Standard Test Method for Transparency of Plastic Sheeting

4.1 The attribute of clarity of a sheet, measured by its ability to transmit image-forming light, correlates with its regular transmittance. Sensitivity to differences improves with decreasing incident beam- and receptor-angle. If the angular width of the incident beam and of the receptor aperture (as seen from the specimen position) are of the order of 0.1° or less, sheeting of commercial interest have a range of transparency of about 10 to 90 % as measured by this test. Results obtained by the use of this test method are greatly influenced by the design parameters of the instruments; for example, the resolution is largely determined by the angular width of the receptor aperture. Caution should therefore be exercised in comparing results obtained from different instruments, especially for samples with low regular transmittance.

4.2 Regular transmittance data in accordance with this test method correlate with the property commonly known as “see-through,” which is rated subjectively by the effect of a hand-held specimen on an observer's ability to distinguish clearly a relatively distant target. This correlation is poor for highly diffusing materials because of interference of scattered light in the visual test.