Quantifying the color of an object, and then measuring color difference between the object’s color and a color standard, is an important factor in assuring color consistency and acceptance. Assembling parts from various lots and production runs requires that parts have minimal—or no—color difference, so a typical observer sees nothing objectionable.

Typically, a color instrument will deliver color values represented by three color coordinates:

• “L” value, which describes the lightness or darkness of a sample
• “a” value, which describes the redness or greenness of a sample
• “b” value, which describes the yellowness or blueness of a sample

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