COLOUR | MEASUREMENT
longer necessary to melt the plastic to obtain a large enough surface to measure. It is possible to measure a single grain of masterbatch with the Nano 2.” Maurer says another new feature on the instru- ment is an optical head that eliminates gloss and stray light. With the new optical head, the colour measurement of the plastics is highly precise (Figures 2 and 3). The head also eases measure- ment of colours containing black, often the most difficult to measure because of the minimal reflected light. The company says that using the Nano 2’s new optical head this is no longer a problem, claiming that shades of black can now be measured with an accuracy of below ∆E 0.1. The camera is designed to allow maximum
measurement accuracy even on textured surfaces. The device reads and measures more than 50,000 pixels separately, automatically removing any non-dominant colours, such as shadow effects and dirt. The ability to visualise the measurement also enhances the accuracy and efficiency of the colour measurement process while the Colorcatch Nano 2 is capable of extracting up to five dominant colours in one click. Among the other key features of the instrument is an integrated calibration card, which is said to ensure reliable and consistent results. Earlier this year, colour measurement and management specialist Datacolor acquired matchmycolor, which specialises in colour formulation and communication software. Data- color says the acquisition strengthens its market position and further expands its global industry presence in colour management. Created in 2009 through a management buyout from the former Ciba Specialty Chemicals business, Switzerland-
Figure 2 (left) compares the image of an HP printer part taken using a Colorix Nano 1 system (bottom left) compared with a Nano 2 (bottom right) Figure 3 (right) shows a plastic table surface showing the colour measure- ment precision of the Nano 2 head
based matchmycolor achieved sales of about CHF3m (around €3m) in 2022 and has around 20 employees, mainly software specialists. Another new addition to the colour prediction
toolbox is Lucidiris, an Artificial Intelligence-based software tool developed by DSM Engineering Materials (now part of the merged Envalior engineering plastics business) that is intended to predict potential colour space and mechanical properties for particular plastics, including recycled and repurposed grades. On its launch in February, it was said that
Lucidiris will fundamentally change the traditional design-build-test-learn development cycle for polymer materials. The company predicted that the
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IMAGE: COLORIX
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