Impact of surface texture on the perceptual and instrumental gloss

Gloss and texture are two optical properties of materials that have an indispensable role in determining the visual appearance of objects. Gloss is enormously affected by texture, and even minor changes in surface roughness can result in significant changes in gloss. However, there are differences between the gloss perceived by the human eye and the gloss measured by instruments.

Lack of a simple relation between the visual gloss and the texture

In a new paper, several glossy samples with different textures were prepared, and their gloss values were measured. The texture of the surfaces was analysed using image processing methods. Moreover, a visual comparison test was performed to assess the gloss visually. The results showed a reasonable relation between the instrumental gloss and the texture analysis parameters; as the surface roughness increased, the instrumental surface gloss decreased.

Nevertheless, the visual assessment results differed from the instrumental measurements. As surface texture increased, gloss dropped, and by reaching a certain point, gloss increased significantly. After that, the gloss decreased again as the texture increased. These results demonstrated the lack of a simple relation between the visual gloss and the texture analysis parameters, which emphasizes finding a proper surface texture parameter with a good relationship with the visual gloss.

The study has been published in Progress in Organic Coatings, Volume 171, October 2022.