Grand Rapids, MI-based X-Rite announces XRGA, a new metrology standard for the print industry. Designed to take advantage of advances in color science and new international standards, XGRA provides a way to reduce measurement discrepancies between legacy instruments previously developed by X-Rite and GretagMacbeth. The new XRGA standard will improve inter-model agreement so that users can enjoy high-quality data exchange between sites that use different instrumentation, regardless of their legacy affiliation.
“The former X-Rite and the former GretagMacbeth each had, for historical reasons, different calibration standards for graphic arts instrumentation. While it was important to ensure both standards were maintained to guarantee continuity for both companies’ customers, our goal with XGRA is to eliminate systematic discrepancies between instruments so that all measurements taken for the same color sample should be the same, regardless of the system used,” explains Francis Lamy, CTO, X-Rite.
X-Rite has conducted a detailed study designed to quantify the systematic differences between measurements obtained using instruments from both former companies, to ultimately arrive at the definition of a new corporate X-Rite standard for its graphic arts instrumentation. Based on the results, the XRGA was developed and now achieves the following goals:
• Is applicable to all 0/45 and 45/0 instruments.
• Incorporates improved methods for calibration.
• Maintains traceability to the American National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
• Offers best implementation with respect to existing international ISO standards Improves inter-model agreement for existing instruments.
• Preserves good agreement among former X-Rite instruments and former GretagMacbeth instruments.
• Provides a single standard for all future graphic arts instruments to be delivered by X-Rite.
• Improves data exchange.
In addition to developing an improved single calibration processes internally for XRGA standard instruments, X-Rite has developed a set of proprietary matrix transforms to enable measurements taken by either a former X-Rite or a former GretagMacbeth instrument to be easily expressed in the new XRGA standard.
A number of X-Rite graphic arts products already conform to XRGA, notably ColorMunki Photo, ColorMunki Design and EasyTrax. All future graphic arts instruments and software delivered by X-Rite will also conform to XRGA. Because former X-Rite instruments are already very close to the new X-Rite standard, the switch to XRGA results in very small differences in measurement values, so many customers will not need to make any changes. For customers who have experienced greater differences in measurement values between former X-Rite and former GretagMacbeth instruments, X-Rite will provide seamless means to move existing databases to the new XRGA standard.
Over the next several months, new orders of legacy GretagMacbeth and legacy X-Rite products, which are still available for sale, will begin to be manufactured to the new XRGA standard at the factory. Existing customers wishing to upgrade their current instruments can do by following the procedure for the instrument in question outlined at www.xrite.com/xrga/support.
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