QC Inspection System quantifies color and appearance.
September 9, 2010 -
Based on digital imaging technology, Lovibond® CAM-System 550 lets user decide whether product meets acceptable color and appearance criteria or if it has undesirable defects. System uses acceptable samples to generate quantitative reference profile for product, including min/max limits subsequently used for pass-fail assessment of product samples. Able to process entire image or simultaneously measure multiple colors and regions of interest, system offers up to 240 mm measurement area.
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Original Press release
Paul N. Gardner Co., Inc.
316 N.E. 1st St., Dept. TR
Pompano Beach, FL, 33060 6608
USA
Lovibond® CAM-System 550
A New Approach to Quantifying Color & Appearance
Overall visual appearance is a major feature in the assessment and control of product quality. The Lovibond® CAM-System 550 is an innovative QC inspection system that allows the user to decide quickly and objectively whether a product meets acceptable color and appearance criteria or if it has undesirable defects. Based on digital imaging technology, the CAM-System 550 uses acceptable samples to generate a quantitive reference profile for the product, including minimum and maximum limits, which is subsequently used for a pass-fail assessment of product samples.
Advantages of an Imaging Colorimeter
A digital image records color data at thousands of points, providing detailed information about color distribution and variations across a sample. As such, the Lovibond® CAM-System 550 is particularly well suited to measuring natural and industrial products with non-uniform or variable color properties that cannot be measured easily with conventional colorimetric spectrophotometers. It can process the whole image or simultaneously measure multiple colors and regions of interest. The measurement area is also flexible, from small up to 240 mm. Furthermore, the non-contact technology means that sample measurement is unaffected by product consistency or surface texture.
Easy for Operators to Use
The Lovibond® CAM-System 550 entails separate supervisor and operator modes. The supervisor has access to a set-up menu where they employ actual samples to establish the quality parameters for a particular product, including regions of interest and acceptable threshold limits. All the operator has to do is call up the product settings
and measure the sample to generate a pass-fail assessment, without knowledge of color science or image analysis.
Image Processing for a QC Environment
The system includes a digital color camera and controlled sample illumination, all integrated into the image capture cabinet. The cabinet is connected to a PC with the image processing software via a USB cable. Appearance is quantified by capturing an image and expressing each pixel in terms of its rgb or CIELAB components. "Blob extraction" is employed to isolate regions of interest from the image, allowing the operator to exclude backgrounds or highlight particular product features. A time profile screen allows the user to capture a sequence of images at set intervals and to display the results in a line chart. A reports screen displays the results of previous tests in tabular format. The results may be sorted in product type, test or date order.
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