

Blogs
What Is CIELAB Color Space?
The human eye can see millions of colors. However, it won’t always distinguish colors from one another accurately. You may perceive two slightly different colors as the same or see differences in objects of identical color depending on your viewing angle and lighting. This creates challenges when communicating about color. To reproduce an exact desired […]
Simultaneous Color and Haze Measurements Simplifies Quality Control in Hair Gloss Treatments
Hair gloss products help customers increase shine and enhance color. Image Source: Shutterstock user Rudo film Hair gloss treatments offer an effective new way to repair damaged hair and add a youthful appearance to dull locks, yet without proper haze and color measurement, many formulations fall short in creating the appearance that consumers desire. While […]
Measuring Color and Haze in Functional Beverages is Essential to Ensure Product Appeal
The color of a beverage will have a direct impact on how consumers perceive the product. Image source: Ben Kolde on Unsplash Functional beverages—like energy and nutraceutical drinks—are growing in popularity among consumers who need a boost of energy, add more vitamins and minerals to their diets, or address specific health concerns. Based on a […]
The Right Spectrophotometer Can Improve Quality Control of Natural Stone Sealants
Sealants are critical for protecting natural stone finishes, such as marble countertops. Image Source: Shutterstock user Jodie Johnson The color and clarity of natural stone sealants play an important role in not only protecting the surface of the stone, but creating aesthetic appeal. Indeed, while designers often spend significant time carefully choosing a stone, the […]
Spectrophotometers Help Manufacturers Keep Traffic Cones Safety Orange
When I’m walking through my neighborhood I can get a little lost in my thoughts. Somehow I tune out all hurly-burly of the busy pedestrians and delivery trucks bustling in the narrow square. I was walking like this the other day, paying no attention to my surroundings, when in my path I spotted an orange […]
What is the stability of the APHA/Pt-Co/Hazen liquid color standards?
Per Section 6.2 of ASTM D1209 Standard Test Method for Color of Clear Liquids (Platinum Cobalt Scale): “When properly sealed and stored the standards are stable for at least a year and do not degrade markedly for 2 years.” Our industrial experience is that if kept properly stoppered in amber bottles, the APHA/Pt-Co/Hazen visual color […]
Is it possible to create ASTM traceable haze standards above 30%?
The current, available ASTM D1003 Haze Standards have nominal Haze% values of 1, 5, 10, 20 and 30 with air (transparent solids) or the transmission cell filled with DI water being 0 (transparent liquids). Here are some thoughts on further options. Ken PhillipsMr. Philips has spent the last 30 years in product development and management, […]
Measuring the Color of Clear Liquids
One application that often comes up is measuring the color of clean liquids such as the fragrance sample seen above. This liquid fragrances is clear and looks almost like water. Fragrances such as this are often added to cleaning supplies, air fresheners, or other consumer products. One of the problems that this type of sample […]
Human Observers
This is the final blog note article in our series describing the Visual Observing Situation Model in which we will discuss human observers. Previously we discussed how the illuminants and objects are quantified to help measure color. In the human eye there are rods that are responsible for low light vision and cones that are […]
Objects
In this series of blog notes we have discussed what is needed to quantify color and how light sources are quantified. The second element of the visual observing model that must be quantified is the object that modifies the white light source. Ken PhillipsMr. Philips has spent the last 30 years in product development and […]
Light Sources and Illuminants
The previous blog note discussed the three elements required to see color; a white light source, an object, and a human observer. In order for HunterLab instruments to measure color we need to be able to quantify, or assign numbers, to these three elements. Ken PhillipsMr. Philips has spent the last 30 years in product […]