Observation and measurement of the appearance of metallic materials. Part I. Macro appearance

Part I of this article dealt with the appearance of metallic materials observed at a distance of a few meters. This part deals with the appearance at reading distance. Metallic materials exhibit various appearance attributes, including glitter, glints, depth, coherence glitter, binocular luster, binocular glitter, and binocular mottle. Color disparity is proposed as a measure of binocular luster. Metallic materials resemble grainy photographs, so the method used in photography to quantify graininess by measuring blending distance is introduced. Objective measures of granularity are proposed as correlates of graininess. The term “subsurface” is applied to the apparent “surface” lying beneath the glossy surface. Methods of optical image analysis, such as point spread function, edge spread function, Wiener spectrum, modulation transfer function, and image correlation are proposed to characterize the appearance of metallic surfaces. Polarization and cylindrical presentation may aid measurements. Binocular attributes of appearance introduced here require analysis of the disparity between two points of view. New kinds of pigments may require new methods of measurement. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Col Res Appl, 23: 362–373, 1998