How Useful Are Hue Measuring Devices For Determining Hue?

2023 Author : Hannah Pearcy | [email protected] . Last modified: 2023-11-26 11:39

Theoretically, the human eye can distinguish several million colors; Color measuring devices just a few thousand. So do they make any sense at all for color shade determination? Josef Schneider Color perception is anything but an exact science. This is exactly where the basic idea of the color measuring devices comes into play. You determine color tones based on objective, physical measurements. No shadows, no color reflection, but also no emotions, no red-green blindness and no night of drinking cloud the lens and influence the perception. But how good are the devices really? We subjected two devices to a practical test.

"ColorCatch 2" from Colorix

The "ColorCatch 2" from the Swiss manufacturer Colorix comes in a simple, black housing. It has only one button for operation. Before the first measurement is carried out, the device asks us to calibrate it. There are three calibration cards in the delivery. One click and it is ready to measure. We put the device on the surface, shield it from direct sunlight or light from the side if necessary, and click again. Finished! The device now shows us two colors in text form on its display. They either correspond to the hue you are looking for or come closest to it in the range of stored color cards. In the case of NCS color shades, the device also supplies the corresponding number of pages on the color card. That is practical,especially since the manufacturer recommends cross-checking with the printed color card. NCS and RAL colors are part of the standard scope of delivery. The user can buy additional color collections online at a price of 18 to 29 euros per collection and transfer them to the device. The Successor model ColorCatch 3 has a Bluetooth interface. With this, the color tones found can be transferred to an application (app) in order to be able to carry out simple color designs on the iPhone, iPod or iPad.

"Capsure" by X-Rite

The "Capsure" measuring instrument from the American company X-Rite is available in Germany from four (!) Manufacturers under license. It is therefore better known to most as "ColorStick Capsure" (alligator), "Pablo Digital 1625" (Brillux), "Buntstift 3D" (Caparol) or "Colorado" (Sikkens). The hardware of these four devices is identical. However, they differ in the range of functions and in the color cards stored. The most striking detail of the "Capsure" are the rubberized side handles and buttons as well as its colored multifunctional display. It shows a measured color as a color area and not, like the "ColorCatch 2", as text. It also serves as a magnifying glass and a preview of the surface to be measured - an invaluable advantage, as will be seen later. The calibration surface is located on the inside of the slide shutter, which also serves as lens protection. The device naturally offers significantly more functions than the Colorix model: measuring multicolored patterns and textile structures, triple adjustment of the aperture for measuring even the smallest areas of color, presetting different types of light as well as voice and text recording - to name just a few. If desired, the display shows color harmonies for the shade found. This manufacturer also advises us that we should check the colors determined by the device with the printed color fan.triple adjustment of the aperture for measuring even the smallest color areas, presetting different types of light as well as voice and text recording - to name just a few. If desired, the display shows color harmonies for the shade found. This manufacturer also advises us that we should check the colors determined by the device with the printed color fan.triple adjustment of the aperture for measuring even the smallest color areas, presetting different types of light as well as voice and text recording - to name just a few. If desired, the display shows color harmonies for the shade found. This manufacturer also advises us that we should check the colors determined by the device with the printed color fan.

Simple and reliable

The test devices arrived in their original packaging directly from the manufacturer or from the dealer. Unpack, read the quick guide, take the first measurement - after a maximum of five minutes, both devices had correctly and reliably determined the color of our office doors with RAL 5007. However, manufacturer X-Rite recommends installing the supplied software on the PC before starting the "Capsure" and charging the device's battery using a USB cable. It took around four hours to charge the battery. The battery-operated "ColorCatch 2" does not require this preparation. It is ready for immediate use.

Color measuring devices in the endurance test

In order to check the quality of the color measurements, we carried out 100 measurements each on an NCS color card with a silk-matt, smooth color application and another 28 measurements of different RAL shades. The devices delivered a direct hit after the other: The "ColorCatch 2" determined exactly 93 percent of all colors, the "Capsure" even over 98 percent. If there were any uncertainties, it was light pastels and dark blacks. It was noticed positively that the devices with great reliability distinguish colors that are close together in the spectrum. Conclusion: The reliability of both devices is very high on smooth, painted surfaces. The second practical test was carried out on a 3 mm rough plaster facade surface at daybreak. Here, another advantage of the devices came to light over conventional determination using a color card. Since they have their own light source, they can also be used in diffuse lighting conditions, even in the dark. So if you have to quickly determine a facade color after dark, you will appreciate this property. The great roughness of the mineral plaster and the associated irregularity in the surface meanwhile pushed the devices to the limits of their performance. In these difficult conditions, the "Capsure" played a huge advantage: Thanks to the preview image in the color display, we were able to select points for the measurement that were raised and had the most uniform color possible. As a result, the device delivered the same color for all measurements. It only deviated slightly once - and only because we deliberately targeted a deepening in the plaster. The "ColorCatch 2" does not offer this option and therefore measures at random, sometimes a raised area, sometimes a recess. The result: In five measurements, he showed us five different colors. In the next discipline, measuring painted woodchip wallpaper, this negative property of the “ColorCatch 2” no longer appeared. It reliably delivered the same value five times in five measurements. This suggests that it definitely reaches its limits with a roughness of one to two millimeters. In contrast, the "Capsure", due to the preview image, also copes with larger roughness. The "ColorCatch 2" does not offer this option and therefore measures at random, sometimes a raised area, sometimes a recess. The result: In five measurements, he showed us five different colors. In the next discipline, measuring painted woodchip wallpaper, this negative property of the "ColorCatch 2" no longer appeared. It reliably delivered the same value five times in five measurements. This suggests that it definitely reaches its limits with a roughness of one to two millimeters. In contrast, the "Capsure", due to the preview image, also copes with larger roughness. The "ColorCatch 2" does not offer this option and therefore measures at random, sometimes a raised area, sometimes a recess. The result: In five measurements, he showed us five different colors. In the next discipline, measuring painted woodchip wallpaper, this negative property of the “ColorCatch 2” no longer appeared. It reliably delivered the same value five times in five measurements. This suggests that it definitely reaches its limits with a roughness of one to two millimeters. In contrast, the "Capsure", due to the preview image, also copes with larger roughness. In the next discipline, measuring painted woodchip wallpaper, this negative property of the "ColorCatch 2" no longer appeared. He reliably delivered the same value five times in five measurements. This suggests that it definitely reaches its limits with a roughness of one to two millimeters. In contrast, the "Capsure", due to the preview image, also copes with larger roughness. In the next discipline, measuring painted woodchip wallpaper, this negative property of the “ColorCatch 2” no longer appeared. It reliably delivered the same value five times in five measurements. This suggests that it definitely reaches its limits with a roughness of one to two millimeters. In contrast, the "Capsure", due to the preview image, also copes with larger roughness.

Conclusion

Of course, the devices can only find and display colors that are in their memory. By default, both devices include the NCS collection with around 2,000 colors and a further 200 RAL Classic colors. The "Capsure" contains an additional 1,700 colors from the RAL design collection. In our test measurements, this variety was sufficient to achieve satisfactory results. In practice, the variety of colors is expanded many times over by additional color collections from the manufacturers. On average, the devices then contain 6,000 colors and more. This makes it a real hit as a marketing and advisory tool for painters and plasterers.

PraxisPlus

The "Colorix ColorCatch 2" measuring instrument was made available to us by PCE, www.warensortiment.de. The "Capsure" test device came from the manufacturer X-Rite. The latter is offered under license in Germany by the following manufacturers: Alligator ("ColorStick Capsure"), Brillux ("Pablo Digital 1625"), Caparol ("Buntstift 3D") and Sikkens ("Colorado"). An overview of all devices as well as our measurement protocol can be found at www.warensortiment.de in the Downloads section.