receives when passing through an aberrating medium, by sending it back through the same aberrating medium with a conjugated phase. This is useful for example in free-space optical communications to compensate the atmospheric turbulence (the phenomenon that gives rise to the twinkling of starlight).

• Holographic memory
  Holography can be applied to a variety of uses other than recording images. Holographic data storage is a technique that can store information at high density inside crystals or photopolymers. As current storage techniques such as Blu-ray reach the denser limit of possible data density (due to the diffraction-limited size of the writing beams), holographic storage has the potential to become the next generation of popular storage media. The advantage of this type of data storage is that the volume of the recording media is used instead of just the surface.
  Currently available SLMs can produce about 1000 different images a second at 1024×1024-bit resolution. With the right type of media (probably polymers rather than something like LiNbO3), this would result in about 1 gigabit per second writing speed. Read speeds can surpass this and experts believe 1-terabit per second readout is possible.
  In 2005, companies such as Optware and Maxell have produced a 120mm disc that uses a holographic layer to store data to a potential 3.9 TB (terabyte), which they plan to market under the name Holographic Versatile Disc. Another company, InPhase Technologies, is developing a competing format.
• Digital holography
  Main article: digital holography
  An alternate method to record holograms is to use a digital device like a CCD camera instead of a conventional photographic film. This approach is often called digital holography. In this case, the reconstruction process can be carried out by digital processing of the recorded hologram by a standard computer. A 3D image of the object can later be visualized on the computer screen or TV set.
• Holography in art
  Salvador Dalí claimed to have been the first to employ holography artistically. He was certainly the first and most notorious surrealist to do so, but the 1972 New York exhibit of Dalí holograms had been preceded by the holographic art exhibition which was held at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan in 1968 and by the one at the Finch College gallery in New York in 1970, which attracted national media attention.
  The Dalí Holograms were mastered in St. Louis, at the McDonnell Douglas Company who had just invested in a Ruby Pulse Laser and decided to, aside from meteorological purposes, make industrially oriented projection Holograms for presentations and trade shows. In London, Dalí assembled his models by hanging objects with wires inside of wooden frames. This technique allowed for overlapping and differences in depth.
  Since then the quality of the holograms has increased dramatically, mainly due to better holographic emulsions. As of 2007 there are many artists who use holograms in their creations.
• Electron holography
  Electron holography is the application of holography techniques to electron waves rather than light waves.
  Electron holography was invented by Dennis Gabor to improve the resolution and avoid the aberrations of the transmission electron microscope. Today it is commonly used to study electric and magnetic fields in thin films, as magnetic and electric fields can shift the phase of the interfering wave passing through the sample.
  The principle of electron holography can also be applied to interference lithography.
• Holographic theories of brain function
  An analogy between the distributed information in holograms and the distributed information in brains gave rise to a speculative idea termed holonomic brain theory.

With the advancement in printing technology counterfeiters have never found difficulties in counterfeiting any product. Counterfeiting is the biggest problem facing the industries- eroding not only sales and revenues, but also compromising brand equity - ultimately leading to eroded consumer confidence. There is a need for a robust and sophisticated form of security containing various multi-layers. Fortunately for manufacturers, there are options available like holograms or Optical Variable Devices. Since 1989, Holograms have proven a highly effective overt solution and the latest generation of holograms, is exceptionally versatile and secure, since they can overt, covert & forensic feature at one point. Today, when many technologies are able to authenticate documents or products, like OVI and security printing techniques such as guilloche patterns and fine line designs, all offering first line defense and provide instant verification, then question arise why HOLOGRAMS?

1. Uniqueness of Hologram Technology (Impossible to copy): “Uniqueness is inherent in the very process of holographic recording. If the same holographer but at two different points of time or if two different holographer but at same point of time, were to carry out holographic recording from “the positive” of each layer, minute examination will reveal subtle differences between the  two version of the same hologram created by them. Thus, it is impossible to make an exact replica of the hologram and therefore it is regarded as virtually impossible to copy.   

2.Hologram’s provide three layers security: With the advancement in technology, Hologram is the only technology which can provide overt, covert and forensic feature at a single point of time and also the biggest strength of hologram lies in it’s flexibilities of mixing with other technologies.   

3. Hologram enhances the security of the security printing - In last 20 year’s hologram have proved itself as the best overt technology against counterfeiting. World wide currency and visa printing is considered to be the most high level security printing, at present may countries are using hologram in currencies and visas in spite of high level security printing and this manifest that hologram enhances the security of the security printing.    

4. Unseen is Unsold – Hologram enhances brand image & visibility - Unseen is unsold, quips one expert in shelf psychology. Today, In India, where supermarkets chains are increasing day by day, some 30,000 items fight for a shopper’s attention on an average trip to the supermarket. Research shows that nearly two-thirds of those items are not noticed at all. Thus there is a great need for creative ideas and unique packaging to make the brand noticeable. Holography adorns the packages around the world by providing an added dimension of distinctiveness and BRAND IDENTITY.  [The success of the best selling issue in the history of National Geographic magazine was attributed to its holographic cover].   

5. Higher Value Addition - Customer perceives higher value addition, since holography provides differentiation and shelf appeal. Holographic images can “move” and “speak” to consumers through optical motion, and packages. [In 1999, Colgate Palmolive recommended using a holographic package to break through shelf clutter, grab consumer attention and establish the presence of new product in the market].   

• Hologram is a high-tech optical laser-recording of visually a 3D image bearing the multi layer impressions of the customised artwork with various security features — demonstrating multiple images reconstructed as one image having complete parallax & depth-of-field (due to high refraction of light) floating in space behind and/or in front of the 2D recording medium.
• Different cross-sections of the image can be seen along different directions when viewed at the correct angle of light.
• Its dramatic effects looks “real” because of vibrant colours, motion, and images at different depths