Special-effect finishes are used in many applications to create new color impressions, pronouncing the design of a product and at the same time making the product appear alive. The color impression of effect finishes can not only change under different viewing angles but can also look different depending on the lighting conditions.
Therefore, new generations of special-effect pigments can no longer sufficiently be described with traditional multi-angle color measurement quantifying the diffused light reflection at 3 to 5 angles. This paper presents new technologies that were developed to objectively describe the total impression of color – multi-angle color and effect changes (sparkle – graininess) as well as paint defects such as “cloudiness - mottling”.