What are the limitationss of spectrophotometers?
A. Different spectrophotometers are more or less accurate than others. Most of the cheaper instruments available today are reasonably accurate for reflecting media without steep changes in spectral reflectance, which is the case for most pigments. Although measurement typically takes a second or so on a hand-held device, if you have a large number of colour patches to measure this can add up to long time. Some manufacturers offer automated devices which move the measuring head across the chart automatically, or allow you to ‘swipe’ the instrument across a strip of patches.
