Why turbidity cannot be compared between 2 devices
Turbidity is not an actual absorbance measurement but the measurement of the scattered light from the solution. This also depends on the optical setup of the device itself, which varies from device to device.
The results of two different photometers can only be compared when the absorbance values of clear solutions are being measured, i.e. non-turbid solutions. In the case of OD600, the signal being measured is actually due to light scattering and not true absorbance. This means that the optical setup of a given instrument will impact the relative amount of light measured, i.e. the amount of light reaching the detector, such as the aperture width, which differs depending on the manufacturer.
The “real” values where you can compare the capabilities of ABS96 are colorimetric values (as Bradford/ELISA), as they are “true” absorbance values.
This paper shows an example of this, it is about photometers, but this can be also applied for our microplate reader, as the physical principle is the same:
https://www.eppendorf.com/product-media/doc/en/148370/Detection_White-Paper_028_BioPhotometer-D30_BioSpectrometer-family_OD600-Measurements-Different-Photometers.pdf