Selecting the Right Spectrophotometer for Your Plastic Color Quality Control
Color measurement is vital in the plastic industry. The color and appearance of a product are often the first indicator used by customers to evaluate quality. Color should be controlled throughout the whole process, from design to manufacturing and QC, to ensure the intended color remain accurate and consistent.
Plastic products can range from opaque to translucent or transparent, and each type requires a specific type of spectrophotometers to ensure reliable color data.
Opaque Plastics
Opaque plastics don’t allow light to pass through and can be measured using either sphere-based or 45/0 spectrophotometers. For color measurement of opaque plastics that closely matches how the human eye sees color, the use of a spectrophotometer with 45/0 geometry like Konica Minolta Spectrophotometer CM-25cG is recommended. But if you wish to measure the “true color” of the opaque plastics without the influence of its gloss and texture components, the use of sphere-based spectrophotometer like Konica Minolta Spectrophotometer CM-26dG is more suitable.
Translucent and Transparent Plastics
Translucent and transparent plastics allow light to pass through, and the use of either transmittance or reflectance measurement mode depends on their level of transparency. Additionally, transmittance measurement of yellowness and haze are two attributes commonly measured for transparent plastics. When attempting to measure translucent and transparent plastics, a sphere-based spectrophotometer like Konica Minolta Spectrophotometer CM-5 with the versatility of reflectance, transmittance, haze and yellowness measurements is recommended.
Check out our free educational booklets to learn more about the basic of color science. Konica Minolta also provides education seminar to help plastics raw material manufacturer, masterbatch manufacturer, compounder and converter adopt the right testing methodology to reduce waste and save time.
Konica Minolta measurement solutions are widely used in the plastic industry. Contact us to find out more or to schedule a free product demonstration.
