The ORIGINAL CCM 20-60 Concrete Clarity Meter CCM DOI Haze & IQ meter

Concrete Clarity Meter

The Polished Concrete Industry has been searching for a solution to its ongoing difficulty with how to quantify a beautiful looking shiny Polished Concrete Floor, with a clear and simple measurement.
Gloss checker meters were meant to measure a floor without any coating to determine whether the floor met the design specifications. It did not take long for coatings to be applied to floors to make them glossier and smoother. After the coating was applied to a poorly finished floor, a gloss meter or gloss checker measured a much higher value of gloss. Less time and labour were spent on the expensive mechanical work, but it achieved the goal of the designers who did not know any better. 
Unfortunately, these coatings are quickly diminished by abrasion. Constant normal walking will destroy the appearance over a short period of time.

The Imbotec CCM Concrete Clarity Meter  also known as Rhopoint IQ was introduced to the Polished Concrete Industry by John Imbault and Mr. Brad Burns measures not only gloss but also other image quality parameters such as: DOI, Haze and RSPEC , it is the only handheld instrument that profiles how light is reflected from a surface.

Standard glossmeters only measure how much light is reflected and are not sensitive to effects which dramatically reduce appearance quality. Only the CCM Concrete Clarity Meter measures orange peel, haze effects and polishing marks, refinement which distort reflections in a surface, seriously reducing visual appearance but cannot be measured with traditional glossmeter.

• DOI / RIQ, IQ Meter, ( quantifies orange peel )
• Clarity quantifies refinement for Polished Concrete
• Hazemeter ( reflectance haze )
• Measures RSPEC
• 20° glossmeter for high gloss finishes

In a single fast measurement, the Imbotec Concrete Clarity Meter CCM also known as Rhopoint IQ captures information about the gloss and texture on a sample surface. 
Combined gloss, haze and orange peel or refinement (DOI/RIQ values) information have made the CCM / IQ essential for controlling appearance finish in the Polished Concrete Industry - paints and coatings sector, particularly for high tech., automotive, Polished Concrete and aerospace coatings.

Two Haze Samples and Three Clarity samples with similar gloss

The above image clearly shows two samples of Haze. The Concrete Clarity Meter also measures this variable, which is not desirable on polished concrete floors or any similar surface. Haze diminishes as the DOI (Distinctness of Image) - RIQ (Reflected Image Quality) increases. 

The lower three images all have the SAME GLOSS VALUE. They ALL HAVE THE SAME GLOSS! However, the DOI - RIQ levels are extremely different ranging from close to zero to close to 100, proving that DOI – RIQ is the only accurate method to measure the quality of a polished concrete surface.

Mechanical roughness gauges to measure smoothness or roughness, however, called are not much better than gloss meters; coatings and gloss enhancers fool them too easily. Coatings fill the voids and crevices in the concrete floor and voila, a smooth and glossy concrete floor.

Some time ago the Concrete Polishing Association took on a project to find a method that would be foolproof and easy to use, and also affordable. We provided meters to them for their testing on many floors from East to West and North to South, to see how different variables (machines, weight, aggregate, etc.) from each corner of the country affected outcomes for this new Concrete Clarity Meter. Results were very POSITIVE.

Samples of Beautifully Finished Floors:

Work performed by Cuviello Concrete.	Mustang reflected off a Polished Concrete Floor
Work in progress for a High Clarity success	High Clarity DOI of 82.1 yet low Gloss  **The Concrete Clarity Meter (CCM) is 2 angle ONLY instrument
Nice high contrast floor producing decent Clarity at a mid-Gloss

Concrete Clarity Meter

This Concrete Clarity Meter is handheld, easily transportable, lightweight, and easy to use. It is also accurate, repeatable and cannot be fooled. Finally, waxes and coatings will no longer fool an instrument or operator. The Polished Concrete Industry found a solution. 
True mechanically polished floors that shone like a mirror had high marks and floors with poorly finished surfaces with coatings had low marks.

Engineers, architects, and general contractors now have a tool to determine within seconds if the floor is what was requested and paid for!

The Concrete Clarity Meter measures Clarity on Concrete. The Clarity term is chosen to easily describe the level of how the concrete surface compares to a mirror. If a surface is shiny but hazy, it gets low points. If it shines and clear reflections are seen while looking at the floor, it gets high marks. High marks are measured as units of RIQ, “Reflected Image Quality”, some people also referred to them as DOI, “Distinctness of Image”.

Readings from a very High DOI on a floor in Las Vegas. 
**The Concrete Clarity Meter (CCM) is 2 angle ONLY instrument

DOI was found to measure the best surface appearance properties. As a floor is being abraded, and thus finer and finer scratches are created, the Concrete Clarity Meter can start measuring an increasing DOI while gloss is stable.
DOI is a precursor to gloss values. As the refinement of the concrete continues, DOI increases and gloss also starts to increase. 1500 to 3000 final grit properly finished concrete floors with maximum refinement between each abrasion step will look more like a mirror or a calm lake than a concrete floor.The concrete clarity meter measures the steps in between each successive pass easily. Final high values of DOI over 80 meant the floor was finished properly with each successive pass of abrasion removing the previous set of scratches. This procedure produced a long-lasting, easily cared for the floor without waxes or coatings. 

Note: both the high RIQ and GLOSS and low Haze all pointing to a quality finish. 
**The Concrete Clarity Meter (CCM) is 2 angle ONLY instrument

A newer version of the meter introduced a new measurement called RIQ. RIQ replaced DOI as the better measurement. RIQ measures at lower values and thus has more resolution, making it better for the polished concrete industry as a whole.

For a Polished Concrete Contractor, the Imbotec Clarity DOI meter is an invaluable tool in the bidding process to differentiate you from your competitors. Scientifically prove the quality of your work to all your customers. This tool differentiates you as being the professional one.

Conclusion:

The Concrete Clarity Meter is an invaluable tool as determined by the Polishing Association and as seen by Concrete Polishing educational institutions across the United States. It is easily used and understood. 

North America’s Premier Concrete Clarity Meter supplier and only Factory Authorized Repair and Calibration Facility. Get your Concrete Clarity Meter from Imbotec Group.