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Glossmeter
 
 
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A glossmeter measures specular reflection
Specular reflection

Specular reflection is the perfect, mirror-like reflection of light from a surface, in which light from a single incoming direction is reflected into a single outgoing direction....
. The light intensity
Light intensity

Several measures of light are commonly known as intensity:*Radiant intensity, a radiometric quantity measured in watts per steradian ...
 is registered over a small range of the reflection angle. The intensity is dependent on the material and the angle of illumination. In case of non-metals (coatings, plastics) the amount of reflected light increases with the increase of the illumination angle. The remaining illuminated light penetrates the material and is absorbed or diffusely scattered dependent on the color
Color

Color or colour is the visual perception property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, yellow, blue and others....
.






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A glossmeter measures specular reflection
Specular reflection

Specular reflection is the perfect, mirror-like reflection of light from a surface, in which light from a single incoming direction is reflected into a single outgoing direction....
. The light intensity
Light intensity

Several measures of light are commonly known as intensity:*Radiant intensity, a radiometric quantity measured in watts per steradian ...
 is registered over a small range of the reflection angle. The intensity is dependent on the material and the angle of illumination. In case of non-metals (coatings, plastics) the amount of reflected light increases with the increase of the illumination angle. The remaining illuminated light penetrates the material and is absorbed or diffusely scattered dependent on the color
Color

Color or colour is the visual perception property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, yellow, blue and others....
. Metals have a much higher reflection and are less angle dependent than non-metals.

The measurement results of a glossmeter are related to the amount of reflected light from a black glass standard with a defined refractive index
Refractive index

The refractive index of a medium is a measure for how much the speed of light is reduced inside the medium. For example, typical soda-lime glass has a refractive index of 1.5, which means that in glass, light travels at times the speed of light in a vacuum....
, and not to the amount of incident light. The measurement value for this defined standard is equal to 100 gloss units (calibration
Calibration

Calibration is the validation of specific measurement techniques and equipment. At the simplest level, calibration is a comparison between measurements-one of known magnitude or correctness made or set with one device and another measurement made in as similar a way as possible with a second device....
). Materials with a higher refractive index can have a measurement value above 100 gloss units. In case of transparent materials the measurement value can be increased due to multiple reflection in the bulk of the material. Due to the high reflection capabilities of metals, values of up to 3500 gloss units can be reached. For these applications it is common to document the measurement results in percent reflection of the illuminated light.

Glossmeters and their handling procedures had to be internationally specified to allow comparison of measurement values. The angle of illumination is of high influence. In order to obtain a clear differentiation over the complete measurement range from high gloss to matte, 3 different geometries, i.e. different ranges, three different measurement angles are defined.

See also

  • Gloss (material appearance)
    Gloss (material appearance)

    Gloss is an optical property, which is based on the interaction of light with physical characteristics of a surface. It is actually the ability of a surface to reflect light into the specular direction....
  • Hazemeter
  • Drawdown card
    Drawdown card

    Drawdown cards are used for testing paints and coatings through wet film preparation. Reliable and accurate testing of coatings and films such as those in the paint and coatings industry, requires rigid control of their actual wet and dry film thickness....


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