Optical models for material appearance

Material appearance has emerged as a scientific topic in its own right rather
recently and an increasing number of professionals concerned by this topic,
belonging to various application areas, are entering this vast field. Thanks
to the rise of imaging systems and visual rendering software, and the rapid
development of accessible devices for color and gloss analysis, non-expert
people can now check, for example, the compliance of a product with an
appearance standard, or create a realistic virtual prototype. Most of these
tools are based on optical concepts which are generally not in the forefront
at an elementary level usage, but which are necessary for a consistent
analysis of the specific cases studied. The objective of this book is
precisely to introduce the fundamental notions of optics allowing the readers
to understand the radiometric quantities measured with common devices, to
learn how to analyze them, and to review some classical optics-based
predictive models for various types of materials and structures. We have
chosen to illustrate the theoretical notions with numerous examples and
corrected exercises, easily transposable to a variety of materials: glass
plates, polymer films, pigment layers, metals, papers and printed surfaces,
coatings, etc. The book targets an audience of students, engineers and
researchers who have a scientific background but not necessarily versed in
optics, who are seeking sound bases in order to characterize the appearance of
products and better comprehend the more advanced research currently being
conducted in this area.