GRANDVILLE, Mich., X-Rite, Incorporated (NASDAQ/NMS:XRIT), a leading global provider of technology solutions that measure color and light, says the future of color communication will evolve - from current e-mail and Internet techniques, to software leasing and server-based computing methods - for transmitting accurate color formulation data to sites throughout the world. According to Lead Applications Specialist Timothy A. Mouw for X-Rite's Coatings, Plastics and Textiles business unit, trends in color formulation are changing rapidly - largely due to remarkable technological advances that allow more and swifter data transmission. Mouw presented "New Trends in Color Technology: The Future of Color Communication," at the International Coatings Expo (ICE) 2000 at Chicago's McCormick Place Convention Center. "Some people still use the traditional method of color judgment and comparison with their eyes because it's a visual, sensory response," said Mouw. "However, you can't physically convey that information to someone else. That's where modern tools like a spectrophotometer, computer and software have created a tremendous advantage. If you fax or call me regarding a 0.5 difference in color measurement, we both know what we're talking about." Mouw says the next level of color communication is represented by tools such as ColorMailÆ and Vue-RiteÅ. "With ColorMail, I send you my color reading by e-mail attachment, and you generate your own results with your computer software," he said. "With Vue-Rite, you can get a realistic on-screen color representation of it on your computer screen - eliminating color display variations. Short of me sending you a sample, that's the fastest way that I can show you color measurements today." In his look at the future of color communication, Mouw says the current methods of spectrophotometer and computer will be complemented by new LAN (local area network) / WAN (wide area network) connections, Internet software leasing and server-based computing. "Real-time communication is where the whole world of the Internet is taking us," said Mouw. "It's not just pie in the sky, but something that's going to happen in the near future. If you're in the U.S. and I'm in Hong Kong, for example, we'll use software leasing and server-based computing to view the same color measurement at the same time. It's the instantaneous sharing of information that's breaking new ground."