NIST Special Publication SP250-71: 0:45 Surface Color

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have a long history in color and appearance, with many important contributions to our present understanding of color measurements. Interest in colorimetry at NIST dates back to the 1930’s [1,2]. NIST continues to take an active role in the measurement of color with the development of the Reference 0:45 Reflectometer, henceforth referred to as the 0:45 reflectometer. The primary purpose of the 0:45 reflectometer is to disseminate color standards to the color and appearance community through a set of calibrated color tiles, British Ceramic Research (BCRA) series II. These tiles are used to transfer the NIST 0:45 color scale to other instruments. Because color often plays a major role in the acceptability of a product, this calibration service is designed to meet a demand for improved measurements and standards to enhance the color matching of products.