What’s the Difference Between a Colorimeter and a Spectrophotometer?

Sponsored | Dec 16, 2019

Colorimeters and spectrophotometers are the two types of color measurement instruments that are used to capture, analyze, and communicate color. In just about any industry where color accuracy is important, you’ll find that color measurement is an essential part of the production process.

The difference between a colorimeter and spectrophotometer is often a point of confusion for many color scientists. As you expand your color management expertise, we’re here to help you answer: What’s the difference between the two instruments? Is one better than the other? Which one’s for you?

Understanding the factors that distinguish a colorimeter from a spectrophotometer can help you determine which tool best optimizes your color management workflow.

Colorimeter
A colorimeter is a tristimulus color measurement tool that provides an objective evaluation of color characteristics based on light passing through the primary filters of red, green, and blue. It simulates how the human eye perceives color.

Features

• Compact size and high mobility
• Low-cost option for simple applications
• Simpler functionality

How it Works

1. The sample is illuminated at a 45-degree angle by an internal light source.
2. Light passes through the tristimulus filters, representing the amount of red, green, and blue light reflected from the sample.
3. Measurements from the filter are quantified into RGB values, which simulate the way human eyes are sensitive to light.

Spectrophotometer
A spectrophotometer is a more complex color measuring instrument that factors in light intensity as a function of the color. It performs full-spectrum color measurement, as opposed to a colorimeter’s tristimulus procedure, and generates color data that’s beyond observation by the human eye.

Features

• Benchtop or portable models
• Higher-end solution for complex color needs
• Greater functionality
• Higher precision from full-spectrum color measurement

How it works

1. An internal light source strikes the diffraction grating, which acts as a prism that separates the light into different wavelengths of the full color spectrum.
2. As the grating rotates, only one specific wavelength of light reaches the exit slit at a time and interacts with the sample.
3. The detector measures the sample’s light intensity, transmittance and absorbance.
4. The spectrophotometer displays this information digitally.

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