Understanding the Metamerism Phenomenon in Coating Industry

Coating industry is seeking higher quality control measures to fulfil increasing needs of their customers. Issues like metamerism in coating vertical can cause material rejections and customers’ dissatisfaction. Hence, it is important to conduct precise color inspection through Color Matching Cabinet. The equipment helps in resolving the issue of metamerism which causes a particular coating looks different in distinct lighting conditions.

The coating application can be done on wall or any metallic parts or components. The parts which are coated then must be checked for its color consistency and quality under distinct lighting sources. You may ask why it hold so much of importance, well that’s because the distinct lighting conditions can make the coating color appear different. Red wall coating can look orange in a daylight condition and maroon in cool white light of tubes. So this can generate a dissatisfaction in the customers. Why should they compromise with the coating when they have invested so much? And they must not. Therefore, quality control labs check the appearance of coating under distinct lighting conditions.

The test cabinet is designed as per Asian lighting conditions. It delivers 5 standardized lighting sources including D65 Artificial daylight which resembles the daylight conditions, TL84 Triphosphor Fluorescent Light, UV Black light or Ultra Violet Black Light, TFL Tungsten Filament Light, and CWF Cool White Light. Offers a 45 degree tilted viewing platform for a standardized testing. The angle of viewing is important and hold a vital role in checking metamerism. The booth is made up of steel or wood material. A time totalizer is equipped for noting the time duration. Tube of length 2 feet is installed inside the chamber. There are separate switches for obtaining distinct lighting conditions.

The entire set up is designed as per CIE international standards. To imitate the test, first user needs to prepare the coated test sample and place it on the viewing platform. Then one by one the light is observed under different lighting conditions and checked if it has an issue of metamerism or not. Testronix is a renowned manufacturer and supplier of color matching booth.