Portable colorimeter
First Claim
1. A handheld calorimeter for measuring the color of an object, comprising:
- a plurality of light emitters, each with distinct color spectra, wherein the emission of each color is modulated at a specific frequency;
at least one light sensor which samples light reflected from an object illuminated by said light emitters, wherein the rate of sampling is at least twice the modulation frequency of the emitted light;
a microprocessor which computes the fourier transform of the intensity of the reflected light over time, wherein the fourier transform provides the light intensity at each possible modulation frequency and determines the relative contribution of the reflected light from each light emitter;
a calculating component which calculates a color value based on the fourier transform of the reflected light;
a mapping component which maps the color value to a list of color values and selects a color name from the list that matches the composite color value; and
a presenting component which presents the color name to a user.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A handheld, pen-like colorimeter for measuring the color of an object is provided. The calorimeter comprises several light emitters, each with distinct color spectra, wherein the emission of each color is modulated at a specific frequency. These light emitters may be Ligh Emitting Diodes (LEDs) and/or lasers. The calorimeter also contains at least one light sensor which samples light reflected from an object illuminated by the light emitters. The rate of sampling is at least twice the modulation frequency of the emitted light. A microprocessor computes the fourier transform of the intensity of the reflected light over time, wherein the fourier transform provides the light intensity at each possible modulation frequency and determines the relative contribution of the reflected light from each light emitter, as well as the contribution of ambient light. The modulation frequency of the light emitters is adjusted to account for the modulation frequency of artificial, ambient light. A color value based on the fourier transform of the reflected light is calculated and then mapped to a list of color values from which a color name is selected and presented to the user.
27 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A handheld calorimeter for measuring the color of an object, comprising:
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a plurality of light emitters, each with distinct color spectra, wherein the emission of each color is modulated at a specific frequency;
at least one light sensor which samples light reflected from an object illuminated by said light emitters, wherein the rate of sampling is at least twice the modulation frequency of the emitted light;
a microprocessor which computes the fourier transform of the intensity of the reflected light over time, wherein the fourier transform provides the light intensity at each possible modulation frequency and determines the relative contribution of the reflected light from each light emitter;
a calculating component which calculates a color value based on the fourier transform of the reflected light;
a mapping component which maps the color value to a list of color values and selects a color name from the list that matches the composite color value; and
a presenting component which presents the color name to a user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for measuring the color of an object, comprising:
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shining a plurality of light emitters, each with distinct color spectra, on an object, wherein the emission of each color is modulated at a specific frequency;
sampling light reflected from an object illuminated by said light emitters, wherein the rate of sampling is at least twice the modulation frequency of the emitted light;
computing the fourier transform of the intensity of the reflected light over time, wherein the fourier transform provides the light intensity at each possible modulation frequency and determines the relative contribution of the reflected light from each light emitter;
calculating a color value based on the fourier transform of the reflected light;
mapping the color value to a list of color values and selecting a color name from the list that matches the composite color value; and
presenting the color name to a user.
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Specification