<VV> paint codes

[airvair at earthlink.net]

You missed my point. The application you are refering to IS accurate. But that's not what I'm refering to. What I am refering to is color reproduction on a computer monitor, or for that matter, on a printer. My brother's a professional photographer, and even he has said that it's difficult to get colors accurately reproduced on the monitor, and then to the printed version. You often have to play with it to get it just right. I've had computer experts say the same thing.

-Mark


----- Original Message ----- 
From: 
To: airvair at earthlink.net
Cc: Virtual Vairs
Sent: 7/27/2009 4:24:21 PM 
Subject: Re: paint codes


"There was only one interior red color used. It therefore wouldn't matter
what exterior color the car is. It's this color that Carl's looking for.
Computer generated colors wouldn't be accurate enough, only a physical
sample. - Mark"

OK Mark, only one red interior color.
But your statement about computer generated colors not accurate enough is WAY OFF BASE.
How do you think they match colors? The use a computer to read the color. The problem if you will, is that computer generated color values are TO ACCURATE. The computer can "see" to a greater accuracy than the human eye can.

This was one of the big problems we had in the lab when customers wanted EXACT MATCHES based on L*A*B numbers. L*A*B numbers are somewhat like RGB but that's a stretch. Color values are represented by their components. The components are your mixing instructions. You add a little more of a color depending on where your sample is located in color space.

What this person is trying to do is to get a piece of sheet metal with a good sample of his red interior color still intact. He will then go to the paint supply and they will read it with a spectro which will generate either L*A*B numbers or RGB I would guess. A simple trip to a paint supply store will define exactly what numbers they use.

And by the way, the spectro is the computer in this case. Yes, they run on computer type programs.

Roy