Talbot-Lau X-ray phase contrast imaging is a promising technique in biological imaging since it could provide absorption, differential phase contrast and dark-field images simultaneously. However, high accuracy motorized translation stages and high stability of the imaging system are needed to avoid moiré artifacts in the retrieved images. In this work, the effects of the stepping errors and the dose fluctuations on absorption, differential phase contrast and dark-field images are theoretically derived and systematically summarized. A...