This thesis deals with techniques for the displacement measurement of fast transient phenomena using ESPI. Four main contributions are presented. First, a computer model for speckle noise and ESPI fringe generation is proposed. An assessment methodology for speckle noise reduction algorithms is then derived using the computer model. Then the noise in the ESPI fringe patterns is analysed using computer generated speckle and several solutions for its reduction are proposed and assessed. Finally, a fast electro-optical system is presented as a solution to the unambiguous phase extraction problem from a single interferogram. With this novel system, whole field transient displacements occurring in time intervals as short as 20ns can be successfully registered and retrieved.