Color Measurement For The Coatings Industry: Harold Van Aken

10
Color Measurement for

the Coatings Industry
Harold Van Aken
GretagMacbeth
Bibliography .................................................................................10-2
Color is the most important appearance of coatings for their formulation, application, or inspection.
Color is also the most subjective parameter to characterize visually, and characterization is often
attempted under uncontrolled conditions that result in poor color judgement. Proper viewing conditions
require controlled lighting in a viewing booth where the different types of light, such as simulated daylight,
tungsten, and fluorescent light sources, can be used for evaluation. Visual evaluation always requires a
physical standard for comparison because the color memory of the brain is quite poor without one,
but very good when two samples are compared beside each other. Even when proper viewing conditions
are used, it is often difficult to determine the direction and intensity of color difference between two
samples. This process requires a trained colorist to make the evaluation.
A more accurate and consistent approach to evaluate color difference is the use of a color measurement
instrument. The two types of instruments that can be used for this purpose are colorimeters and
spectrophotometers. A colorimeter uses optical filters to simulate the color response of the eye, and a
spectrophotometer breaks the visible spectrum into intervals that mathematically simulate the color
response of the eye. The advantage of using spectrophotometers to determine color difference is in their
accuracy, stability, and ability to simulate various light sources. Spectrophotometer cost and complexity
of operation are greatly reduced on new versions of the instruments.
There are three different technologies that are used in modern industrial spectrophotometers: interference filters, gratings, and light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Interference filters require a filter for each
wavelength measured and usually have 16 or 31 filters depending on the resolution required. Gratingbased instruments have diode arrays of 20 to 256 elements to provide higher resolution for applications
that require it. The advantage of interference filters is in their simplicity of operation and mechanical
ruggedness. However, they are difficult to make consistent and deteriorate over time. High-performance
instruments usually have gratings that give more resolution and better consistency, but they are usually
more expensive and complex to build and calibrate. A new market entrant for spectrophotometers is
based on LEDs of different illumination colors. Up to nine separate color LEDs are now available to cover
most of the visible spectrum. The instruments operate by illuminating one LED at a time while measuring
the reflected light. The advantage is that they can be made very small and cost less to manufacture. The
disadvantages are reduced accuracy and stability, but the technology is improving with the advent of
newer LEDs with better methods for compensation.
There are several different measurement geometries: sphere, 45/0, and multiangle. A sphere instrument
illuminates a sample from all directions and views the sample at near normal or perpendicular. The 45/
0 illuminates the sample at 45 degrees from all directions and views the sample normal. It is also possible
to illuminate at 0 and view at 45. The multiangle approach illuminates at multiple angles and views at
a fixed angle. It is also possible to illuminate at a fixed angle and view at multiple angles.
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2007 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
10-2
Coatings Technology: Fundamentals, Testing, and Processing Techniques
The use of proper geometry is important for color formulation or color inspection. Color formulation
with sphere geometry eliminates the need to characterize the gloss and mathematically removes the gloss
that is independent from the color formulation. Color inspection usually requires the instrument to have
agreement with visual methods. A 45/0 instrument will give better correlation to visual assessment
because it better approximates the conditions in a viewing booth. A sphere instrument with a specular
exclusion port can eliminate sample high gloss to give good visual correlation but has difficulties with
semigloss samples. The assessment can yield misleading information. This is very important when trying
to match a coating to a plastic molded part.
Effect pigments such as metallic, pearlescent, and interference materials require multiple angles of
illumination and viewing to characterize color at different angles. Multiangle instruments or goniospectrophotometers are available to measure three to five separate angles. A minimum of three angles are
usually required to characterize effect pigments: (1) the near specular at 15 to 25 degrees from gloss, (2)
45/0, and (3) far from gloss of 75 to 110 degrees.
Consideration of the sample type to be measured should determine the variety of spectrophotometer
to use. If samples are large and cannot be brought to the instrument, the instrument needs to be a
portable. There are high-performance portable instruments for each geometry, but consideration should
be given to the correlation to laboratory instruments because the communication of the measurements
to a color lab is often required. If very small samples such as paint chips or small color bars are measured,
the measurement aperture needs to be small. If the sample is nonuniform, the aperture should be as
large as possible. Many instruments have changeable apertures that can be used for both samples.
Fluorescent coatings require a spectrophotometer with a carefully controlled illumination source that is
usually specified as daylight. Tungsten does not have the necessary ultraviolet and cannot be used as a
good daylight simulator. However, pulsed xenon is a very good daylight simulator and can be adjusted
in some instruments to match the spectrum of natural daylight exactly.
The required tolerances for color measurement are one of the most important considerations when
selecting a color measurement instrument. If the comparison is always to a physical standard, and the
formula is the same, a colorimeter can be sufficient. When high accuracy is needed for producing coatings
in different locations throughout the world using numerical standards, only the very high-end instruments will be capable of results within acceptable visual agreement.
Bibliography
ASTM Standards on Color and Appearance Measurement, 4th ed. Philadelphia, PA: ASTM, 1994.
GretagMacbeth, Fundamentals of Color and Appearance. New Windsor, NY: GretagMacbeth, 1997.
Judd, D. B. and Wyszecki, G., Eds., Color in Business, Science, and Industry, 2nd ed. New York: John Wiley,
1987.
Schunn, Anni Berger, Practical Color Measurement, A Primer for the Beginner, A Reminder for the Expert.
New York: John Wiley, 1994.
2007 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

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Color Measurement for

2007 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Coatings Technology: Fundamentals, Testing, and Processing Techniques

2007 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

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