Perceptual-realistic colored sparkle evaluation and measurement system for image-based matching of color and appearance of coatings containing effect pigments

A computing system operable to evaluate and match color and appearance of coatings containing at least one effect pigment type, the computing system comprising:

• at least one processor;
• and
• at least one non-transitory machine-readable storage medium that stores instructions executable by the at least one processor, the instructions configurable to cause the at least one processor to perform a method comprising the steps of:
• receiving a digital image of a coating sample to be colored sparkle matched, the digital image captured by a digital image capture system, and the digital image represented by captured color image data formatted in accordance with a first color model that is native to the digital image capture system;
• converting the captured color image data into pixel-specific sparkle point data and pixel-specific background data, wherein the pixel-specific sparkle point data and the pixel-specific background data are both formatted in accordance with an advanced color appearance model that corresponds to human color perception;
• calculating, from the pixel-specific sparkle point data and the pixel-specific background data, a first colored sparkle visual scaling value for the coating sample to be colored sparkle matched, wherein the first colored sparkle visual scaling value indicates colored sparkle characteristics of the coating sample to be colored sparkle matched;
• retrieving a second colored sparkle visual scaling value for a candidate coating specimen, wherein the second colored sparkle visual scaling value indicates colored sparkle characteristics of the candidate coating specimen;
• comparing the first colored sparkle visual scaling value against the second colored sparkle visual scaling value;
• and
• determining how well the candidate coating specimen matches the coating sample to be colored sparkle matched, based on results of the comparing step.

At least one non-transitory machine-readable storage medium that stores instructions executable by at least one processor, the instructions configurable to cause the at least one processor to perform a method of evaluating and matching colored sparkle appearance of coatings containing at least one effect pigment type, the method comprising:

• receiving a digital image of a coating sample to be colored sparkle matched, the digital image captured by a digital image capture system, and the digital image represented by captured color image data formatted in accordance with a first color model that is native to the digital image capture system;
• converting the captured color image data into pixel-specific sparkle point data and pixel-specific background data, wherein the pixel-specific sparkle point data and the pixel-specific background data are both formatted in accordance with an advanced color appearance model that corresponds to human color perception;
• calculating, from the pixel-specific sparkle point data and the pixel-specific background data, a first colored sparkle visual scaling value for the coating sample to be colored sparkle matched, wherein the first colored sparkle visual scaling value indicates colored sparkle characteristics of the coating sample to be colored sparkle matched;
• retrieving a second colored sparkle visual scaling value for a candidate coating specimen, wherein the second colored sparkle visual scaling value indicates colored sparkle characteristics of the candidate coating specimen;
• comparing the first colored sparkle visual scaling value against the second colored sparkle visual scaling value;
• and
• determining how well the candidate coating specimen matches the coating sample to be colored sparkle matched, based on results of the comparing step.