CIELab Color Measurement - UV Vis Spectroscopy

Method for Automated CIELab Color Determination using a UV Vis Spectrophotometer

In this application note, the CIELab color measurement is performed using the UV Vis excellence spectrophotometer together with the InMotionTM autosampler and LabX PC software. To find out more, please proceed to download the application note below.

What is the CIELab Color Scale?

CIE L*a*b* (CIELab) is a color space which is defined by the International Commission on Illumination (Commission internationale de l'éclairage, CIE), where "L" represents lightness, and "a" and "b" are two color components. CIE provides the standard for color models or color spaces representing the visual spectrum, including all colors visible to the human eye.

How is CIELab Color measured?

In this application note, the CIELab color measurement is performed using the UV/VIS Excellence spectrophotometer together with the InMotion auto-sampler and the LabX PC software, where preprogrammed color methods are available with no extra cost. The CIELab values can be automatically calculated using the LabX method template.

This method is especially useful in the quality control process of the flavor and fragrance industry, and the food and beverage industry. CIELab is commonly used to assess the color of the product. Data for liquid food coloring samples is presented as an illustrating example in this application note.