The reliability of digital cameras for color selection

Abstract

Purpose: This study evaluated the validity of the color selection results obtained from digital cameras. Materials and Methods: Four observers matched the colors of 30 extracted maxillary incisors under daylight conditions. Two different digital cameras, with 1.5- and 5.0-megapixel resolutions, were used to select the color of the standardized circular area with 3 reference points on the same teeth; a spectrophotometer was also used, and the results were compared with the human and camera observations. Results: The highest significant agreement (60% agreement with the spectrophotometric values) was found with the 5.0-megapixel camera. Conclusion: It appears that the resolution capacity of a digital camera can increase the reliability of color selection.