The densitometer uses a light bulb. When turned on the bulb emits light that passes thru a filter placed upon a spot of color. The current is known to light the bulb. When the densitometer is used the light is energized over a patch of color, the light passes thru the color to the base material and is reflected back thru the lense to a sensor that converts the light to eletrical current. The densitomiter measures the difference in current from the output of the light and the return and computes a value that becomes the density value