Lippmann interference photography is an elegant process to record colour photographs. From this principle, wavelength multiplexed data storage systems were developed. Hereafter, we propose to further simplify and enhanced the performances of these Lippmann architectures. Therefore, we describe the implementation of an homodyne detection for enhancing the readout signal combined with an architecture in which the access to a single side of the recording medium is required for both recording and readout. © 2008 American Institute of Physics.