Flatbed Scanners: An Alternative Tool for Gathering Horticultural Data

Royal Horticulture Society Colour Chart cards were used to compare the Linotype-Hell Saphir color flatbed scanner, the Minolta CR-200 chromameter and the HunterLab Labscan XE colorimeter in the Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage L * a * b * three-dimensional color space. Regression analysis revealed that these instruments measure color in a similar manner with most R 2 values greater than 0.97 and slopes near unity for comparison of each of the three color space parameters (L * , a * , b * ). Standard errors were also found to be within a narrow range for each parameter, L * (2.19 to 3.97), a * (5.97 to 12.01), b * (4.10 to 6.71). The Linotype-Hell Saphir color flatbed scanner and the Minolta CR-200 chromameter were also compared for samples with surface curvature using redtwig dogwood ( Cornus serecia 'Baileyi') and yellowtwig dogwood ( Cornus serecia `Flaviramea') stems but no significant difference was found.