Different contents of poly(vinyl butyral) (PVB) have been incorporated into the conventional holographic polymer dispersed liquid crystal (HPDLC) composition based on liquid crystal mixture and polyurethane acrylate (PUA) with a particular composition. As the PVB content is increased, the hardness, elastic modulus and thermal stability of polymer matrix are improved because of the entanglement by PVB, which has a relatively high molecular weight compared with PUA oligomer. Diffraction efficiency is enhanced with the addition of PVB except for HPDLC film with 10 wt.% PVB owing to augmentation of the phase separation between polymer and LC, caused by the increase of elasticity of the polymer matrix. However, the increase in viscosity on adding PVB produces a slow saturation time and coalescence of the LC droplet, showing a lower diffraction efficiency at the PVB content of 10 wt.% than at 0 wt.% (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.