Color Measurement

The BYK-mac i colorimeter is a multi-angle spectrophotometer used to quantify color and reflective effects.  Originally designed for color matching of metallic paint in the automotive industry, the BYK-mac i has been used to measure color of cosmetics, anodized aluminum, molded ABS parts, transparent plastics and glasses, not to mention an enormous variety of paints, pigments, tints, and dyes.  It enables consistent color measurement throughout the supply chain using digital standards, removing the need for exchanging physical color standards that degrade or fade with time.  The end results are products with consistent color harmony.

The BYK-mac i features 6-angle color measurement to evaluate color ‘travel’, or how the color changes at different viewing angles.  Detects the amount of fluorescent light in the optical range (400 – 700 nm).  LED light source simulates several types of illumination, including incandescent bulbs, fluorescent lighting, and “standard” daylight.  The associated software can also predict how a color will change in different illumination and whether it would be detectable to human vision.  It also measures the optical fluorescence of a surface, which is directly related to its colorfastness, or time before the fading occurs.

Typical Experimental Results

Reflectance spectra of car paint at 45° and 115° before and after a car wash.  The clean car paint (blue line) reflects strongly above 630 nm, which corresponds to red light.  The dirty paint (yellow line) reflects all colors of the spectrum and is more noticeable at higher angles.

Instrument: BYK-mac i Colorimeter

Instrument Key Specifications

For more information, please read our application notes:
All application notes can be found here

ASTM Standards

ISO/Other Standards