In order to provide our customers the best possible service, we have listed a number of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).

Please look below to find an answer to your question.

1. With the IAS1000 in Live camera mode, the END button disappears.
2. The IAS1000.xls software complains that it cannot find MOTION.DLL.
3. “Run-Time error 438, Object doesn’t support this property or method” appears on the screen.
4. “Run-time Error 5” appears on the screen when running the IAS1000 software.
5. In the Sequence window on the IAS1000, the START button is clicked but nothing happens.
6. On the IAS-1000 with the Cohu color camera, the bottom of the image has about 20 rows of black pixels. What is wrong?
7. On the IAS-1000 with the Coreco Frame Grabber board, I can only get a black screen, no image. What is wrong?
8. On the IAS-1000 with the Coreco Frame Grabber board, I can only get a blue screen, no image. What is wrong?
9. On the IAS-1000 with the Coreco Frame Grabber board, the image is noisy with little speckles of red, green, and blue. What is wrong?
10. On the IAS-1000 with the Coreco Frame Grabber board, the image can be seen but it is distorted and diagonal stripes appear on the screen. What is wrong?
11. On the IAS-1000 with the Coreco Frame Grabber board, I can only get a white screen, no image. What is wrong?
12. What is the meaning of amplitude (reflectance 0 – peak) profile at a corresponding frequency and amplitude of profile (VTF reflectance 0 – peak) at a corresponding frequency? Why are the reflectance values so small in these graphs?
13. What are some suggestions for correcting the Spectrolino when it does not work in auto sequence mode?
14. “Gloss communication failure. Check glossmeter power now” or “Gloss Communications Error” appears on the screen when I am making gloss measurements.

You have invoked a live camera image by clicking Live. At some point, the End button on the Live image disappears, leaving you with no way back to the Sequence, Tool, or Function window you were working in before. This probably happened because you clicked on the Live image, causing the software focus to switch to the server. When the server is active, Excel is hidden, and the End button (an Excel feature) disappears from view.

To switch the focus back to Excel:
· Press Alt + tab on the keyboard
· Select Excel

The End button will reappear. Click End to dismiss the Live image and return you to the window you were working in.

This occurs if MOTION.dll is not in the c:\windows\system directory. It also occurs when IO.dll is not in the c:\windows\system directory. Check to make sure these files are in the correct directories.

This error can be caused if an old server (IAS-1000.exe) is used with a new workbook. The error message means that the VBA code has called for a function that does not exist in the server. If you have recently upgraded your software, verify that you have installed the new version of IAS-1000.exe.

Rename the old version “IAS-1000old.exe” so that the system will not be confused. Perform a search on the hard drive and verify that there is only one file named IAS-1000.exe. There are two ways to ascertain the version number of the server:

1. If the server is running (this is the window with the video image), click Help. Then click About… Look to see the version number. Otherwise,

2. From an Explorer window, right click the filename (IAS-1000.exe). Click Properties. Click Version and look under Product Version for the version number (e.g. 1.7.1).

In rare instances, “Run-time Error 5” appears if you are running the IAS-1000 software with other files open. This can happen if, for example, you run test sequences without closing the output files. The number of files open does not seem to be significant. The problem has been observed only with Office 2000. Closing files should get around the problem.


In the Sequence window on the IAS1000, the START button is clicked but nothing happens.


This is a limitation of the Cohu color camera. The camera does not put out a full 480 pixels of image. These black pixels should be trimmed by setting the Left, Top, Right, and Bottom setting for the camera in the IAS1000.ini file in the Windows directory. Once trimmed, these pixels will not be used in any measurements.


This generally indicates that the system is working correctly but not getting enough light. Check:
- that the light(s) is turned on,
- a light colored object is under the lens (i.e. don't be looking at the black table surface)
- the lens cap is removed
- the aperture is open to the normal level,
- the fiber optic bundle is connected to the light source (if using external light source).
- the range/offset of the frame grabber are set to reasonable values.
- try a lower magnification

This means that the frame grabber is not getting a video signal. Check
- Power supply is connected to the back of the camera
- Power supply is plugged into an AC outlet that is turned on
- The video cable is connected on one end to the camera and on the other end to the frame grabber.

Try turning off the motion control box. If this makes the problem go away, you have an interference problem. Try routing the video cable away from the motion control box and its wires. Possibly a higher quality video cable may fix the problems.


The video refresh rate of the computer has been set to something other than 60Hz. Reset your refresh rate to 60Hz.


Your Coreco board may have been set to "Dual Monitor" mode. Start the "Oculus - TCI Configuration Program". Double click the "Board 0" item. Select the "Frame Buffer" tab. Set the "Display Mode" to "Single Monitor." This window cannot be closed. Bring up the previous windows, click “Save”, and then "Exit."

The magnitude of the peaks is in reflectance units, but they are not expressed as a percentage. Therefore, 1% reflectance variation is expressed as 0.01. If there is 0.1% reflectance variation, the value is 0.001. This is why the numbers are so small. Consider an example. Let's say that we have gray printed area with an average reflectance of 40% reflectance. The sample also has sinusoidal banding with a wavelength of 2mm and a magnitude of 1% from the top of the sine wave to the bottom of the sine wave, in other words +/- 0.5% reflectance variation. The resulting FFT (before VTF) will have a magnitude of 0.40 at 0 cycles/mm and a magnitude of 0.005 at 0.5 cycles/mm. The peak at 0 cycles/mm is known as the DC value. Its magnitude of 0.40 represents the 40% average reflectance. The banding peak occurs at (1 cycle)/(2 mm) = 1/2 cycles/mm = 0.5 cycles/mm. Its magnitude is 0.005 because there is +/-0.5% reflectance variation at that frequency. These numbers are in reflectance units (0 to peak). 0 to peak means from the middle of the sine wave to the top. Other instruments express numbers at "peak to peak" or "RMS." I find the "0 to peak" numbers easiest to understand. So here is the quiz. (It is optional!)

If you have a sample with an average reflectance of 20% and sinusoidal banding at 1 mm wavelength and a magnitude of 5% from the top of the sine wave to the bottom of the sine wave. What is the magnitude and frequency of the resulting peaks in the FFT?

There are six possible problems:

1) It is possible that the Spectrolino is in an error state and that the error must be cleared before it will work again. The easiest way to clear all errors is to cycle power to the Spectrolino (disconnect the cable, wait a few seconds, and then reconnect the cable). You should hear four musical tones when you reconnect the cable. Also, reboot the computer. This should clear all software errors.

2) In the IAS1000.xls workbook there is a sheet named "Configuration." Be sure that the "Mode" setting on the Configuration sheet is 0 (reflectance mode).

3) Check the sequence that is producing the error. The action number should be 25 for a white reference. It is possible that the Spectrolino is doing a "Light Reference", which is action number 54. Action 54 is only used with a transparency table and it is used to measure the back light (therefore the light in the Spectrolino does not flash).

4) Check that the Spectrolino is properly positioned over the white reference target (the little white circle that clips into the table) and that the white reference target is clean when performing a white reference. The Spectrolino will report an error if the reflectance from the white reference is too low.

5) Check all the electrical connections between the Spectrolino and the computer, including the power supply for the Spectrolino.

6) Check the baud rate of the Spectrolino (it must be 9600). This is unlikely to be the problem, but there are instructions for changing the baud rate of the Spectrolino.

Check to make sure the glossmeter is powered up and there is something showing on the LCD display.

Make sure the serial (RS232) cable is connected from the glossmeter all the way to the PC’s 9pin connector. Verify that the serial port being used is working properly, is not being used by other software, and matches the COM port number shown in the Configuration worksheet of the IAS1000 software.

Make sure the glossmeter is in “Sample Mode.” It will not work in any other mode. To verify the correct mode, press the Mode button on the instrument four or more times. The glossmeter will cycle through various modes. Keep cycling until the display shows:

** **n=000
60 85 SAMPLE MD.

This should fix the problem.