Quiroga Mellado, Juan AntonioGonzález Cano, Agustín2023-06-202023-06-201998-07-100003-693510.1364/AO.37.004488https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/58798© 1998 Optical Society of America. We thank Eusebio Bernabeu, Director of the Optics Department of the Universidad Complutense, for his help and continual support. Also, we wish to thank Hans Steinbichler, Steinbichler Optotechnik, GmbH, for helping us with the acquisition of experimental images. This work was partially supported by project MAT 95-0767-C02-02 of the Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología of Spain.We present a method of error analysis that can be applied for phase-measuring algorithms applied to photoelasticity. We calculate the contributions to the measurement error of the different elements of a circular polariscope as perturbations of the Jones matrices associated with each element. The Jones matrix of the real polariscope can then be calculated as a sum of the nominal matrix and a series of contributions that depend on the errors associated with each element separately. We apply this method to the analysis of phase-measuring algorithms for the determination of isoclinics and isochromatics, including comparisons with real measurements.engjournal articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.1364/AO.37.004488http://www.opticsinfobase.orgopen access535InterferometryÓptica (Física)2209.19 Óptica Física