A New Method for Measuring Luster Index Based on Image Processing

Abstract

Appearance is an important property of textiles, and in specifying textile appearance luster should be taken into account. There are many problems involved in defining and measuring the luster of textile surfaces, so luster and its measurement have been the subject of extensive investigation, in both theoretical and practical aspects. Many types of surface have been studied and many methods of assessing luster have been devised. There are several devices which are designed to measure luster and gloss, some designed specifically for textiles. However, there is still a lack of information regarding measurement and evaluation of luster of textile surfaces. Current methods investigate fabric via one or more directions and are not capable of providing a general view of fabric luster with regard to appearance, in particular for uneven fabrics. This study reports on a new methodology to obtain an index for the luster of fabric, which compares the luster of fabrics via image analysis. The method produces results consistent with human evaluation of luster, whereas in previous methods the lighting and procedures used in luster calculation have differed from the real-world situations of fabric usage. The method presented in this research, for all samples, takes photographs of fabrics in various directions under constant conditions, and derives the luminance of images. An index is obtained for the luster of fabrics by analyzing the luminance of fabrics.