I'm sure there's some sort of gadget that can do this but has anyone any idea what it's called?

I'm guessing it's a high precision scanner/camera that can focus on a close area of an item, scan it and analyze the colour(s) it sees there, far more accurately than simply eyeballing the thing.

The reason I'm asking is, first of all, I'm interested, second, I've Googled every variation on a suitable name to no avail, third, if possible, I'd like to get my hands on one, although it's most likely very expensive and therefore out of my reach.

Are you speaking of this kind of tool?

Sort of.  I'm thinking of something that scans an object, analyzes the colour and tells you what the RGB/CMYK values are, independent of any monitor you have, simply so you can replicate the colour in paint, printing or whatever.

AFAIK, that thing is used to calibrate monitors.

If you are referring to digitally projected images then a perfectly calibrated monitor would be a must for color accuracy.  Yet, under what conditions would be you be scanning the object, pure white light, bright sunny day, cloudy day, etc?  On a digital level, we're talking pixels.

No, I'm not.  I'm simply looking for something that looks at an object and tells you exactly what colour it is.  Forget about doing anything else with it.  As for lighting conditions, I'm assuming the device would take care of that itself.

Maybe something like this?

https://www.tequipment.net/Anaheim/H500/Colorimeters-and-Color-Analyzers/

Maybe something like this?

https://www.tequipment.net/Anaheim/H500/Colorimeters-and-Color-Analyzers/

randym77 posted at 1:01 PM Mon, 31 January 2022 - #4434126

Maybe something like this?

https://www.tequipment.net/Anaheim/H500/Colorimeters-and-Color-Analyzers/

Sam, start saving your pennies and sell your left kidney, this is going to be a major hit to your pocketbook.

DIY with the right chip (TCS34725) and it costs only $7.95

https://www.adafruit.com/product/1334

This may be stupid but: what about taking a photography, without filter, and then measure using whatever photo-studio-shop-gimp-?

Did a lot of colour-matching at work with Nessler tubes, filter disks and such. We also put what samples we could into colourimeters and, yes, spectrophotometers, both trad 'dial a wavelength' and, later, diode-array spectrum grabbers...

Snag with manual methods was you had to begin by assuming the sample was 'guilty', then sorta spiral in, happily discovering it was okay after all.

And, yes, you had to keep your optical prescription reasonably up-to-date.

I still remember having a dispute with a senior guy who said a brew was the correct colour, despite me thrice getting colour matches that were waaaay off. That was late on a Friday afternoon, when we'd few staff left to tie-break. I refused to sign it off, went home.

But, the following morning, I was waiting on doorstep of my optician. Though I'd no appointment, when he heard my tale, he urgently tested my colour vision, as-is, wearing my 'street' glasses, then again wearing my 'safety glasses'. Passed as excellent, wrote me a note to this effect.

Which saved me from near-lynching by posse waiting at work on the Monday morning. Seems batch had been signed as fit for 'filling' on the Saturday. Where the pre-start line check spotted the colour match was waaaay off. Team had to be sent home...

Careful examination of records showed the fourth 'Is OK' finding was not my writing, nor my signature. And, yes, I had the fresh note from my optician confirming that my colour vision was okay. A legendary 'CYA' !! Investigation discovered that senior guy had glanced at the colour, seen a pink unicorn, not my dun mare, over-ridden my findings . Seems he had, all un-aware, such poorly corrected vision that he and I had seen sufficiently different colours...

Yeah, right. Only, when we dialled up what I'd seen in triplicate vs what he claimed to have seen, once, the difference was so wide he must have been legally blind, un-fit to drive...

Given he was a rising 'Mover & Shaker' in our then-powerful staff union, us lab-rats reckoned he'd been given a 'plea bargain'. We were not surprised when, a few months later, a vacancy appeared across-site and he got the job...

Nobody would buy a kidney from me.  Cancer tends to be a big red flag.  :D

Sam, sounds like you're looking for a spectrophotometer. These are (you're right) expensive instruments from companies such as Barbieri, Konica-Minolta and X-Rite.

The instruments sold solely for calibrating monitors are usually, but not always, colorimeters, which are less expensive.

A spectrophotometer can measure across a range of colour temperatures and into the near-UV. Most if not all need to be in contact with the sample to read its colour accurately.

Spectrophotometes are used for all sorts of purposes in medical research, industrial applications, cosmetics, etc. etc. but you're looking for one intended for printers and / or photographers, something like an X-Rite i1Pro (if you see one of these with 'Macbeth' or 'Gretag-Macbeth' instead of 'X-Rite' as the manufacturer they will be ancient and knackered).

I just checked on ebay (UK) and it looks like a 2nd generation i1Pro will set you back around £400 - £500, but make sure you get the software and the dongle if you're tempted! And don't forget, an i1 Display is a colorimeter, not a spectrophotomete.

Anyhow, thanks all for the replies.  I now know what the thing is called and yes, it's way out of my reach but I can dream.  :D

Color Picker in Photoshop does a very good job ya know... then there are apps in both stores, just search for "color value finder" without the u yeah? lol

FWIW, Amazon (UK) found several types of  'surface colour checkers' that use a small, hand-held sensor plus Bluetooth to app for £ 60 ~~ 100 UKP, $ 80~~140

Datacolor, Nix etc.

Expensive, but fraction of price of 'Pro' kit. YMMV...

I'd suggest that even if whatsit's kit includes a basic grey and colour-correction test-card, you get your own, plus spare, to be stored in dark, 'to be sure, to be sure'...

Think pristine 'challenge weight' for trad shop or kitchen scales, sanity-checking their battered 'working' set of brass or iron lumps. 
Likewise, for 'self-calibrating' balances, which have some very weird failure modes, such as 'whisker' growth in the load-cell creating an 'exasperation of stiction'...

There are hundreds of 'Colorimeter' apps on the Google Play store!

@TwiztidKidd - Yeah, if you're talking about photos, which may or may not be accurate to the original.  In fact, I'll say no photo ever taken is an accurate representation when it comes to colour, and those on computers doubly so.

I am talking about something that's accurate, definitive and not limited to what's seen on a screen.  Basically, something that can give an accurate measure of the colour of any object, item, car, guitar, carpet, wall, cat, shoe, anything, anywhere.

Keep in mind that color is not an absolute when photographed. so much is dependent on lighting. The strength, spectrum and tint of the lights on a object determines the color of an object.  This is what I was taught in a college course on color theory.  So finding the "right" color means very careful techniques to capture that color. This is probably why there is such a high price for measuring devices and software.

With respect, you cannot trust a phone's camera to render colours 'well enough'. Even with a clever app and test-cards, using RAW files etc. Beyond the obvious issues, there's also the way cameras may 'see' some infra-red, or be skewed  by fluorescence from UV.

Which is where the hand-held 'contact' sensor comes in...

-

Another 'A-Nik-Dote': When a long strip of our dark-red, textured hall carpet 'went missing' during re-decoration, we had problems finding even an approximate match. My wife and I, together or independently, must have visited a dozen 'interior' shops to study their swatch-stacks, compare the 'postage stamp' sample we could spare. Few came close, none came close enough.

Then, one night, driving home in the rain, I had to take a diversion due an accident. There, glimpsed in front window of a little 'interiors' shop on other side of busy street, was our match. Took me a week to get back there, an hour to go through their mountain of swatches which, of course, had moved around. Found it, noted the reference, went back at weekend with my disbelieving wife. Her double-take at the perfect match of my 'spot' was wondrous...

Funny part is that my wife could glance at something, rattle off its precise shade or hue. eg 'This blouse is Calabrian Umber, isn't it ??'

Where-as I have trouble naming colours beyond 'Ish': Green-ish ? Sorta greenish-blue ? Or bluish-green ? Pale red-amber ?

Need to know the exact shade? There's an app for that... LOL

I set it to 'Dulux'

https://imagecolorpicker.com/

Now anyone got one of these? https://www.amazon.com/Nix-Sensor-Ltd-Pro-Color/dp/B00X7XBSR6

Wait a minute... the precision tool is not very precise either lol ... it says:

Color Accuracy - color scans are affected by uneven surfaces, multicolored patterns, metallic surfaces, pearls, high gloss and ambient light. For best results, keep the Pro 2 flush and scan matte samples with the gloss coating removed. To confirm colors, you may bring the paint name and numbers to your local paint retailer for physical sample comparison.

If you go to a paint retailer they'll scan your sample and mix the paint for you in that matching color at no charge... you just pay for the base paint they used.