For Digital Color Data Management for ICT and Automobile Production Sites
Tokyo (February 19, 2019) – Konica Minolta, Inc. (Konica Minolta) today announced that the company will launch the new CM-26dG series of portable spectrophotometers for high-precision color measurement, including the mid-range model CM-26d and cost-effective model CM-25d to be introduced in March 2019 plus the advanced flagship model CM-26dG for simultaneous color and gloss measurements which will be introduced in Autumn 2019.
The CM-26dG, CM-26d, and CM-25d are new models being introduced as successors to the CM-2600d and CM-2500d spectrophotometers used by many customers in the automobile and IT industries. These products are used mainly at production sites that manufacture interior parts for automobiles and exterior parts for smartphones and tablets, helping to increase efficiency and reduce manpower in customer operations and enabling digital color data management*1 across increasingly globalized supply chains.
Values offered by CM-26dG Series
1. Improving the inspection process by quickly measuring color and gloss at the same time (CM-26dG only)
The CM-26dG is a “two-in-one” type of spectrophotometer that can simultaneously measure color and gloss, with a compact body weighing just 660 g. This helps increase efficiency and reduce manpower when measuring large quantities of samples, significantly improving the existing inspection process of customers.
2. Achieving outstanding quality control with the industry’s top level of measurement accuracy
The CM-26dG series provides extremely high inter-instrument agreement, with very little variation among units. This enables these instruments to be used for quality control across the supply chain, from component part manufacturers to those of finished products. The inter-instrument agreement of the chromaticity value (average for 12 BCRA color tiles) is within ΔE 0.12 for the CM-26dG and CM-26d, an improvement of about 40% from previous models. (Within ΔE 0.2 for the CM-25d.)
This superb measurement accuracy enables digital color data management, which is color management based solely on colorimetric data without having to use color reference plates (which are troublesome to prepare and require strict control) for each site. These new instruments thus help customers attain exceptional quality control across their supply chains worldwide.
3. Helping improve operator productivity with high usability
The Job function*2 enables measurement instructions (including photographs) for routine tasks to be registered in the instrument, helping to improve productivity by promoting work uniformity regardless of differences in operator skills.
The CM-26dG and CM-26d can switch between Ø8mm and Ø3mm measurement areas (the CM-25d has a fixed Ø8mm measurement area) for measuring parts of different sizes. All models are also equipped with a viewfinder for accurate positioning on patterned subjects or small parts, and instrument surfaces which come in contact with the measurement subject are designed to minimize subject damage.
4. Faster measurements for increased task efficiency and improved durability for reduced downtime
For products produced in bulk such as smartphones, thousands of quality inspections may be conducted per day, requiring short measurement times and measurement intervals together with high instrument durability. The CM-26dG series fulfills both of these requirements. Even when measuring both color and gloss with the CM-26dG, measurement time is only about 1 second and measurements can be taken approximately every two seconds. In addition, durability in terms of measurement cycles has been significantly improved compared to previous models. The improved inspection speed and durability increase work efficiency and reduce downtime.
*1:A color management technique based solely on numerical data without using color reference plates
*2:Setting enabled by separately available software
Main Specifications
The information, specifications, and product appearance provided in this news release are subject to change without notice.
| Model | CM-26dG | CM-26d | CM-25d |
|---|---|---|---|
| Color | Illumination/viewing system | di:8°, de:8° (diffused illumination, 8° viewing angle) SCI (specular component included)/SCE (specular component excluded) selectable with automatic switching | |
| Wavelength range | 360 to 740㎚ | 400 to 700㎚ | |
| Repeatability | Chromaticity value: Standard deviation within ΔE*ab0.02 | Chromaticity value: Standard deviation within ΔE*ab0.04 | |
| (White calibration plate measured 30 times at 5-second intervals after white calibration was performed) | |||
| Inter-instrument agreement | Within ΔE*ab0.12 | Within ΔE*ab0.2 | |
| (Average for 12 BCRA Series II color tiles. MAV-SCI. Compared to values measured with a master body under Konica Minolta standard conditions) | |||
| Gloss | Measurement angle | 60° | |
| Repeatability | Standard deviation 0 to <10 GU: Within 0.1 GU ≥10 to <100 GU: Within 0.2 GU ≥100 GU to ≤200 GU: Within 0.2% of the indicated value (Measured 30 times at 5-second intervals) | ||
| Inter-instrument agreement | 0 to <10 GU: Within ±0.2 GU ≥10 to <100 GU: Within ±0.5 GU (MAV. Compared to values measured with a master body under Konica Minolta standard conditions) | ||
| Dimensions (W × H × L) [mm] | Approx. 81×93×229 | ||
| Weight [g] | Approx. 660 | Approx. 630 | Approx. 620 |
About Konica Minolta’s Sensing Business
Konica Minolta’s sensing business offers various products and solutions in the fields of light source color measurement and object color measurement based on the optical technologies developed in its former camera business and continually refined thereafter. The products and solutions offered by Konica Minolta contribute to ensuring quality and improving productivity at customers’ manufacturing sites, and many products are used as de facto standard color measurement instruments. Notably, Konica Minolta has more than a 50% share in the global market for display image quality measurement and inspection (estimated by Konica Minolta), and has a solid presence as the market leader.
Konica Minolta has actively promoted investments to strengthen its competitiveness. In 2012, the company acquired Instrument Systems GmbH (Germany) which develops high-end optical measuring instruments and has an outstanding track record in the high-performance measurement of displays and LED lighting devices. In 2015, the company acquired Radiant Vision Systems, LLC (U.S.) which excels at high-resolution 2D measurement instruments for displays, image processing software, and automatic appearance inspection systems.
Konica Minolta remains committed to developing its measuring instrument business as a market leader by offering various high value-added products and solutions that enable high-precision measurement of light and color for the ever-growing ICT and automobile industries.