Abstract: The invention provides methods and apparatus for quantitatively measuring and controlling the quality of the dispersion of filler particles in rubber compounds. A magnified image of a section of a freshly cut surface of a processed rubber sample is captured by the digital board of a computer image processing system. Processing of the image uses a series of groups of computer commands including commands for enhancing the image, distinguishing the filler particle entities from the polymer matrix, defining and labeling the particle entities and displaying the results of the analysis of the image.