Spectrophotometer and its application to a colorimeter

A spectrophotometer comprising:

• a light source for casting a light on a sample;
• a spectral element for separating the light coming from the sample with respect to wavelength;
• a photo-detector for measuring the light separated by the spectral element;
• a camera for taking a picture of the sample;
• a display device for showing the picture of the sample;
• an input device used by an operator looking at the picture for designating a place on the sample;
• a controller for controlling a relative movement of a sample stage and an optical system including the spectral element and the photo-detector in order to bring the designated place at the optical system;
• a pointer generator for generating an image of a pointer at the designated place;
• and
• a superimposer for superimposing the image of the pointer on the picture of the sample.

A colorimeter for measuring a color or colors of a sample mounted on a sample stage by performing a spectrophotometric measurement of the sample using an optical system, the colorimeter comprising:

• a camera for taking a color picture of the sample, the picture consisting of two-dimensionally arrayed pixels;
• a data storage for storing color data of the pixels with an information about a place of each of the pixels;
• determining means for determining a place and/or a size of a measurement area of the sample based on the color data of the pixels with the information about the place referring to a preset rule;
• moving means for moving the sample stage and/or the optical system;
• and
• a controller for controlling a relative movement of the sample stage and the optical system so that the spectrophotometric measurement is performed on the measurement area.