Digital BW, The Print

The colour black is the sensation we perceive due to the absence of (in this
case) reflected light.  Most of today's spectrophotometers project D50
lighting at 0 degrees and measure the light reflected back at 45 degrees.
The deeper blacks on photo paper with photo black ink have higher dMax
because they reflect less light not more.  The fact that photo papers
produce a less diffuse reflection contributes to their sheen characteristic
but not their increased dMax.  It's the properties of the ink and other
coatings in/on the paper which affect its ability to absorb light.  The
specular reflection characteristics of the surface are a different issue?

I think what you are saying is that you are prepared to sacrifice dMax in
order to achieve less specular, more diffuse, reflection properties -
particularly if you don't have "perfect" lighting. (I agree.)  But this is
not to say that glossy papers have an inherent advantage.  In fact their
reflection properties is a big disadvantage - it is lucky they have better
dMax to make up for it.  The question at hand is how much dMax loss are you
prepared to take in order to have a more diffuse reflection? The answer
probably hasn't changed much over the years (although I doubt it's been
measured), only the relevant performance of each competing type of
paper/ink.


> From: Paul Roark <paul.roark@...>

> 
> The spectrophotometers we use for measuring dmax use nearly perfect lighting
> that avoids the problems of reflections.  This gives the glossy papers a
> huge advantage.  
> 
> In the real world, a matte print sitting on my desk top appears to have a
> better dmax than a gloss print because the glossy print dmax is wiped out by
> reflections.  That is, the nature of the lighting is what makes all the
> difference.  If the display conditions are perfect, the glossy prints are
> terrific.  If the lighting is bad, like a window behind the viewer, matte
> wins.  
> 
>