History of Spectrophotometry at Beckman Instruments, Inc.

Visual and digital tooth shade selection methods, related effective factors and conditions, and their accuracy and precision: A literature review

“…6,7 In 1940, Beckman and his colleagues invented a spectrophotometer, measured the reflection/transmission properties of an object as a basis of wavelength, presented the whole spectral curve with high accuracy, and quantified the CIE color attributes. 8,9 However, the first commercial dental shade guide, named the VITA Lumin Vacuum and launched in 1956, was not based on color parameters. 10 Thus, Sproull emphasized the three-dimensional nature of color and indicated difficulties of shade determination due to several factors affecting the tooth color and inefficacy of existing shade guides while suggesting feasible methods for color measurement, control, and match in 1973.…”

“…The need for color measuring instruments led to employ tristimulus cameras/colorimeters with transmittance spectra imitating color coordinates in order to read visible spectrum using photodetectors in digital imaging 6,7 . In 1940, Beckman and his colleagues invented a spectrophotometer, measured the reflection/transmission properties of an object as a basis of wavelength, presented the whole spectral curve with high accuracy, and quantified the CIE color attributes 8,9 . However, the first commercial dental shade guide, named the VITA Lumin Vacuum and launched in 1956, was not based on color parameters 10 .…”

Environmental analysis by direct aqueous injection

“…Beckman shipped its first IR instrument, the IR-1, on Sept. 18, 1942 (7), and Perkin Elmer shipped its first, the Model 12A, in 1944. The growth in the use of IR spectroscopy was explosive.…”

“…This signal was essentially the blackbody emission of the source as modified by the transmission of the prism and the windows, with the absorption of the atmosphere and the sample superimposed. The procedure was to make a scan with a reference cell to obtain the reference signal (70), and then to make a scan with the sample to measure the sample signal (7). For both scans, the position of the zero line had to be checked frequently by inserting an opaque shutter in the beam.…”

Design, fabrication and experimental characterization of a PDMS-based AWG spectrometer

“…Beckman and was given the name Beckman DU [5]. It was originally invented to measure vitamins A & D from various sources [6].…”