Light that is scattered upon passing through a film or sheet of a material can produce a hazy or smoky field when objects are viewed through the material. Another effect can be veiling glare, as occurs in an automobile windshield when driving into the sun.

Although haze measurements are made most commonly by the use of a hazemeter, a spectrophotometer may be used, provided that it meets the geometric and spectral requirements of Section 5. The use of a spectrophotometer for haze measurement of plastics can provide valuable diagnostic data on the origin of the haze, and Procedure B is devoted to the use of a spectrophotometer.

Procedure A (hazemeter) test values are normally slightly higher and less variable than Procedure B (spectrophotometer) test values.

Regular luminous transmittance is obtained by placing a clear specimen at some distance from the entrance port of the integrating sphere. However, when the specimen is hazy, the total hemispherical luminous transmittance must be measured by placing the specimen at the entrance port of the sphere. The measured total hemispherical luminous transmittance will be greater than the regular luminous transmittance, depending on the optical properties of the sample. With this test method, the specimen is necessarily placed at the entrance port of the sphere in order to measure haze and total hemispherical luminous transmittance.

Haze data representative of the material may be obtained by avoiding heterogeneous surface or internal defects not characteristic of the material.

Haze and luminous-transmittance data are especially useful for quality control and specification purposes.

Before proceeding with this test method, reference should be made to the specification of the material being tested. Any test specimen preparation, conditioning, dimensions, or testing parameters, or combination thereof, covered in the materials specification shall take precedence over those mentioned in this test method. If there are no material specifications, then the default conditions apply.

1.1 This test method covers the evaluation of specific light-transmitting and wide-angle-light-scattering properties of planar sections of materials such as essentially transparent plastic. Two procedures are provided for the measurement of luminous transmittance and haze. Procedure A uses a hazemeter as described in Section 5 and Procedure B uses a spectrophotometer as described in Section 8. Material having a haze value greater than 30 % is considered diffusing and should be tested in accordance with Practice E2387.

1.2 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as standard.

Note 1—For greater discrimination among materials that scatter a high percent of light within a narrow forward angle, such as is the case with abraded transparent plastics, adjust the hazemeter and perform measurements in accordance with Test Method D1044.

1.3 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

Note 2—This test method is not equivalent to ISO 13468-1 and ISO/DIS 14782.