An overview of the equations of state (EOS) with a short summary of shock wave experiments with laser induced impact flyer, relevant to EOS study, is presented. The “old-new” ellipsometry is suggested and described for the EOS research. The detection of phase transitions of the first kind (solid-solid) as well as phase transition of the second kind (Curie point as an example) is demonstrated. Furthermore, the temperature measurements are not possible without the knowledge of the emissivity, a parameter that can be measured by using ellipsometry techniques.