We have made a thorough comparison of the ability of image simulations to predict the contrast in high-resolution electron microscope lattice images of GaAs. Simulations of the diffracted beam intensities from thickness fringes generally agreed with observations to within similar to 20% over a range of GaAs thicknesses up to 150 nm. Likewise, simulations of lattice images agreed qualitatively with experimental lattice images over a range of defocus and sample thicknesses up to 20 nm. However, using the same parameters as for the diffracted beam intensities, lattice fringe amplitudes were calculated to be typically two to three times higher than observed experimentally. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.