If you’re measuring wet and dry paints, plastics, cosmetics, or small and odd-shaped samples, you’ll want to take a look at our new MetaVue VS3200 non-contact imaging spectrophotometer. It’s the perfect choice for industrial applications in coatings, plastics, food, cosmetics and more.
Today we’ll demonstrate the power of its smart spot and on-screen targeting features and explain how it can integrate seamlessly with your formulation, quality control, and performance optimization software.
1. Perfectly measure imperfect samples.
Not all samples are smooth and homogenous. This stucco, viewed through the MetaVue VS3200 viewfinder, is a great example of how this device can pick out the right colors to create a match.
If you take the measurement now, the device will average all of the visible colors, the same way as a standard spectrophotometer measures color.
But with a material like stucco, you won’t see all of the shadows and tiny defects from a distance. To find a matching color, you don’t necessarily want an average, you want to capture the main color of the sample.
If you click the “Enable VS3200 Smart Spot” box, the MetaVue VS3200 will evaluate all of the pixels and eliminate the shadows and areas that aren’t part of that color.
2. Precisely target the exact spot of measurement.
Using the VS3200’s digital on-screen targeting, you can adjust the size and location of the measurement spot – without even touching the sample – to capture very accurate measurements.
Take this Jack of diamonds playing card, for example. With the VS3200, you can decrease the measurement area down to 2mm to capture just the color you need. For larger items, you can increase to 12mm.
You can also move the measurement area around on screen to capture separate measurements of the red, yellow, and black colors. The ability to point and click to select the measurement location makes it much easier to introduce the instrument to the sample.
3. Accessorize your sample presentation.
We offer great MetaVue accessories to help measure difficult samples such as small and non-planar items as well as liquids, pastes, powders and gels without contaminating the instrument.
- The instrument stand places the instrument three inches above the table and includes replaceable trays that slide in and out for easy measurement of pastes, powders and liquids. If you have very small or odd shaped samples, we can custom make a drawer fit to your needs. This image shows how the VS3200 can easily measure ketchup using the instrument stand. Simply fill the spoon with the sample and take a mess-free, non-contact measurement.
- If you measure samples of varying thickness, the adjustable stand allows you to control the distance between the sample and the instrument . There’s a scale along the side so you can accurately control how high to raise the stand for each item.
- With the benchtop stand, you can convert the VS3200 into a fully functional contact measurement device. In this photo, the instrument is lying on its back with the measurement optics facing us and is clamped into a benchtop stand. The arm can press and hold the sample – in this case, folded leather fabric – against the aperture to take a contact measurement.
4. Formulate with confidence.
The VS3200 works seamlessly with Color iMatch software to formulate colorant recipes for a variety of applications, including paint, plastics and textiles. It’s also a great tool for creating the formulation database within Color iMatch.
5. Efficiently control quality operations.
The VS3200 offers a lot of flexibility – and ability – for quality control. Each measurement captures an audit trail, including aperture size and an actual image of the measurement. X-Rite QC software creates portable jobs that embed all of this measurement data, so anyone who opens the job can review where and how the measurement was taken.
6. Validate performance across the lab and around the world.
The VS3200 also integrates with NetProfiler, which is a cloud-based blend of software and color standards that validates whether your instruments are performing as they did when they left the factory. If accuracy has drifted, whether due to environment, age, or other factors, NetProfiler can adjust the instrument to bring it back into better agreement from where it started… or notify you that it needs service. Each NetProfiler purchase comes with ceramic tiles that have been serialized and measured and stored in the NetProfiler database. To validate, snap the holder onto the instrument slider, insert the tiles, and NetProfiler will walk you through the steps to measure.
If you have a family of these instruments, NetProfiling each of them will ensure they all read the same color in a very similar fashion. This is also important if you’re sharing standards electronically. If the instruments are not measuring closely, you may think you have a tolerance discrepancy when there isn’t one.
To learn more
We encourage you to watch the free, on-demand webinar – Meet MetaVue™ VS3200: A Breakthrough Imaging Spectrophotometer – for a live demo of smart spot measurement, and more information about why it’s changing the way we measure and control color.
To find out if this is the right device for you, get in touch with one of our Color Experts.
You can also see MetaVue in action at the American Coatings Show April 10 – 12. Stop by booth #2649 for a demo.
