How to read Interior Color Codes with Accuracy?

Have you ever seen a wall, a kitchen cabinet or a another piece of furniture that was so beautifully colored that made you want to get/save the exact color for your next project?

While its possible to take a HDR picture with your mobile phone or a DSLR camera and get the color afterwards on Photoshop that method is never as accurate as you wanted to because of the lighting conditions, the quality of the lens that took the picture or if there is any grain in it. Not to mention that when you zoom too much you usually get pixels with colors that vary wildly from one another. Apparently this problem is quite common among architects, interior designers or furniture makers that a new device was created for the exact purpose: to accurately measure the color code of a space.

Meet RAL Color Code Reader

This device accurately specifies the accurate color code of the surface you put it on. With 6 High CRI white LED’s and an optical lens the camera at the bottom will take a picture with pre-set lightning conditions to get the most accurate color out of the picture it takes. This is mainly due to the D65/10 illuminant it uses.

D65/10

D65 Illuminant is intended to simulate daylight. D65/10° – D65 standard illuminant, 10 degrees viewing angle.

Where is D65 used in?
D65 is a color measurement method used extensively in various industries some including wool, different fabrics, film, photography, in which a simulation of natural daylight is needed and color accuracy is crucial. D65 came as a necessity to support the standardization of lighting conditions which must be used across products, industries, and product manufacturers.

D65 is used as a measurement of color even when the subjects being lack a white color (for example red tiles) because of the fact that different shades or light specters can output different appearances of the same color. This is why a D65 standard is pivotal for an accurate color evaluation and perception.

Mobile App

The device is paired via Bluetooth. You can either use an Android phone or an iPhone. They will pair via the RAL Reader app which then will give you the measurement of a color in several other formats including: RGB, CIE Lab, CMYK, Hex, LCH, LRV, Delta E. As soon as you start using the device it is best to calibrate the color via a white tile calibration disk that comes in the package.